Excited to work on my first romantic film `Veda`: Onir

New Delhi: Filmmaker Onir, best known for helming National Award winning film `I Am`, is looking forward to direct his first romantic film `Veda` which is loosely based on William Shakespeare`s play Hamlet. "I am very excited about `Veda`, which is a mainstream film. It is an intense love story and is based on Hamlet. `Veda` will be my first love story and I am really looking forward to it. We have just finished scripting and hopefully by March we will do the casting. We have approached few actors but we have not finalised yet," Onir told reporters in an interview. Veda has been co-produced by actor Sanjay Suri, who previously collaborated with Onir for `I Am`. The 43-year-old director made his Bollywood debut with critically acclaimed film `My Brother, Nikhil`, which dealt with AIDS and same-sex relationships. He went on to make off-beat films like `Bas Ek Pal` and `Sorry Bhai`. Onir feels that both mainstream and off-beat films are important for the growth of the industry and theatrical space and a young audience have ensured that every film has a fair chance at the Box Office. "All sort of films should be made and that is the sign of the health of the industry. There should be blockbusters and the 100 crore club. But I feel that there is no competition for people to appreciate non mainstream cinema," said Onir, who was in the capital to participate in the finale of PVR Nest `Steer to Safety campaign`. "For mainstream cinema has to survive and similarly strong parallel cinema gives boost to mainstream cinema. Our genre has given mainstream films more space to play with their content. So now I think directors of mainstream cinema are also taking risks in telling different stories," he added. Onir, whose film `I Am` was not telecast on Doordarshan because it did not have `U` certification, feels that censorship in India needs a change in the outlook. "My film won the National Award but had no place on TV. Censorship in India is highly questionable. We are an adult society and so adult content should be allowed on television in certain time slot. Today children are anyway exposed to so much more. We have to talk about it. You can have such films slotted after 9 pm at night. Before that you can have U/A films. So I feel there is a lack of wanting to grow up," he said. PTI