The veteran will make a film on paternity issues

Subhash K Jha (MID-DAY; June 17, 2012)

 

Manoj Kumar is all set to return to direction with a film called DNA Report. This will be the veteran’s first directorial venture since the badly-received Clerk in 1989.

The director says, “I haven’t been able to make films because of my back issues. But now, my script is ready. DNA Report is about a man who is proven to be a child’s father after a DNA test despite having no emotional or physical relationship with the mother.”

Kumar laments not having actors who can perform difficult roles. “I don’t have the comfort of working with actors who can tell truths in the most understated manner. So I’ve to select from the stars today.

I have zeroed in on an actor but cannot divulge more until everything is finalised.” Rumours are that Kumar has chosen Akshay Kumar.

Akshay is a self-confessed Manoj Kumar fan. Kumar says, “Akshay respects me. In his film Namastey London he said, ‘If you want to know what India is all about, watch Purab Aur Pashchim.”

Kumar may go for a new leading lady. Says the actor, “I have an eye for talent.”

Commenting on his long absence from direction says, “I am not greedy. While my contemporaries Dharmendra and Shashi Kapoor acted in nearly 300 films each, I’ve done hardly 35 films in my entire career.”