When Brett Ratner (inset) got ready to show Kites: The Remix to producer Rakesh Roshan and star Hrithik Roshan, along with executives from Reliance Big Pictures, the film's distributors, he was very nervous.
The man who directed Anthony Hopkins in Red Dragon and Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in three Rush Hour movies, admits that he wasn't sure if the Roshans would like his version.Among other things, the 130-minute long film had been cut down to 90 minutes. "I knew it had worked out well when I saw a big smile on Hrithik's face," he says chuckling, in an exclusive interview to Rediff.com "He said, You did an amazing thing. I did not even miss the dancing."
The Brett Ratner version will have his name above the title, as in the case of his Hollywood films. Only a small percentage of Hollywood directors have that kind of a privilege.
Ratner, one of the busiest writers, directors and producers in Hollywood whose Red Dragon, Rush Hour movies and X-Men: The Last Stand have grossed more than $1.5 billion in the last 12 years (without factoring in inflationary rate), says he was not trying to "make my own film" with the remix edition.
"I have kept the style of the film-makers," he adds. "But I did away with most of the dancing because it was making the film too long for international audiences. I also got the American score added, and improved on the sound. The film sounded too thin to me. Now, when you watch the remixed edition you will feel like you are watching a big Hollywood action film."
He says he got into making the new version of Kites many months ago when Amit Khanna, chairman, Reliance Big Pictures, came to see him in Hollywood with Rakesh Roshan.
"They showed the film to me and asked what could be done to make it appeal to non-Indian audiences," he recalls.
"Of the few Bollywood films I have seen including 3 Idiots which I liked quite a bit, I found the length was too much of a problem," he says, speaking from his Los Angeles office.
"In Indian films, everything is large. They push the drama to melodrama, the comedy becomes broad comedy. It is not wrong. But it is a cultural thing. For an international audience, I wanted to turn Kites into a more compact film. It was clear to me, Rakesh Roshan and Reliance that this film should reach an audience that does not usually see Bollywood films."
He pauses for a minute, relishing the thoughts of the first meeting. "I gave them my opinion, and next came the tricky part. They asked me if I could take up the project."
Image: Barbara Mori and Hrithik Roshan
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