Suneel Darshan’s Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor Khan starrer Talaash: The Hunt Begins completes 23 years today. On the film’s anniversary, the filmmaker looked back at the movie in an interview with us.

23 years of Talaash: “This is perhaps the first Hindi movie to be shot on Palace on Wheels,” shares director Suneel Darshan

Talaash was your biggest multi-starrer after Ek Rishtaa
The tremendous audience response to Jaanwar (1999) and Ek Rishtaa (2001) enthused me to launchTalaash: The Hunt Begins,which was diverse in its world from the earlier movies. Akshay Kumar was a foregone fixture for whom the action-oriented role and the then recent emotional performances fitted like a glove and with Kareena Kapoor cast opposite him, they made an amazingly watchable lead pair. The movie featured Raakhee, Suresh Oberoi, Raj Babbar, Kabir Bedi, Gulshan Grover, Shakti Kapoor and Pooja Batra in important roles. Producer Pahlaj Nihalani and music composers Sanjeev Darshan and lyricist Sameer were amongst the principal credits. It was released worldwide on 3rd January 2003.

What according to you were its USPs?
Talaash is perhaps the first Hindi movie to have been shot on Palace on Wheels, which was the most expensive rail-tourism experience in Rajasthan. The movie demanded extensive outdoor locales with multiple characters. Yet we were fortunate to have an extremely co-operative horde making the process less excruciating.

Mr Akshay Kumar has worked with both the sisters Karisma and Kareena in your cinema. Whom do you think he is more compatible with?
While Akshay’s equation with Karisma was of mutual respect, with Bebo, who is more extrovert-ish, it was totally fun and entertaining. However, I personally feel that his on-screen interaction with Karisma is more interesting.

One of Rakhee Gulzar’s last films was your Talaash
Having featured Akshay Kumar withRaakheejiin both Ek Rishtaa and Talaash: The Hunt Begins, I couldbeton the amazing camaraderie they shared.