Give him a break

Kunal Kohli can get finance for Break Ke Baad, but no one’s ready to give him `4 crore for a period film he wants to make.

Most of Kunal Kohli’s filmography spans movies about relationships. However, he isn’t necessarily satisfied with that. The director-producer has had a script, director and actors for a period film ready for a while, but is yet to find someone to finance it. “I can get Rs 40 crore to make a film with a top star, but I can’t get Rs 4 crore to make this film,” says Kohli, laughing at his predicament. “I have a very young avant-garde filmmaker for this project with a new star cast, but no one wants to give me that kind of money. I’m hoping

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Break Ke Baad

will be able to help me with this.”

Kohli’s period film revolves around four young boys who live in Barkatnagar, Thane in the ’80s. Although this is only one of the many other subjects he wants to experiment with, he believes, “in doing what you are best at”. “I enjoy talking about relationships because they define us. But there are also many other subjects that I want to work on,” he rues.

His film

Break Ke Baad

. releasing this Friday, stars Deepika Padukone and Imran Khan. And the news of their much-spoken-about chemistry on screen has reached Kohli’s ears as well. “Everyone eventually asks me about their on-screen pairing. That chemistry can only come from the script, which has to tell them what to do. Of course, both the actors also took that forward,” adds Kohli quickly, before he is misconstrued.

Even though Kohli has just signed on the lead actors for his next film, he refuses to disclose their names before his weekend release. “It all changes if your film is successful; equations with people change, it becomes easier to make a film and you easily get funding,” says Kohli, before adding that he still hasn’t reached a stage where he can accept failures easily. “I have faced such situations with

Mujhse Dosti Karoge

, when I had the biggest star at that time, Hrithik Roshan, and a banner like Yash Raj. It is still heartbreaking to see a film not do well,” he says.