Smitten by an alien

Milap Zaveri who has penned several blockbusters like Kaante, Masti and the more recent Heyy Babyy, is all set to turn director with a love story inspired by the popular concept that men are from Mars and women from Venus.

"I wondered what would happen if a woman from loveless Venus arrived on Earth in search of ishq, pyaar, mohabbat. That's how the idea of Jaane Kahan se Aayi Hai sparked off," explains Zaveri.

Crazy concept
He says that when he discussed the concept with friends they told him it was crazy and would never work. But he refused to be disillusioned by their apparent cynicism. "There's a lot of hatred, violence and unhappiness on our planet. But there's love and hope too that survives against all odds. We've had premkahanis that have bridged the divide between the rich and the poor, castes and creeds. Why not show a man falling in love with an alien from outer space? It would give a new twist to the old story," he reasons.

The need to direct his own film, he states, has grown with every passing month. While shooting in Australia for Heyy Babyy, he was almost like debutant director Sajid Khan's shadow. It's different Zaveri also drew close to one of the film's leading men, Riteish Deshmukh, and one day narrated this script to him.

Deshmukh loved it and immediately agreed to be a part of the film. "Having Riteish on my side was encouraging because he's a salebale star. I guess, what excited him was that for the first time in his career after Tujhe Meri Kasam, he's getting to do a love story that's wacky and fun but without the usual slapstick humour," says Zaveri.

He then took the project to his mentor Nikhil Advani in the hope that he'd recommend him to a producer friend. To his delight Advani wanted to invest in the film himself.

With Mukesh Talreja and Orion Pictures coming in, Zaveri dream has turned into a multi-crore project which will be shot in unexplored foreign locales and will have an array of special effects. "SFX are essential to the story because my heroine Ayesha Takia is an alien who arrives in a UFO. We are designing a look for her that's hot and far from earthy," he laughs.