The duo are back with Daraar, which they hope will give them a hat-trick of hits on the Bollywood marquee. The directors spoke to Rediff On The NeT correspondent Syed Firdaus Ashraf about their latest movie, and future plans.

Let us start with the cliched question: How did you get into films?

Our uncle, S T Kurani, was a film editor. When we were children, we used to visit studios and see him at work - and that prompted us to join the industry. Our uncle taught us that if we wanted to direct, then we must first learn the intricacies of editing, so we worked as editors for ten years before venturing into direction.

You have said that your first two Gujarati films as directors Sajan Tara Sambhadna and Moti Gharana Chor Ma - were both hits. Why then did you switch to Hindi?

One of the reasons is that at present, there is a slump in Gujarati films. And besides, we have not got involved in Hindi films, so there is no time to do films in Gujarati right now.

Your films are thrillers - have you never thought of following the recent trend of making films based on political subjects and personalities?

Actually, our first Hindi film, Agni Kaal, was a political thriller based on a municipal commissioner - the Khairnar of Gujarat. We were impressed with his achievements and so decided to make a film on his life and doings.

Baazigar risked rejection at the box office by casting Shah Rukh Khan in a negative role - what was your thinking when you did the film?

Baazigar, for us, was an out and out thriller. Unlike the average Hindi film where you can predict the outcome of the story even at the half way stage, this film kept the suspense up throughout, we have the murders taking place before the interval and leave the audience wondering about what happens next. And we needed a strong actor to play the role - Shah Rukh was a good choice, as he is not a 'villain' and yet could play a negative character to perfection.

Akshay Kumar was unknown before you cast him in Khiladi - was that merely a gamble that paid off?

See, Akshay was an unknown, he had only two releases, when we signed him for Khiladi. We were nervous, yes, because both his films had flopped by then. But somehow, when we heard the script we felt that he was the right choice for this film. In his earlier films, he had played the action hero, in Khiladi we show him as a fun-loving type and the action only comes at the climax. We think this is one reason why people liked the film.

And yes, we must mention this, that people accused us of remaking Khel Khel Mein (the Rishi Kapoor-Neetu Singh starrer). But the fact is, we had never seen that film, we took this assignment because we liked the story.

What are your forthcoming films Challia and Badshahabout?

Challia stars Ajay Devgan and Tabu, and is based on an ambitious young man who gets into trouble because of his ambition. He gets convicted for a murder he did not commit, and the bulk of the film is about how he solves the mystery. Badshah is our first film with Shah Rukh after Baazigar. And again, we have a powerful role for him in it, though we would not like to talk about it now.

Daraar, reports say, is a remake of the Julia Roberts starrer Sleeping With The Enemy- do you agree?

We direct films based on the stories that the writers give us. If he gets his inspiration from some English film it is not our fault. In fact, when the writer of Daraarnarrated the story to us, he told us that he had been inspired by Kiss Before Dying.We avoided seeing the English version, because we didn't want to be influenced by it.

Don't Daarar andAgni Sakshihave identical story lines?

Look, when we began shooting Daraar, Agni Sakshi had not gone on the floors. We haven't even seen that film till this day, so any resemblance is surely not our fault.

Why did you cast Arbaaz Khan in Daraar? Were you trying to give a newcomer a break?

Oh, we have known Arbaaz for quite some time, we thought he would suit this role and we wanted a new face - a face that would suit both as hero and as villain.

You also have Rishi Kapoor in this film, isn't that risky considering that his last two films flopped badly?

Our film was begun two years ago, and at the time Rishi Kapoor seemed the right choice. And anyway, you cannot write off an actor after a flop or two - in Daraar, you will see that Rishi's role is good and he has been well cast.

Though Khiladi and Baazigar were big hits, very few thrillers have been made since then. Is it because people prefer soft stories like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge?

We don't think there is any such thing - any film that is done well will click with the audience, whether it is a love story or a thriller. We happen to think thrillers are our strength, we like making movies that are full of suspense.

Has it never occurred to either of you to direct solo, rather than jointly?

Well, we think that two minds are better than one. Actually we are three brothers - Abbas, Mustan and Hussain. Hussain is our youngest brother, he has always been into editing.

Do you both ever quarrel while shooting?

Yes, many times. We can't recall any particular instance, but we do have arguments about the film we are making, and we always come to some kind of consensus.

Do you have a dream project?

Yes, a woman-oriented film for which we want to introduce a new girl. The trouble is, though, that producers are not interested in financing a film like that, with a new girl.

Then why not produce your own films?

We have certain commitments on hand, once we finish that we might produce our own film. Our thought is, in today's world a daughter is seen as a burden - we want to present the other side of the coin, show just how important a woman's role is in today's world.

In seven years, you have managed to make only four films, why is that?

We never work on more than two films at a time, unlike a lot of other directors. And we like to be involved in every aspect of our films, to concentrate on what we are doing. So we make fewer films, but then we also make better films.

Has success affected the Abbas-Mustan duo?

No. We still live in the Bhendi Bazaar area in Bombay, we haven't moved to the areas in the western suburbs where the film crowd hangs out though we have recently bought a flat in the Versova area. We are the same Abbas-Mustan we were ten years ago - ask the people who have known us then, they will tell you that we have not changed one bit after our success.

Abbas Mastan photograph: Jewella C Miranda
Film photographs: Venus