'Avatar' makes Roshans rethink Krrish's sequel

It looks like James Cameron's "Avatar" has affected Bollywood in unexpected ways. Director Rakesh Roshan is having second thoughts about making the sequel to "Krrish" after watching the Hollywood sci-fi saga.

However, he thinks it is possible to create effects on par with Hollywood.

"I saw the film ('Avatar') in Los Angeles. And it certainly made me sit up and re-think about 'Krrish'. But I don't think it is impossible to create effects on par with Hollywood. We need to budget the sequel intelligently," he said.

As far as starting Krrish's sequel goes, Roshan senior admits there's no immediate chance of it taking off. "I am not even thinking of directing my own film until our production 'Kites' is released on May 14. Only then will I seriously start planning my directorial project. For now, the next film I direct is Krrish's sequel. But it may change if I'm unhappy with the script."

What the patriarch of the Roshan empire leaves unsaid is that he and son Hrithik Roshan sat together and discussed the feasibility of doing a lavish big budget film in the light of "Avatar" and other Hollywood extravaganzas dubbed in Hindi.

Hrithik has made it clear to his father that there's no point in doing a Hollywood-style special-effects film unless there's scope and space for the 'desi' counterpart to make an impact at the box office.

Says a source: "Hrithik is not sure about the feasibility of the Krrish series any more. Not after James Cameron's 'Avatar'. He wants the project to go through a budgetary scrutiny to see whether they can create effects comparable with Hollywood's 'Avatar' and '2012'. Otherwise what is the point?"

Indo Asian News Service