Director Abhishek Sharma talks about his upcoming film The Shaukeens

Mumbai: Director Abhishek Sharma of Tere Bin Laden fame is looking forward to the release of his next film The Shaukeens. “I am a versatile director. The only binding factor in my films is the comic element. Comedy has many sub-genres. Like Tere Bin Laden was a satire, the sequel will be a farce and The Shaukeens is a coming-of-age comedy. They are all different genres of comedy and that’s where my versatility lies,” he says.

A song in the film has gotten the project in trouble for allegedly promoting alcoholism. An unperturbed Abhishek says, “Tigmanshu and I just wanted to give Akshay a quirk. He plays himself in the film but there is also a fictional side. We featured the song Alcoholic on him because everyone knows he’s a teetotaler. The contrast is funny.”

The director was bowled over by Lisa Haydon’s performance in Queen and hence roped her in for his film. “I recommended her name to the producer and everyone including Akshay agreed that she’s brilliant. Shraddha Kapoor being considered is a rumour. And Nargis Fakhri could not do it because she was doing a Hollywood film,” he says.

Ask him why Abhishek Bachchan makes a cameo, he laughs and says, “Because I liked his performance in Happy New Year. On a serious note, Akshay Kumar is playing himself, so people who are related to him do come in somewhere in his world. That’s why Abhishek, Kareena Kapoor and Sunil Shetty have also been featured.”

One wonders if Abhishek considered Mithun Chakraborty as part of the lead cast, since he played Akshay Kumar’s part in the original, Shaukeen. “When I came on board Anupam Kher and Anu Kapoor had already been signed, just the third slot was left. I had worked with Piyush Mishra in Tere Bin Laden. I cast him because he is brilliant in this role. I love Mithunda, but in this character I saw Piyush.”