Suraj Pancholi's debut film to be directed by Nikhil Advani

Nikhil Advani, riding high after the success of his espionage thriller
D-Day , is said to have been roped in to direct the remake of Subhash
Ghai's 1983 musical blockbuster Hero.

The original film had launched Jackie
Shroff and Meenakshi Sheshadri into the
big league. Advani, who worked wonders with newcomers Sree Swara and
Akash Dahiya in D-Day , hopes to work Ghai's magic on debutants Suraj
Pancholi and Aathiya Shetty, progenies of Aditya Pacholi-Zarina Wahab
and Suniel Shetty, respectively.

Advani, who is also committed to direct the sequel to Mr India for
producer Boney Kapoor, would now be putting Suraj and Aathiya through
rigorous workshops.

"Those were different times. A time of
innocence even when Jackie played a
hoodlum. Jackie's character has to be
pitched differently now, more edgy and
dark. While Meenakshi Sheshadri's
character would remain the same in spirit when Aathiya takes over,
Suraj's Kishen would be very different from Jackie's Kishen," said a
source close to the project.

The source also revealed that Advani
intends to rewrite the entire script and the characters to suit the
definitions of
present-day love, courtship and elopement. But some of the original
music may be retained.

"Nikhil has a very sharp music sense. All his films have terrific
music. He will retain some of the songs Pyar Karne Wale Kabhi Darte
Nahin, Nindiya Se Jaagi Bahaar and Tu Mera Hero Hai, which Laxmikant-
Pyarelal composed, may be used in the remake. But Nikhil has decided
on a very fresh approach to the subject," the source added.

The original Hero was about the forbidden love between a police
officer's sister Radha and an outlaw Jaikishen, and his efforts to go
straight for the sake of love.

The remake would be radically different
from the original.