n What is Khamosh all about?

It is a psychological thriller, which is not typically Bollywood. I know the market wants hardcore commercial stuff but my film is a little cut away from the mainstream fare. It is a character-driven film with various people from different classes. Khamosh can also be called a fast-paced thriller. It is a murder mystery ? a whodunit, a whydunit, a howdunit. It is about a person and also about a spirit. It?s a very sound-and-vision film, too. So, I got Sandeep Chowtha to do the background score. There?s only one song in the film, composed by Jatin-Lalit.

n It is also real time?

It?s not real time, real time. But yes, it?s about just one night in a motel. And it?s raining that one night. So I tortured my actors. They had to come to the sets, wear the same clothes and stay wet all the time. All of the cast has been extremely co-operative. For someone as big as Shilpa Shetty, she too had no qualms and did exactly what we expected her to do. For the director in me, Khamosh was a great experience.

n Why did you cast Shilpa for the role?

From what I had seen of Shilpa in her other films, I felt she had a lot more potential in her. And she hadn?t done a role like this before. It?s got a lot of shades. We worked out a different look for her. We gave her new hair, a new attitude and style. To present an actor in a new form is very challenging for me as a director. I have to convince the audience that I can do that. She was working on a start-to-finish schedule for the first time and that is one of the main reasons Shilpa agreed to do the film.

n But she also adds star value to your film, which has largely unknown faces?

Yes, she does. Her star value will no doubt help the film. Shilpa Shetty after all is a name. It will be a very interesting thing for the audience to see Shilpa like this ? completely running away from her Dhadkan image.

n Looking back, was it the controversial theme of Oops! which made people sit up and take notice of Deepak Tijori the director?

The theme was very new then. After that other films were made on that theme. It was my first attempt at directing and I wanted to make a film I would always be proud of. Something having my own conviction. Khamosh, like Oops!, is not just another thriller. It doesn?t have murders happening one after the other.

n But you can?t ignore the box-office also, since your own money is at stake here?

No, the box-office has to be kept in mind. I saw Oops! in the theatre and I suddenly realised that they were laughing in the serious moments. I asked myself what?s going on here? I must be going wrong somewhere. I realised my mistakes. In Khamosh I have tried to make the film in such a way that once the audiences are in the theatres, they will be completely glued to their seats.

n And how do you intend to get them to the theatres?

There are various modes of marketing. Controversies are there to get people in. (Laughs). After making the films, small producers like us are left with so little money for the publicity of the film. We are still trying to pull it through. Unfortunately there are so few takers for small films in India. The reason why Page 3 worked was the whole uniqueness of the concept, its newness. You have to give the audience something new.

n Your film has just one song. Kaal again has one item number. Are songless films here to stay?

Films with songs should also be there. There should be a nice mix. Darna Mana Hai had one song. Long time back, the Rajesh Khanna film Ittefaq had no songs. So the concept has been tried before. I just want Khamosh to work. That would be very encouraging for the film industry as a whole ? something different, something new.

n Tell us a little bit about your next film, Fareb.

It is an emotional thriller, more of a family-based film. It stars Manoj Bajpai and Shilpa Shetty with Shamita playing the other woman. It?s about how this one relationship cost this man more than he expected. It?s like this fatal attraction which destroys the common man. In many ways, it is a very mainstream film with my own flavours. Fareb is more in line with the kind of films Bhatt saab used to make.

n Did you always want to become a director?

Direction was at the back of my mind. I was a very observant actor. I would find out which lens the cameraman is using or what the depth of the lens meant to the camera. I was a very nosy actor. I used to be very excited at Bhatt saab directing me. The great high of a director seeing his own painting on celluloid is so beautiful. I learnt a lot from Bhatt saab ? he taught me how to be a heartless film-maker on the editing table and cut out portions not necessary to the script.

n Why haven?t you acted in your own films?

I am at a stage where I am experimenting with my own directing talents. I feel that if I act too, I may not do complete justice to my directional abilities. Once I am more settled as a director, perhaps I can take on a role which I can handle.