Tarun Mansukhani, the young and happening director of ‘Dostana’, who is currently spending sleepless nights scripting a sequel to his gay comedy tells Smita Mishra of Spicezee.com about what’s keeping him in New York these days and who’s going to be part of his next movie.

Tell us about your film’s screening in New York.

I am here for the screening of Dostana which has been selected in the iView Film Festival organised by the Engendered Society which aims at creating awareness on gender and sexuality. I was surprised when the film got selected but the organisers are very excited to have its screening. My film will open the Festival.

What made you select homosexuality as a theme of your movie Dostana, knowing fully well that it is still not openly acceptable in India?

Unless you make something new, you can’t tell with certainty what response it will get. The perception and thinking of the people about gay sex has changed dramatically, which of course was reflected in the tremendous response that Dostana got. You can’t tell the fate of a film unless you make it. So risk has to be taken somewhere.

What made you select such macho men John and Abhishek as the ‘gay pair’?

I chose such macho men as Abhi and John because when you cast men about whose sexuality you are so sure, the humour element is greater. Abhi was part of Dostana since the very beginning; however I took some time to decide on John.

Will Dostana Part 2 have the same cast? Is its storyline also similar?

The film right now is in the scripting stage, so I am unable to comment on its story. Abhishek and John are part of it of course. I am not sure who will play the female lead.

Tell us one special thing each about Abhishek. John and Priyanka?

The best thing about Abhishek is his comic timing which is just perfect! I have known him since long. He has no false ego and is a fantastic company.

John puts himself in your hands and obediently does what the director asks him to do. He is a director’s actor in the true sense. And his hard work is matchless.

I call Priyanka my other wife. We keep fighting all the time and enjoy each other’s company a lot. She is a dear friend.

Dostana was all fun and spice. Have you ever thought of making off-beat cinema?

I do. I want to make all sorts of movies and would be very happy making an art film.

Making a comedy is easy of difficult?

Extremely difficult. You need to have an extra punch line everywhere for having the fun factor. It should be such that it appeals to every one’s taste and is able to tickle the humour bone.

In India, films succeed also because of their music. Do you think this was the reason for Dostana’s success?

Ya, its true. In fact Dostana had great music because we really worked hard on it. In fact Vishal Shekhar took great pain, rejecting many tunes-before zeroing down on the final ones.

What are your upcoming ventures?

Right now I am solely occupied with Dostana Part 2.

Have you ever thought about acting as a career?

I have done small flicks in several movies. In fact I did a small role in Karan’s film also. However currently I am concentrating on direction only.

New Delhi: An oil spill off the coast of Gujarat that no one’s taking responsibility for is causing a big worry for fishermen. The black oily sludge has now spread more than 100 kms across the coastline of south Gujarat, right from Navasari to Tithal and even up to Daman. Locals as well as tourists are wondering where the foul-smelling chemical comes from.

Coming out of the shadows after almost a year, the contours of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious Rs 73,000-crore Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) project have started emerging in a big way. The state government has roped-in American networking and technology giant Cisco Systems as one of its strategic partners.
“We have signed an MoU with Cisco to make an investment in GIFT today and help us evolve our technology platform. The American giant is likely to invest over $2 billion in the project,” a top government official of GIFT said. Cisco is also expected to pick up some stake in the project. However, the details are still being worked and it will take about three-four months to finalise the deal, the official added.

When contacted, a Cisco spokesperson declined to comment on any investment-related or stake-related matters.

“All we can say is that we have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with GIFT,” he said. Under the MoU, Cisco will collaborate with GIFT Company Ltd in achieving its vision of becoming a world-class financial service centre with infrastructure and facilities that benchmark to global standards.

Cisco will bring together a portfolio of products, services, partners, platforms, solutions and make appropriate investment. A joint task force will be constituted to work out the legal, technical and financial aspects of the co-operation, sources said. While Cisco will acquire space in the project to set up its operations, it will also bring its existing business partners to set up their projects in GIFT, sources said. The project, a 50:50 joint venture between Gujarat Urban Development Corporation (GUDC) and IL&FS, is envisaged to come up over 1,000 acres of land at Shahpur village, located between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. The real estate cost of the project is Rs 34,774 crore.

A diamond-faceted, steel-and-glass clad GIFT building overlooking from a height of 350 metres (about 100 storeys) is to take concrete form here. A special economic zone for IT is also a part of the hub. Several allied business entities including clearing houses, depositories, regulatory bodies, banking institutions, financial service firms, state and Central government bodies, exchanges, technology, knowledge and education support providers are planning to have their setups here.

The entire ‘city’ is proposed to be self-sustainable with various segments, such as International Financial City, Domestic Financial City, e-Technology Park and an integrated township. A string of MoUs have been signed by different companies in the past to set up their operations here, including the Kotak Mahindra group that is planning to set up a financial centre in the area.

London-based financial advisor Chescor Capital’s has shown interest in acquiring 2 million sq ft, whereas Singapore-based Sembawang Engineers and Constructors (a subsidiary of Punj Lloyd) and Fairwood Consultant have inked pacts for 1 million sq ft each. Orix Corporation from Japan has also signed an MoU for 1 million square feet in the project.