by Subhash K Jha

Sriram Raghvan's last film Ek Haseena Thi came two years go. It took him that long to break free of Ram Gopal Varma's fold and discover another area of creative activity.

But now he's directed a film strangely entitled Johnny Gaddaar. What on earth is that??? "It's a caper thriller," explains Sriram.

"If I had to pick a genre it would have to be in the same line of vision as Tony Scott's True Romance or Joel Coen's Blood Simple. Nearer home I'd say it's like Abbas-Mustan's Baazigar."

Produced by Jhamu Sugandh, it also brings back Dharmendra in a pivotal role. Of late this wonderfully natural actor has been struggling with non-happening projects, for example Govind Menon's Bachke Rehna Re Baba where the director, a self-confessed fan of the exiled actor, had brought the actor's fortunes plummeting further.

Dharmendra has also been lending his name to c-grade actioners like Sultan and Jallad No 1 and Bhai Thakur to keep himself busy.

Sriram hopes to bring the joy of dignity back to Dharmendra's career.

His film also introduces Neil Mathur, grand-son of the mythic singer Mukesh, in the other lead in Johnny Gadar.

Many decades ago Neil's illustrious grandfather had started his career as an actor in films like Nirdosh, Dukh Sukh, Adaab Arz, Anurag and a cameo in Raj Kapoor's Aah.

Neil is aware of the mythic Mukesh mantle that he must carry forward.

"But acting has been a dream for me since I was 4. In fact I did two films as a child. It was acting and not singing that interested me. And my father (singer Nitin Mukesh) always encouraged me. I believe one can be successfully creative in any field of showbiz—acting, direction or singing. For me it's acting."

Neil claims he has been getting several offers. "I've been reading scripts. But I want to focus on Johnny Gadar. I'll start something new after this film. We're shooting Johnny Gadar in a non-stop start-to-finish schedule. I can't start anything else until it's through."

Neil Mathur is A Third-Generation Entrant Into Bollywood, Just Like...

Hrithik Roshan (grand dad composer Roshan, father Rakesh Roshan)

Karisma & Kareena Kapoor (grandfather Raj Kapoor, father Randhir)

Kajol (grandmom actress Shobhana Samarth, mom Tanuja)