Bejoy Nambiar credits his father for his becoming a filmmaker

Mumbai, May 12 (IANS) Director Bejoy Nambiar says that he would have been a part of his family textile business if not for his father U.K. Nambiar, who pushed him to become a filmmaker.

"I am very close to my father and he is one of the reasons I'm a part of the industry. He has really pushed me to pursue this part of my career, because I was actually groomed to take over the family business.

"He is a textile man so I was supposed to work under him and do that. But he saw that spark (filmmaking) and he felt that I really wanted to pursue it, so he pushed me towards this. So I really appreciate the fact that he took that effort to do that," Bejoy said, at a screening of the Arvind Swamy-starrer "Dear Dad" which deals with a father-son relationship.

Bejoy started his career by making short films before making his full-fledged debut with "Shaitan". He then directed the Hindi and Tamil versions of "David" and got the biggest break of his career with the Amitabh Bachchan-Farhan Akhtar starrer "Wazir".

About his father, he added: "My father is very blunt and tells people off on their face and recently at the trailer launch of 'Wazir', he met Vidhu Vinod Chopra ji for the first time. I was certain he would say something, so I was just trying to keep check. The first thing my father told Mr.Chopra is, 'You are the producer of 'Wazir', I am the producer of your director.' Mr. Chopra was completely in shock. I don't think he and I will forget it for a long time."

Is Bejoy also a 'muhfat' like his father? "I'm not at all a 'muhfat', I try a lot but I think I'm too diplomatic," he said.

He added: "I like films which deal with father-son dynamics. My favourite is 'Shakti', Dilip sahab (Dilip Kumar) and Amit sahab (Amitabh Bachchan)... that combo, even today when I watch it, it gives me goosebumps; seeing them together in one frame is unbelievable.... I would love to do something with this kind of dynamics."

"Dear Dad" is releasing on May 13.