Akshay likely to act in AIDS film of Priyadarshan

"Akshay knows the subject. I have not given him the script yet. We may go with Akshay and if not him then newcomers. Whatever I tell him he will do it because of the rapport and great relation that we share," Priyadarshan told PTI.

"I have never forced anybody to do a film with me and I will not do that ever. So I will tell him, if he is interested I will do it with him," he said.

Earlier Aamir Khan was to act in the film but things did not materialise. "I had narrated to Mr Khan and he was excited about it. He asked me about the script, which I did not give him. So that was completely my mistake. Now he is too tied up with other works. I have to release the film next year. I may go without him," Priyadarshan said.

Priyadarshan, who has made commercial films like `Hera Pheri`, `Garam Masala`, `Bhool Bhulaiyaa` and others, is attempting to make yet another movie meant for international festivals.

"The problem is this film is art house type, it is not a commercial film. It is not a big budget film for the actors to get excited about. It is for international festivals. I am trying to get an entry for this film at Cannes, Berlin or Toronto film festivals," the national award winning filmmaker said.

Priyan`s recent Tamil film `Kanchivaram` was shown at Toronto festival and garnered appreciation from all quarters. "Like how Prakash Raj was excited about my Tamil film `Kanchivaram` that won national award. I am not making this film for money, but for my own satisfaction. So the actors in it have to show excitement," he said.

The 55-year-old filmmaker has been talking about this project since 2009.
It has been learnt that after Priyadarshan wraps up his current project `Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal`, he would start work on the untitled AIDS film, which will be without songs, comedy and free of commercial trappings.

"We have started working on this. We are almost at the end of scripting stage. We are deciding how to go ahead. I want to start it in December. The film requires approximately 20 days of shoot. It is a short film of 90 minutes," Priyadarshan said.

Earlier, filmmakers Revathy and Onir had explored the subject (AIDS) in their films `Phir Milenge` (2004) and `My Brother Nikhil` (2005), respectively.

While `Phir Milenge` had a star-studded cast including Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Abhishek Bachchan, `My Brother Nikhil` featured Sanjay Suri, Juhi Chawla and Purab Kohli.

Both films did not have a successful run at the box office but they received critical acclaim. "Those films were commercial not realistic. I am trying to make something like `Kanchivaram`. I am not trying to sell my film, put big posters and earn money," Priyadarshan said.

"It is a very serious subject. We are trying to say that do not ridicule people who have AIDS. It is also like any other disease like cancer, chikungunya...so do not ridicule or outcast those people. That is the message of the film," he said.