'Ek Tha Tiger' most commercial film of mine: Kabir Khan

After two realistic projects 'New York' and 'Kabul Express', Kabir Khan says he is all set to make his most commercial film with Yash Raj's 'Ek Tha Tiger', starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. "'Ek Tha Tiger' is the most commercially accessible mainstream film of mine.

It is not just the starcast but also the story which is larger than life. The subject demands that the story telling is flamboyant here," Kabir told PTI. The film, which brings together Katrina and Salman, will see Kabir make an attempt to blend his art of portraying realistic stories on screen and the demands of a masala entertainer.

"There are two parts to making a film. One comes from what is inherent to you as a person and a director. That cannot change as there is certain craft which comes into play here. "On the other hand, there is a certain demand of a narrative. If you can blend the two together well, nothing better than that. My endeavour is to do that only. I want my aesthetics to be intact," said Kabir.

John Abraham starrer 'New York', inspired by the 9/11 attacks, was his last release. The director, who talked about the issue of terrorism in his film 'Kabul Express' as well, said he was not under the pressure of audience exportations while scripting 'Ek Tha Tiger'. "I wasn't carrying that baggage. I never thought that I had to write something that was bigger or better than 'New York'.

The characters did what they were expected to do in the story. "There is this ongoing trend to make a sequel in order to take forward the hit formula. However, I never had any intention to do that with 'New York' because as far as I am concerned, the story of 'New York' is over. The film had met a natural end so there was no scope left whatsoever to take it any further."

The director said he is taking to a different format of story-telling with 'Ek Tha Tiger', which will be a big change from that of 'Kabul Express' or 'New York'. "I intend to bring in some growth in terms of story telling. Now that's a big shift that you would see in 'Ek Tha Tiger'. While 'Kabul Express' and 'New York' had to be narrated in a certain style, they couldn't have been flamboyant or over stated. I think I can afford to do that in 'Ek Tha Tiger'." 'Ek Tha Tiger' kickstarts shooting this month and is aiming for Summer 2012 release.

(PTI / Mid - Day)