Danny Boyle: Bollywood stars had no dates for me

Danny Boyle is the man of the moment. His film Slumdog Millionaire has wowed the West and won him countless awards – the most recent being the Golden Globe. The director behind Hollywood films like Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Millions and Sunshine says he had no choice but to take Anil kapoor as the rest of the so called A listers in Bollywood had no time for him.

“In Bollywood stars are so busy with their work that they don't have time. Even in Hollywood stars are not so busy which I found very strange,” says Danny whose first choice for the role of the quizmaster was Shah Rukh Khan and subsequently Amitabh Bachchan. However the director says that neither of the two biggest Bollywood stars had any time or dates for him.

“But later Lovleen introduced me to Anil Kapoor and he was the only actor who had the dates to do my film. Then I watched his films like Mr. India and Taal and I loved his performance so I signed him but afterwards I realized that he is the only candidate who could do this role,” says Boyle.

One of the main concerns for the popular international director was the accent. Boyle was worried about the accent and the fluency in English as far as Anil was concerned.

“I thought we would have to work hard for dubbing but when I met Anil he could speak English and that also in an American accent. And not only with Anil… I enjoyed working with Lovleen also. I didn't want a 20 year old boy or girl to play a character of 6 year old kid and so Lovleen suggested that we could take three different kids to play the same character and these kids were brilliant. Even for the characters of Jamal and Latika played by Freida … the casting was done by Lovleen. I remember we had taken so many auditions for Freida's role but just couldn’t find the right person and then Lovleen showed me Freida's audition and I was convinced,” says Danny.

The international director who is pegged to take home the awards on Oscar night next month says he has also become a fan of Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan who plays the cop in Slumdog Millionaire.

“I would love to say one thing... Irrfan Khan is one of the greatest actors in your industry. I have become a fan of him,” he says.

When asked about the criticism directed towards his film by some people including superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Danny seems unperturbed.

“To get criticism is a part of making a film. It will only help me grow in my profession. And I guess every one has right to show their feelings especially in India because it is a democratic country!"