'We didn't want Chamku to be a masala flick'

“Chamku” is up for release. And there's a lot of excitement in the Deol household. After all, the last time the family got together, they came up with a huge hit “Apne”.

Obviously, expectations are high from director Kabir Kaushik's “Chamku”, which is a crime drama with an ensemble cast of Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Danny Denzongpa, Irrfan Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Rajpal Yadav.

Understandably, Bobby is in an upbeat mood after the promos of the film generated excitement among film-goers. We caught up with him ahead of the film's release on August 29 for a sneak preview.

Excerpts from an interview:

What made your Vijayta Films bet on Kabir Kaushik?

He's a good director and though I couldn't do a film with him before I was keen on him after seeing his work in Sehar. I was waiting for a role that would suit my personality. Chamku provided that opportunity. It's a realistic film and I was sure Kabir would work magic with it. I was right.

In the promotional posters, we have seen the tagline 'The story never ends'. What is that about?

The protagonist of the film is a boy called Chandrama Singh, whose parents are murdered. A Naxal leader, played by Danny, brings him up and Chandrama also gets into that world. Later, he's picked up by government agencies for political assassinations but his life changes when he meets a young teacher, played by Priyanka.

He decides to give up his antisocial ways. However, the story doesn't end in a happily ever after. An incident later sucks him back into the world of crime. So what it means is that there is no end to a life of crime.

Tell us about Priyanka's role in the film.

She's a kindergarten teacher in ‘Chamku’. Unlike her other films, she's deglamourised in this film. In fact, she wears a lot of sarees. We did not want ‘Chamku’ to be a typical masala flick. Yes, it has an item number but that's woven into the plot.

We see you sporting a different hairstyle in Chamku.

Yes, it was the need of my character. Chandrama needed a short hairstyle because of his personality and so I changed my look accordingly. It's common to do that in Hollywood. It's just that in Bollywood we're a little more conservative when it comes to experimenting with our looks. But that's changing these days.

Do you see the audience liking the film?

Well, the film is a different one and I am sure the audiences will like ‘Chamku’ and my look in it. Not too many producers like experimenting with such films. So it has that novelty factor. Though it isn't based on any true story it has a realistic feel. Nowadays audiences appreciate such films.

We haven't seen much of you on screen lately. Are you trying to cut down on projects?

I wouldn't say I haven't been around. I did have a few releases both last year and this. In fact, in 2007 I had as many as three releases. There's much lined up for this year too. But yes, I am not going all out to do films. I want to do few but fine films.

What went wrong with Nanhe Jaisalmer?

I still think it was a brilliant film. Though the audiences stayed away from the theatres, they are watching it on DVD and VCDs. We probably got our timing wrong. It was disappointing that it didn't do as well as expected.

To what extent are you involved in the workings of the Deol production house, Vijayta Films?

At this point, not much because I am in the process of learning and there's a long way to go before I can play an active role in it. I have been increasing my involvement bit by bit but it'll take some time.

What's up next?

There's ‘Roshan’ with Kangana Ranaut. Then ‘Ek: The Power Of One’ with Shriya Saran. Again, I am wearing a very different look in that film. And ‘Heroes’ is also awaiting release.