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Anil Kapoor is glowing and he attributes it to the incredible feedback his first film as producer, GANDHI MY FATHER, has garnered. “It’s overwhelming the way critics and audiences have reacted to the film. Although I released the film on 3rd August, I expect the box-office numbers to actually takeoff from 10th August onwards. A film like GANDHI MY FATHER takes time to grow,” Anil tells me.

Meanwhile, the enthusiastic and enterprising producer is ready to start his second venture. This one’s a complete departure from his first film. The new project, a laughathon, is called SHORTCUT and stars Akshaye Khanna, Arshad Warsi and Amrita Rao [VIVAH] in principal roles. Neeraj Vora, who scripted a number of Priyadarshan comedies and had also directed PHIR HERA PHERI, is directing SHORTCUT.

Why isn’t Anil acting in SHORTCUT? Fine, he couldn’t fit into the role of Mahatma Gandhi or Harilal Gandhi in GANDHI MY FATHER, but he could’ve essayed a pivotal role in SHORTCUT. “I’ve signed two films as an actor -- Subhash Ghai’s YUVRAAJ and Yash Raj’s TASHAN -- and the dates were clashing with SHORTCUT. Now that I’ve floated my production house, I didn’t want to put SHORTCUT on hold to accommodate my acting commitments. That’s the reason I am not acting in it,” he divulges.

While on GANDHI MY FATHER, the international version will be released at a latter date. For those who’re unaware, the film has been shot in two versions simultaneously -- Hindi and English. While the Hindi version has released in India and abroad, the English version will follow later. “Kishore Lulla [Eros] and I will take a call on that sometime later,” he states.