As his critically acclaimed "The Warrior" hits the US theatres, British-born Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia is in the midst of post-production for his first major Hollywood venture.

Called "Revolver", the film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sam Shepard, Adam Scott and Peter O'Brien. It was shot in Austin, Texas.

"I am also writing my next film which is a psychological called 'True North' set in the Arctic. It is going to be a very tough shoot. I am yet again returning to an overpowering landscape," Kapadia told in an interview.

The 33-year-old graduate of the Royal College of Art began his filmmaking career with "The Sheep Thief", which won the Jury Prize at Cannes and the Grand Prix at the European Short Film Festival in Brest.

Kapadia said that growing up in London, "which is such a mixed place culturally", he knew of many different stories from people of multicultural backgrounds.

Asked if he would consider making a typical Hindi movie, Kapadia said: "I would love to, but I don't know enough and I don't know the rules."

During the casting of "The Warrior", Kapadia said he tried to get many actors in Mumbai interested in it.

"But no one showed any interest at all. I met Irrfan Khan through a friend. Irrfan just blew me away. He was doing some television then but wanted to do something else," Kapadia said.

"The Warrior" was set in the austere surrounding of the Rajasthan desert where its protagonist Lafcadia, played with consummate brilliance by Khan, leads life as a fierce and ruthless Rajput warrior working as a henchman for a feudal lord. He kills at will and uses his sword as an expression of his inner tumult.

However, his remorseless life takes a dramatic turn one day during one of his killing missions when his swinging sword freezes barely a centimetre away from the fragile neck of a young girl, who happened to wear an amulet given to her by his daughter Katiba. The moment sets off something profound and primal in Lafcadia, who decides to give up the life of violence.

His journey from baking hot sands of the desert to the calming white snow-laden expanse of the Himalayas is as dramatic geographically as it is emotionally. Lafcadia is in search of inner peace with violence following him.

Growing up in London in a Gujarati family, the visual splendour of mountains and deserts was a luxury for Kapadia.

"I was always fascinated by deserts and mountains. To daydream on paper about these locations and then one day (to be) actually standing there was quite an experience," he said.

"I come from a very visual background. I have also been a big fan of westerns where landscape is a big part of the story. I am very interested in people's relationship with the landscape and how it influences them," Kapadia said.

He says "The Warrior" is a samurai film.

"The original inspiration of the film is a Japanese folk tale about a young boy who is shown a severed head of his father. Since I don't speak Japanese and it is very expensive to shoot in Japan, I changed the story and brought it within the Rajput context."

After winning the BAFTA awards, "The Warrior's" next logical step was the Oscar awards. It was nominated for the awards as a British entry but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences turned down the nomination in 2002 on the ground that it was a Hindi language film. Since Hindi was not a British language it did not qualify as a British entry, the academy said.

It won a clutch of international prizes, including Best British Film and Best New Director at the coveted British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards.

"The Warrior" will open in the US July 15.

On Indian cinema's rising international appeal, Kapadia said that in Britain when a movie like "Bend it like Beckham" by Gurinder Chadha rose on the charts and made money, producers realised that there was money to be made from the Asian audiences.

"Mani Ratnam is a fantastic filmmaker. I told many of my friends to see his movies. They were all very impressed. So there is clear potential for cross-over," he said.