Silsiilay sizzlers: (From top) Riya Sen, Tabu and Celina Jaitley in the Khalid Mohamed film

Yesterday, he was angry with his fellow critics. Today, film writer-turned-director Khalid Mohamed is furious with his Silsiilay producer Vashu Bhagnani. And his latest tryst with direction has been such a bitter experience that Khalid has decided to bid adieu to making films and stick to mauling and mulling them on paper.

?I am not blaming anyone, but the strategy, promos and posters of the film were very ill-conceived,? he says. ?There was hardly a poster of the film in the whole of Mumbai. My producer was on a different wavelength altogether. He was depending on me to get publicity hoardings, too. In fact, seven of the hoardings have been given by friends.?

Silsiilay is Khalid?s third attempt at direction having already called the shots for the Hrithik Roshan-Karisma Kapoor-starrer Fiza and the Shabana Azmi-Urmila Matondkar-starrer Tehzeeb. And like his first two films, Khalid again tries to delve into the feminine spirit, from the tagline ? ?What women really want? ? to the cast, which comprises five mainstream heroines.

?I have always tried to bring a bit of sensibility within the mainstream format,? Khalid says. ?With Silsiilay, too, I tried to make a movie within the norms. I had seen this Jean Cocteau play titled Human Voices which is a telephonic monologue where a woman calls her lover asking him to go to hell, yet trying to hang on to him. So I wanted to make this film exploring the complexities of man-woman relationships, why someone says ?yes? when she wants to say ?no?.?

So friends within the industry were called up and Khalid got a lovely ensemble cast including arty faces like Tabu, Rahul Bose and Kay Kay Menon and more mainstream names like Bhumika Chawla, Celina Jaitley, Riya Sen, Ashmit Patel and Jimmy Shergill. Santosh Sivan again got behind the viewfinder while Himesh Reshammiya was asked to set the tunes with Khalid-favourite A. R. Rahman missing from action.

?Tabu was supposed to do Tehzeeb with me but it didn?t happen and Urmila was brought in, who was supposed to do Fiza,? reveals Khalid. But what are so-called non-actors like Riya and Celina doing in the ace critic?s film? ?Celina, I have known from her Miss India days. I believe she is a serious actress in her own right. The little pauses she takes in the scenes with Kay Kay are quite amazing. I know people believe glamour and acting are contradictory but not so with Celina. As for Riya, she is like her character in the film ? an immature girl who becomes mature. She was always my first choice.?

But if megastar friends like Shah Rukh Khan can do the commentary and Amitabh Bachchan can launch the soundtrack, why can?t they be part of his cast? ?I can?t aspire for anything more,? admits Khalid. ?I know, despite what the trade papers may say, my producer will recover the Rs 2 crore he spent on the making of Silsiilay. If I get into the big star business, I am not capable of getting the producer?s money back. In fact, I have always wanted to make even smaller films.?

But now, the man doesn?t want to make films at all. ?Everyone expects discounted goods from me. I?d like to say bye-bye to cinema now. It?s time to push the proverbial envelope further. I am completing M.F. Hussain?s biography by the year-end. I don?t think I will feel the itch again to make another film,? Khalid signs off.