Thank you Imtiaz Ali for delaying my film: Anurag Basu

After the  debacle  of  Kites,  Anurag Basu’s  much talked about Ranbir Kapoor-Priyanka Chopra starrer Silence has  been muffled, thanks to  Anurag’s pal Imtiaz Ali’s delay  in starting his own Ranbir starrer Rock Star and Anurag’s decision to start Silence only when Rock Star is done.

 The shooting for Silence was expected to begin this month, but has now  been pushed forward to January 2011. And no, Anurag who is still reeling under  the  impact of the failure of Kites, won’t start another film to fill up the sudden yawning stretch in his timetable.

Anurag says, “My script is ready. I’m ready to assist Imtiaz while I wait for my own film to start. I’m thankful to Imtiaz for the delay. Because of his film, I’m getting to spend time with my children, read books and watch films. I’ve also just wrapped up my talk-show in Bengali for which I got to meet and interact with the legendary actor Soumitra Chatterjee and  singer Manna Dey.”

The delay has also given Anurag a chance to intensify his research for his upcoming Kishore Kumar bio-pic. He says, “The  more I dig into Kishoreda’s life, the more complex  his  character gets. And I don’t want to  make the film on selected aspects of  his personality. I want it all.”

Anurag will now spend  time in Kolkata meeting with artistes and  friends of Kishore Kumar. He also wants  to speak to singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle who were very close  to Kishore Kumar.

Ranbir, on the other hand, has been watching  Kishore Kumar  flicks non-stop and would have to get familiar and comfortable with Kishore Kumar’s body language and personality.

Says Anurag, “It’s a double challenge for Ranbir next year. After preparing for Silence , he will have to get ready for Kishore Kumar. I suddenly have some months of respite. Otherwise I’d have gone straight from Kites to Silence to Kishore Kumar.”