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Still in the fray!

Director Subhash Kapoor hopes the setbacks in the World Cup won't affect the performance of his film

TAKING ON THE ODDS A still from Say Salaam India

India's rout at the Cricket World Cup has not dampened the spirit of debutant director Subhash Kapoor, whose "Say Salaam India" is releasing this week. He feels when it comes to cricket; all is never lost in this country. "I still remember one of the columns of the late Harishankar Parsai, who wrote that Indians show maximum optimism when it comes to cricket. People expect event Maninder Singh to clobber Malcom Marshall for six boundaries."

He expects by the time the film is out people would make an objective assessment of our team's performance.

"If we had released the film with "Hattrick", released two weeks ago, the impact would have been much more. For the loss against Bangladesh was a bigger shock.

After that, every fan knew in the heart of hearts that we could make a hasty exit. And there is no big release this week."

Also, he feels with the Cup dream over, people will return to theatres. The film is being released by Adlabs with 100 prints across the country.

"We are targeting both multiplexes and single screen theatres."

With few days to go for the release, Subhash says he is working with the marketing team to change the promotion strategy. "The media has overtly linked the film with the World Cup. The films talks of a group of underdogs take on a privileged lot as well as about the behind the scene manipulations."

Subhash, who started his career as a documentary filmmaker making films for National Geographic and Discovery has used some real life instances on the pitch to bring authenticity to the script.

"For instance, one of the boys bowls with a broken jaw like Kumble did in the Windies. The most hilarious is the one involving Sehwag and Shoaib Akhtar. During the Pakistan tour when Sehwag repeatedly ducked Shoaib Akhtar's bouncers, Shoaib remarked if he has the guts, he should hit him out of the park. In return, Sehwag asked the wicketkeeper, if your bowler were a beggar!"

ANUJ KUMAR

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