It's challenging to adapt a book: Gowariker

Ashutosh Gowariker loves to tell his stories long, but this time he has preferred to keep it short and sweet with his latest release Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, that releases today.

Ashutosh Gowariker loves to tell his stories long, but this time he prefers to keep it short and sweet with his latest release Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey that releases today. He was present at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, along with actors Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, the other day to promote the movie.



"Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey is my shortest film. Till now, all my movies justified their length. Lagaan had a cricket sequence and Jodhaa Akbar also had a huge canvas. Khelein on the other hand is a periodical thriller, and had to be short and snappy."

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Was there any pressure from the producer to curtail the length of the film? Producer Ajay Bijli answers the query for us. He tells hindustantimes.com, "There was absolutely no pressure from our side. In this business, Saraswati precedes Laxmi. The format of the film was such that it couldn't have been very long. Our primary focus was to make the narrative interesting, as that matters the most."

The film based on Manini Chatterjee's book Do and Die, tells the story of unknown heroes of independence. But why the the title Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey? Says Ashutosh Gowariker, "These revolutionaries, who came together from different backgrounds fight for the freedom at a very young age. Unhone khelne koodne ki umra mein hi jaan ki baazi laga di. That's how the title of the film came to life."

But to condense a huge book into less than 3 hours of cinema, was a daunting task for Gowariker. "If a woman's beauty is described in 5 pages in a book, the same has to depicted in 5 seconds in a movie. It is challenging to convert the text of a book in the form of a movie."

For actor Abhishek Bachchan, enacting every scene in the movie was very tough. Says the actor, "I found every scene very difficult to depict. I feel as an actor, one should get out of their comfort zone. That's how you grow."