Patekar plays a director in Rajaa's film

Courtesy: Upala KBR, Mid-Day

In what is a classic case of real life turning into reel life Nana Patekar has been signed on to play one of the leads in veteran director Bharathi Rajaa's 50th film, Cinema.Rajaa has launched stars like Sridevi, Kamal Hassan and Amol Palekar, as well as many directors who assisted him.

Nana confirms the development, "I am doing Cinema because I liked the director, his work and the story very much. It's too early to talk about my role now; all I can say is that I play a director in Cinema."

Peculiar titles

Says Rajaa, from Chennai, "Yes, I will be doing my 50th film, Bharathi Rajaa Cinema. That's how all my films are named - Bharathi Rajaa Red Rose, Bharathi Rajaa Lovers, Bharathi Rajaa Savere Wali Gadi. We begin shooting in March and the film will have two more heroes and three new girls. Cinema will be a bilingual, made in Tamil and Hindi."

Is it autobiographical?

He laughs, "I can't tell you that. A part of the director's life is there in every film of his. This film too will have a chunk of my life. The story is about a director, and the people he meets in the journey of his life. There will be a film within a film, where Nana is launching a film with a new girl. The moment Nana heard the story, he caught hold of my hand and said, 'let's do the film immediately'. He was so excited."

The director launched Sridevi with his first film, Pathinaru Vayathinile. Is the actress still in touch with him? "She treats me with the same respect as she did in her first film. I have launched 15 new girls, but Sridevi is the best of them all.

She has given me the most respect. There was a spark in her eyes, they had so much meaning in them, that I decided to cast her in Pathinaru Vayathinile. She and Amol Palekar, whom I launched, too, did the Hindi version of the film, called Solva Sawaan."