It was a casting coup of sorts for Dibakar Banerjee to put together Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi in his upcoming political thriller 'Shanghai' but the director says he likes to take 'calculated risks' with each of his films

Abhay is known for his intense characters while Emraan has just graduated to mature roles after playing the perpetual bad boy and serial-kisser in a number of films.

"I am cautious when I approach a star. There has to be a right script, star and role to come together for my film. I managed to have two talented stars with me for 'Shanghai'. I enjoy taking calculated risks with every film. If I don't do something new, I don't find the process of filmmaking interesting," Dibakar.

The stock of both the actors have gone up since they were signed for 'Shanghai' which has kept the film in news despite delays in the release much to the delight of Dibakar.

"Perhaps no one ever imagined Emraan and Abhay to be in such avatar but now that it has happened, there is good excitement build up. For them to come together in the same film and that too in the kind of roles they are playing is nothing less than a casting coup."

Emraan had a hit with 'Murder 2' and 'The Dirty Picture' last year while Abhay enjoyed his biggest commercial success with 'Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara'. The director, who is known for casting actors rather than stars in his films, says he is not against the star system of Bollywood.

"Stars have that palpable pressure of stardom on their shoulder. Sometimes it is unfair on our part to ask them to throw off that weight so casually and expect them to do something differently for our sake."

'Shanghai' is first adaptation for Dibakar, who is known for picking up stories from newspaper headlines and the life around in films like 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', 'Oye Lucky Lucky Oye' and 'Love, Sex Aur Dhoka'.

It is is based on Greek author Vassilis Vassilikos' famous novel 'Z' and has already been made into a successful French movie. It was earlier scheduled to release in January but will now hit theatres in June.

'Shanghai' stars Kali Koechelin as the female protagonist and also features Prosenjit Chatterjee and Farooq Sheikh in key roles. With music by Vishal-Shekhar, the film releases all over on June 8.