Priyadarshan relents, but accepts 'Gangnam style' song

Filmmaker Priyadarshan is not much into item songs. When an item song was brought into his last Hindi release "Tezz", he had rebelled against the producer, Ratan Jain and disowned the product. It is surprising then how he agreed to include an item song in his new film "Rangrezz".

It was only after initial reservations that he was okay with the desi version of "Gangnam style" to be part of the Vashu Bhagnani production, which features the producer's son Jackky in the lead.

"Look, I don't want to come across as the party-pooper every time. I don't want to get the reputation of a director, who comes in the way of songs and music in every film," said Priyadarshan.

"Initially, I felt the 'Gangnam style' track didn't fit into 'Rangrezz'. You have to understand this is not one of my lighter films. 'Rangrezz' is not a comedy. And there's no way an item number can be interpolated into the plot. But then Vashu Bhagnani and I had discussions over the song. We both agreed finally that the film needed a big promotional track," he added.

The "Gangnam style" number, the rights of which were bought from Korean singer Psy, is now part of the opening credit titles in "Rangrezz", which released Friday.

"That's what Vashu and I agreed to. I have to tell you, working with Vashu Bhagnani, I was very comfortable. Making this film was a pleasant experience because the producer didn't give me a hard time. Also, I worked with my cinematographer Santosh Sivan again after many years.

"Santosh had shot my second Hindi film 'Gardish' with Jackie Shroff. Now in my film, starring Jackky Bhagnani, Santosh gave the same rugged look. So from Jackie to Jackky is like a full circle in my career," he said.

Priyadarshan insists that "Rangrezz" is very different from its source material, the Tamil film "Naadodigal".

"The Tamil film is three hours and 10 minutes long. 'Rangrezz' is two hours 10 minutes long. We've cut down the length by an hour. The focus here is more on Jackky's character, and not because he is the producer's son. But because that's how we rewrote the film. And Jackky is a fine actor."