Tanveer Khan with Irrfan and Konkona Sensharma

Tanveer Khan came two years back with the John Abraham-Bipasha Basu starrer, Madhoshi, where this young director turned Ron Howard’s Oscar-winning film, A Beautiful Mind, into a passionate love story.

“Yes, I enjoyed the experience. I’d have enjoyed it even more if the film had worked better at the box-office. But I don’t regret anything about Madhoshi. The only problem is, when your first film fails no one wants to give you a second chance,” says Tanveer, who’s finally ready with his second film.

“I can’t claim Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante is an original film. It’s again an adaptation of an American film, though not one as well-known as A Beautiful Mind,” confesses Tanveer who has written innumerable hit potboilers for Indra Kumar and Kuku Kohli.

Tanveer candidly admits Deadline is adapted from Luis Mandoka’s Trapped.The original film starred Kevin Bacon as a serial kidnapper who seeks his battered wife’s support to kidnap a rich victim.

Tanveer says, “I’ve turned the Hollywood film completely inside-out. Even Madhoshi, you’ve to admit, wasn’t a straight copy. And Deadline is even less connected to the source material.”

What about the cast volte-face, from John-Bipasha to the more arthouse-like Irrfan-Konkona? “The cast always comes after the script. When I closed my eyes I could see the actors I wanted for Deadline. And I got them all.”

EXTRA FREE

Clearly the era of Hollywood remakes isn’t over. While Tanveer Khan is ready with his own take on Trapped, Raksha Mistry who had ripped off Collateral to make The Killer, is now doing her own version of the Jennifer Aniston starrer, Derailed. Suneel Darshan’s Shaka Laka Boom Boom is inspired by the Oscar-winning Amadeus. And the format for Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq is borrowed from Love Actually. Lifts actually?