Apoorva Lakhia teams up with Zayed Khan yet again

Mumbai, Sep 8 (IANS) Zayed Khan-starrer 'Mission Istaanbul' might not have worked at the box office, but that hasn't stopped its director Apoorva Lakhia from signing on the actor for another project.

Lakhia has roped in Zayed for a remake of a big-budgeted Hollywood gangster epic. The film, which is being produced by Sa Re Ga Ma (HMV), is about the journey of a father and son through a series of adventures.

'HMV is right now in final stages of negotiations with the American producers of that film. So I wouldn't like to reveal the title on record. But, yes, it's a very different and unusual take on gangsterism,' Lakhia told IANS.

Three years ago, Lakhia cast Amitabh Bachchan in 'Ek Ajnabee' - an almost frame-by-frame remake of the Denzel Washington-starrer 'Man On Fire' - without bothering with copyrights. But he wants his next remake done in a proper manner and says he will buy the rights of the Hollywoood movie.

'Times have changed now. Warner Brothers, for example, is letting Indian filmmakers do remakes of their films while remaining co-producers on the adapted projects. I think Nikhil Advani is co-producing a desi version of Warner's 'Wedding Crashers' directed by David Dhawan. We'd like to outright buy the remake rights for the American film that I'm planning to remake.'

Earlier this week Lakhia, who was busy with his brother's wedding in the US, flew down to Bangkok to narrate the script to Zayed, who is shooting for 'Blue' there.

Apart from this, Lakhia is also set to start a film for Suniel Shetty and Ekta Kapoor.