Shoojit Sircar compares 'Shoebite' troubles with miscarriage

Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar, who got an opportunity to direct megastar Amitabh Bachchan in "Shoebite", says his biggest down is that film, which is Big B's milestone performance, is not getting released.

So far the director had two releases - "Yahaan" (2005) and "Vicky Donor" (2012) and his "Madras Cafe", a political thriller, is coming out Aug 23. In between, he made "Shoebite", which is trapped in controversy over its rights putting its release in peril.

"My biggest down was 'Shoebite'. It is very close to my heart," Sircar told IANS.

"Whenever it comes out, I can say it is Mr. Bachchan's milestone performance. This is one of his best performances. It's unfortunate it didn't release, but after that down I don't care about anything."

If not for me, they should do something for Mr. Bachchan, he feels.

"Our film is like our child and I feel even production house should treat them the same way. For me, 'Shoebite' not getting release is like a miscarriage. I had cried a lot and I was very upset about it," he said.

Although he got his due with his film on sperm donation "Vicky Donor", he takes accolades with a pinch of realism.

Taking a pragmatic look on success and failure, he said: "The industry dances with you in your success, but if your next film fails, again you come down to zero. So, I don't care much.

"Everybody started respecting me after 'Vicky Donor'. Now I don't know...if I'll make a flop film, the respect will be gone and to regain that respect, again I will have to make a 'Vicky Donor'."

His "Madras Cafe", his second film with producer John Abraham as a producer, is his maiden attempt at a spy film and he is confident of showing new things in the film.

John plays lead role in the film.

He said: "I personally feel people have not seen real spy film yet, so I think the audience will get to see real spy film through 'Madras Cafe'. John is not the hero, he is playing a character in the film. It's a very serious movie."

"I don't say I am a master of such genre. This is my first attempt to make a real spy film... For the first time, the Indian audience will see how a real intelligence or RAW works. How much I will be successful I don't know, but I want people to educate a bit about Sri Lanka before watching the film," he added.

What about the unusual title "Madras Cafe"?

He said: "There was a lot of debate with the title but I was adamant and I have cleared that in the promo itself. 'Jaffna' was earlier title, but when we were working on the script, I thought 'Madras Cafe' is apt and goes with the plot."