Indian director buoyed by Oscar entry, looks ahead

NEW DELHI—Bollywood director Rakeysh Mehra, whose hit film about the transformation of a group of self-absorbed youths is India's entry to the 2007 Oscars, said he will draw on his own childhood for one of his next ventures.
Mehra, whose "Rang de Basanti" (Color Me Saffron) -- a film about a group of young Indians and their struggle to break away from their modern-day consumerist existence -- was the year's first hit, said he had begun work on the scripts of two films, "Delhi 6" and "Bhairavi."
"'Rang de' was a massive hit but I think every director should move on and stop living in the past," Mehra told Reuters.
"I want to do good work and not just be happy and contented with what I've done. I had to move on."
Mehra said "Delhi 6," the postal code of Chandni Chowk, an old Delhi quarter with crowded markets where the filmmaker spent his childhood, would recount experiences of his growing up years.
"But I would like to clarify that it is certainly not an autobiographical script," Mehra said.
Mehra, who made his Bollywood directorial debut in 2001 with "Aks" starring Amitabh Bachchan, said he was elated about the choice of "Rang de Basanti" as an Oscar entry from among nine Indian films.
"There will be brilliant movies in the fray but we think we have a chance nonetheless," he said, referring to his hopes of making the final list of nominations in the best foreign film category.