Ken Ghosh, who initially made a mark with advertisement spots and delivered a surprise success in 2003 called "Ishq Vishq", admits to keeping his fingers crossed for his second offering "Fida".

"Just as 'Ishq Vishq' was a campus thriller after a long time, 'Fida' will be a thriller after a long time," he tells in an interview.

Saying that "Fida" is "a film that I can smile about", Ghosh said the sound quality is what he was really proud of.

"You must see the film once and then go back and just hear it," he maintained.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q: Do you think the curiosity "Fida" has generated is good for the film?
A: I'm not very sure. People went to see "Ishq Vishq" with no expectations. I hope they don't go the other way this time. I wish they wouldn't pre-empt the film. What's in the audiences' minds may not be what I've in mind.

This film has been very difficult to promote. It took us a while to log on to the catch-line about two love stories that don't have a perfect ending. Hats off to my producers Tips to pull it off! They knew exactly what to show and what to withhold. And they promoted the film for just two months rather than allowing it to go on and on.

I wasn't directly involved with the promos. Unlike "Ishq Vishq" where I had a lot of time, this time I was really rushed. We completed "Fida" in a record time. We completed the film in eight months. I prepared the first draft of the script on Aug 19, 2003. It's releasing Aug 20. The advantage of working till the last moment is I don't have the time to get nervous about the film's outcome.

Q: Your two films seem very different.
A: Oh you can say that again! Fortunately, I didn't allow myself to be bogged down by so-called responsibilities of projecting Shahid well in his post-debut film, or ensuring that Shahid and Kareena looked good together. I just did what I had set out to. However I can't deny that the market reality has changed for me. During "Ishq Vishq", they were very charitable. Now I'm under a microscope. I'm sure all filmmakers have to go through that in their second film.

Q: "Fida" looks a lot like Abbas-Mustan kind of cinema...
A: Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to do. After "Ishq Vishq", I wanted to make a film like Abbas-Mustan. I even got their writer Lalit Mahajan. I think I've made a film that I can smile about. The sound quality is what I'm really proud of. You must see the film once and then go back and just hear it.

Q: Are you kidding?
A: No I'm serious. I feel the audience will find "Fida" to be different from the other releases of the season by virtue of the genre. Just like "Ishq Vishq" was a campus thriller after a long time, "Fida" will be a thriller after a long time.

Q: What about "Murder"?
A: That was six months back. Please! "Fida" is not an erotic thriller like "Murder". It's a romantic thriller.

Q: So what's Kareena doing with Fardeen in a bathtub?
A: There's no eroticism in the film. The bath shows the comfort level between them. It's supposed to establish the rapport between them. They aren't giving hot-hot looks to each other. Fardeen and Kareena were actually in the tub for a long time... You can tell by the way their fingers are soused. They're very clean. So "Fida" is a very clean erotic thriller.

Q: "Fida" looks quite erotic in comparison with "Ishq Vishq".
A: Does it? The one thing that I can tell you about "Fida" is it doesn't have any humour at all. There's not a single joke.

Q: Isn't that dangerous?
A: Let's see. "Fida" is all about going into dangerous territories. "Ishq Vishq" was very character-driven. "Fida" is story-driven. It's very very fast paced and ends in under two hours, in spite of the songs. "Ishq Vishq" was designed as a musical.

Do songs have a place in thrillers? I don't know... In "Fida", I had to work on the songs. The audience expects to see songs and we had no problem accommodating the music. I think the audience would be sorely disappointed if we didn't have songs in a Shahid-Kareena-Fardeen film. My mission is to entertain. And entertainment doesn't stop when the songs come on.

Q: Kareena seems to be cast as a femme fatale?
A: I'd have loved to play her role in "Fida". There're so many variations to her character. In the morning she was screaming, in the afternoon she was laughing and in the night she was singing. She, along with her co-stars, gave her best to the film. The fact that we shot in just 75 days kept their interests alive. When a film drags on, the stars lose interest.

Q: Everyone wants to see what Kareena and Shahid look like together.
A: Let me clarify, we cast them together before their off screen relationship. I don't think audiences come to a film to see particular combinations of stars. They either like the promos and come in or they don't. At the end of the day, no one invests two to three hours of his life to a film just to see how two people look together. I think audiences would want to see what I've done with Shahid after "Ishq Vishq".

If Kareena is with Shahid, she's also with Fardeen. I think the trio look good in a package. But I'd say 60 percent of the audience would come on the basis of the promos. After seeing them I'd want to see "Fida".

Q: Thank God. What about the suspense element?
A: It isn't the suspense but the journey to the end that will keep the audience enthralled. For example, in the promo, we see Shahid singing and then crying with a gun. What happened in the journey?

Q: Has Shahid evolved?
A: 100 percent! During the release of "Ishq Vishq", I had said Shahid was here to stay regardless of how the film fared. I'd say the same about "Fida".

Q: How do you assess your journey from "Ishq Vishq" to "Fida"?
A: See, I made my first film after 18 years of ads. There's a lot of plots bottled up inside me. I've lots of cards close to my chest. In "Ishq Vishq", I showed one. That was me having fun. In "Fida", I show another card. That's me the technician. I'll start growing as a filmmaker after I've a body of work. Right now I'm showing what's inside me.