Abbas Mustan, the soft-spoken duo behind elaborate thrillers like Baazigar, Ajnabee, Aitraaz and Race, take time off Race 2 to chat about how they over-shot the budget and why they chose to glam up Sonam Kapoor for Players

Why did you take four years after Race (2008) to return to direction with Players?
Mustan: After working on three films back-to-back-- Naqaab, 36 China Town and Race -- we didn't have an exciting script ready. So we turned producers with Life Partner, and gave it our full attention. Then Viacom18 asked us to remake The Italian Job. We had seen both, the 1969 cult success starring Michael Caine and the 2003 version starring Mark Wahlberg. It took us six to eight months to adapt it; only then did we ask Viacom to go ahead and acquire the rights.

Is it a problem for Indian filmmakers to acquire rights of international films?
Mustan: There was no issue because Viacom's sister concern, Paramount Pictures, had produced both films.
Abbas: It was necessary to acquire the rights because we have retained the three most popular aspects about The Italian Job -- the gold heist, the traffic jams with Mini Coopers and the double crossing cum revenge angle. But we added new elements -- instead of one girl, there are two -- Sonam and Bipasha. We have added songs, characters and a lot of emotion. Even those who have seen The Italian Job will not find Players predictable.