by Subhash K Jha

He has put the failure of Kyun Ki and the success of Garam Masala behind him. Now the prolific Priyan, currently shooting a cola ad in Chennai, is determined not to do any more remakes.

"I've had my fill of re-makes. Both Kyun Ki and Garam Masala were remakes of my own Malayalam films. My next release Malaamal Weekly is totally and absolutely original. I'm willing to offer a prize money to anyone who catches me out remaking anything this time," he chuckles.

Malaamal Weekly, to open on 10 March, features Om Puri and Paresh Rawal in the main roles. "They're indeed the heroes of my film who chance upon winning a huge lottery . Riteish Deshmukh follows behind with a slightly less important role. And one of my favourite actors Rajpal Yadav plays the villain. It's a crazy comedy. But not the least inspired by any source," Priyan stresses.

The film's producers Sahara One Motion Pictures have instituted a lottery for a selected elite circle of stars and celebrities to coincide with the release of Malamaal Weekly.

"Good!" chuckles Priyan. "Any kind of publicity is good. After a long time I think there's a film about winning a lottery."

Priyan hasn't heard of Devendra Goel's Dus Lakh , a comedy about winning a lottery in the 1960s. But he ends with a master-stroke. "I'm in a totally original frame of mind this time. In fact, Malaamal Weekly is already being re-made –into Malayalam by my assistant Murli."

This has to be the quickest re-make ever!