Sippy to direct thriller, excited to explore unknown genre

Mumbai, Aug 31 (IANS) Ramesh Sippy has believed in taking risks ever since the release of his first directorial venture "Andaz". Now, when he returns to direction after 17 years, the filmmaker is set to venture into the unexplored territory of thriller genre.

"The challenge for me is to venture into the unknown every time I direct a film. When I directed my first film 'Andaz', it was considered risky to do a love story between a widow and a widower. The thrill in doing a thriller is that I have never attempted this genre before," Sippy said.

Talking about the film, Sippy reveals: "It's an out-and-out thriller written by Sridhar Raghvan. Sridhar has worked extensively for our production company. He has written the script for my son's (Rohan Sippy) 'Bluffmaster' and 'Dum Maaro Dum'. When I read Sridhar's script I instantly felt I was ready for direction again."

In his career of over four decades, the filmmaker has given some memorable hits like "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Sholay", "Shakti" and "Saagar". However, after 1995 film "Zamana Deewana", Sippy put his directorial ambitions on the backburner.

"I am aware I haven't directed a film for many years. But I saw no reason to jump into it just because of a time lapse. I've made films out of very powerful scripts in the past. Then I directed 'Zamana Deewana' in 1995, which was not that strong in content," the 65-year-old said.

"Then I decided I won't direct another film if I didn't get the right script," he added.

The details of his new thriller are being worked out and Sippy hopes it goes on floors by year-end. He is also planning to tie up with a corporate house.

"It's a different world since I last directed a film. Now everything during the process of filmmaking is more corporatised. So I'm tying up with a corporate house," he said.

Though filmmaker refuses to divulge any details about the cast of the film, a source reveals Sippy is likely rope in megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

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Andaz