He is a director by design, an actor by default and an anchor by….well, luck by chance! Ask multifaceted Farhan Akhtar, what is next up his sleeve? "To be an RJ, I guess, " he jokes instantly.On a serious note, he adds: "By God's grace, I've two lovely daughters and I hope, they'll grow up into nice human beings. So, good parenting is currently on mine and Adhuna's (wife) agenda. Well, life is unpredictable you see. It keeps throwing up things at you and you got to catch them without batting an eyelid."
He is a man with diverse roles rolled into one. But would Farhan be second time lucky with his January 30 release Luck By Chance? Well only the coming Friday will tell. With beloved sister Zoya wielding the megaphone and a huge ensemble starcast for company onscreen, Farhan sounds upbeat about the movie that navigates around the showbiz industry.
"The movie captures a slice of Bollywood life on screen. It's about our very own film industry without being overtly critical about it. The plotline is woven around the very movie marquee that I belong to. It talks of strugglers and their dreams down the slippery lanes of the tinseltown.
The story is embedded with a deeper meaning of success to all and sundry. The script is strong and appealing, plus has the power to grip the target-audience at large. There were a select few private screenings in Mumbai, which the viewers have liked a lot.
Some even exclaimed kitna dikha diya as the industry insiders are acquainted with the ways of the film-world. They felt empathy for each and every character as they witness similar characters in real life, trying their pot of luck at the steps of the film studios, " he elaborates.
Luck by Chance boasts of an ensemble starcast with a bevy of A-listers on the board. For instance, Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Konkona Sensharma, Juhi Chawla, Isha Sharwani, Sanjay Kapoor besides Farhan himself donning the main protagonist's role.
"With that kind of a talented and professional crew to boot, you just can't afford to gamble and mess around. There were too many stakes on the radar to make even minor mistakes, " chips in Farhan.
Briefing his kirdaar, he sums up: "I play a guy called Vikram Jaisingh who hails from Delhi and travels to Mumbai only to become a hero. He meets his female lead Sona Mishra (Konkona) in the movie capital and both hit it off immediately.
The film further moves on to showcase their journey of hardships together and how they sweat it out to build careers in Bollywood. While Sona seems to know the industry in and out since she was already working full time as a junior artist to get a firm footing in small-budget flicks to start off initially, she promises to help and guide the wannabe actor to bag his much-needed break.
However, Vikram exploits the prevalent system, beyond his capacity to get what he wants. Does he achieve his end is what the film all about." Jointly produced by Farhan and Ritesh Sidhwani, Luck by Chance has been in the gestation period for seven long years.
"It's a much delayed project of Zoya. She lived with the script over the years. I could sometimes feel the wrinkles of frustration settling on her forehead. The way I waited for two years to get the cast for my maiden movie (DCH) finalised, similarly Zoya had to linger Luck….at length to take off, " he enlightens.
With a plenty on his plate, Farhan is presently contemplating on a slew of interesting films in the offing. Sadly enough, his much-discussed film Voice from the Sky has been deferred due to logistic reasons.
"It's a heavyweight cost-effective project pegged around an expensive budget above 10 million dollar. Thanks to the ongoing recession that this turn-of-the-century period piece has been postponed for the moment. It won't be possible to commence the shoots by December-end. The status of Don 2 is also uncertain, as it will be ideally shot during the summer months.
While Shah Rukh is right now busy wrapping up Karan Johar's film, next he would devote himself 24X7 to his IPL team. So another 10 months' time is guaranteed to lay the spadework for this underworld chase caper to cut its teeth. However, come April 2009, my own production Karthik Calling Karthik will be on the floors.
Slated for a December release, the movie will be directed by Vijay Lalwani. Apart from portraying a part in it, I've worked upon the story as well as the film's dialogues. In tow is a film by Abhinay Deo, starring Ash-Abhishek, followed with Reema Kagti's second outing, " he informs.