by Subhash K Jha

Though the historical opus was written off even before its formal release by a cynical section of the press, writer-director Akbar Khan's Taj Mahal seems to have caught the most unexpected attention.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saw Khan's Rs 75-crore historical epic at his residence at 7 Race Course with his entire family. He called it "a brilliant effort to convey one of the sailent periods of history through the medium of cinema..."

Adding that his family and friends enjoyed watching the film the Prime Minister commented that the film was "educative and entertaining".

After the drubbing the film has received in the hands of a specific section of the press Akbar Khan is delighted by this balm from the Capital. "I presented him a print of the film. He called back to say he wanted to meet the entire team. The lead pair Zulfiker Syed and Sonia Jehan along with Arbaaz Khan, Pooja Batra, my wife daughter, my sister and co-producer Irshad Alam and I met the prime minister on Thursday."

"I was thrilled by the Prime Minister's comments and also when he told me that he had met the president of Indonesia who told him one should see my Taj Mahal to see what Bollywood is all about." The Prime Minister has assured him that the possibility of Taj Mahal being granted tax exemption would be fully exoplored. "In fact we're meeting Shiela Dixit about it today," Khan informed on Thursday.

Commenting on the controversies about the film's mammoth budget he remarked, "People who haven't seen the film doubt my budget. Those who've seen it know exactly where the 75 crores have gone. I've spent that much. That makes it the most expensive Indian film."

" Luckily for me my financiers, partner and distributors have full faith in me. They've told me they're just happy to be associated with Taj Mahal. The rest they say, is in God's hand.

Akbar Khan admits the promotion of Taj Mahal was premature and the lack of star-value hampered the film's prospects. "But even Titanic had no stars. But it spread like wildfire. I'm proud of my cast. People have liked them."

"Even if I had the choice of Shah Rukh, Salman or Aamir for Shehzada Khurram's role I wouldn't have taken them. They're great actors, and I'd love to work with them. But stars don't work as historical characters. They wouldn't have suited the role."