/> It's official. Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan is a remake of Vittorio de Sica's 1966 comic caper After The Fox.

So far the obvious similarities between the two films were being pooh-poohed by the film's team. But now just two days before release there are big bold declarations regarding the source material for Tees Maar Khan.

How come?

Says Akshay Kumar the film's leading man and co-producer, "Isn't this the proper thing to do? To buy original rights if you're doing a remake. That's what we've done. We didn't want the critics and public to jump on us after the film's release.

We always had the intention of acknowledging the original source-material for Tees Maar Khan.It is the right thing to do. Nowadays with the internet and google it's easy to catch a thief."

However another source close to the project says, "When speculation about After The Fox being uncannily similar in theme and characters to After The Fox began,the makers of Tees Maar Khan began negotiations with MGM, the studio that produced After The Fox. Only recently the remake rights were comfirmed.Until the rights were confirmed Farah and Akshay were biting their nails."

Wonder where this foreign out-sourcing of Tees Maar Khan puts the film's makers lofty claims of the film being based on the legendary exploits of the character named by folklore as 'Tees Maar Khan'.

Says Akshay, "Though we're inspired by After The Fox our film is very different from After The Fox.'

That's what Ravi Chopra claimed about Bandaa Yes Bindaas Hai until the makers of My Cousin Vinny got to know about it.Chopra's film is stuck.

The makers of Tees Maar Khan learnt their lesson well. And just in time.

Incidentally Akshay Kumar is a big Peter Sellers fan, specially Sellers work in The Party. In Tees Maar Khan he has got an chance to do role originally played by Sellers.And boy, did he have fun! Akshay has actually studied Sellers' style to play the desi version.