Is 'Kurbaan' like other terror films?

By Joginder Tuteja

Mumbai, Nov 1 (IANS) Karan Johar's upcoming "Kurbaan" is being likened to films on terror like "New York" and "Fanaa" but the filmmaker is no longer giving the straight-jacketed 'It's truly different' reply. He has instead left it to the audiences to find out if there are any similarities between the movies.

"That's because this isn't the first time that it's happening to a film coming from Dharma Productions. When 'Wake Up Sid' was being made, people asked whether it had any similarities to 'Lakshya'. Now when the movie has released and is finding so much appreciation, the same people are coming back and telling me that 'Oh, this one was so different'," Karan told IANS.

He has quite a few other examples -- "Kal Ho Naa Ho" was said to be a remake of "Anand" while "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" appeared to have its germ in "Silsila".

"And didn't all these 'germs' just disappear when the films released and talked their own language? See, the fact is that originality has always been the strength of Dharma Productions. We don't like to emulate other films.

"This is why I would rather talk about 'Kurbaan' and its so-called similarities after it is out in theatres. That's because by that time audiences would have seen the film and realised that 'Kurbaan' is a film about its own world," Karan said.

Directed by Rensil D'Silva, 'Kurbaan' stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

Asked about the film, Karan said: "There is very little that you can compare this film with any other Hindi films that you name. It's just that the protagonists are in a zone where terror is on the forefront.

"At 'Kurbaan', we are scratching the surface a little harder when it comes to global terrorism. We are dealing with an absolutely different tone and syntax."

He rues that audiences as well as filmmakers have started looking at every product suspiciously.

"The sad part is that whenever a new film comes, whether from my company or any other, we start believing that people are not really offering anything original. We start looking for inspirations and immediately draw a connect. This has happened time and again. It's so unfortunate that we have lost faith in originality," said Karan.

He is however happy that first time director Rensil D'Silva has brought in a different point of view in the film.

" 'Kurbaan' is written by me but has taken a great dimension due to the virtue of Rensil's own point of view. This is something that comes across quite strongly in the film.

"Since he comes with a global thought process, it has penetrated into the narrative of the film as well. There is an intellectual look at the situation without any bias in the narrative. I can proudly declare that 'Kurbaan' isn't anything like what has been seen on celluloid before."

Also starring Vivek Oberoi, Om Puri, Kirron Kher and Dia Mirza in key roles, "Kurbaan" is set for a Nov 20 release.

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