Director Prem Raj is gung ho about his upcoming release Ishkq in Paris that stars producer-actress Preity Zinta and Rhehan Malliek. “We have worked very hard for the film and the fact that promos are generating a good buzz, gives us confidence that this rom- com will do very well at the box-office after it releases on 24 May,” he says. Was the film delayed? “Well, yes, but not so much as people feel, for we only started shooting in February 2010 and wrapped up in August. We wanted to release it last October but that wasn’t possible for lots of post-production work had remained. Also I fell ill, so we had to delay the release by a few months. All said and done, even the current release window is not bad because the entire project did not take more than 15 months to release,” the director avers. Talking about the shooting challenges aboard, the 36 year old Prem says, “It is not much of an issue as I had shot my first film (Main Aurr Mrs Khanna) overseas as well. Each project has its own set of issues. As far as Ishkq in Paris is concerned, the biggest problem was that last year, France had its coldest winter in the last 50 years. There was snow all over, airports were shut and communication lines had broken down. But the silver lining is that the film looks very beautiful, thanks to that extreme cold weather.” Here, the director also adds that he really enjoyed working with Preity. “She knows how to spend money, the right way,” he quips. Explaining why he chose Rhehan for the lead role, Prem relates, “We wanted a fresh boy for the story. He came closest to my character Akash i.e. a good looking, suave and decent guy. When you see the film, you will understand why we opted for him only.” He also did not think that Rhehan better known as Gaurav Chanana was overexposed thanks to his TV stint. “For he just did one TV show for Star Plus (Sanjivani-the medical boon) and that too not too many episodes. When I signed him, I had not seen his show; had just watched a few commercials which he had got for the auditions,” he maintains. “Honestly, I don’ think this concept of overexposure applies any more, rather it helps to recognize fresh talent. UTV signed Sushant Singh Rajput who has done lot more TV work than Rhehan and if he clicks, I think we would have also followed the right track. The medium you hail from is secondary; eventually what matters is you have the talent and charisma to pull off what is required. Even Vidya Balan who rules the film world today, has come from TV,” he observes. Finally, Prem informs us that Ishkq in Paris also has Salman Khan in one song sequence. “I had written the script keeping him in mind for he is more like a friend (was the lead in Main Aurr Mrs Khanna) and I knew that he will not let me down and this is exactly what happened,” Prem informs.