Yet another industry kid is gearing up to enter Bollywood. Filmmaker Anil Sharma's son Utkarsh Sharma will make his debut with the romantic entertainer, Genius. The movie, launched yesterday on Utkarsh's birthday , is directed by Anil, who has earlier helmed films like Hukumat (1987), Gadar Ek Prem Katha (2001) and Hero - Love Story Of A Spy (2003). In an exclusive chat t with BT, the film maker said, “Utkarsh was loved as Jeete (Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel's son in Gadar). When the film plays on satellite TV today, people praise him. He's grown up now, has trained in a film school and I'm proud to present him as a new actor to the world.“ Here are excerpts from the conversation...

It's been a while since you announced your son's launch...
Yes, I started scripting it in 2015. Genius is an entertaining and intelligent love story and so, we didn't want any buffoonery in it. 'Dil ki ladaai dimaag se' is the tagline of the movie. I hope people who loved Utkarsh as Jeete in Gadar will love him in Genius as well.

It takes a lot of training to make a debut. Utkarsh, we are sure, has prepped hard...
Utkarsh trained in a reputed film school in the US, where he did a three-year course. In his final year, all 40 students were asked to showcase their films, and he was the 40th. When his 10-minute film played on screen, it was a very proud moment for me.

Having studied abroad, will it be tough for him to adapt to Bollywood style of acting?
Acting acting hoti hai, there is no different style. While watching Ganga Jumna (1961) the other day, Utkarsh spoke about how Dilip Kumar saab didn't seem out of character for even one bit. Hamare actors hamesha se badiya rahe hain; like Dilip saab, Raj Kapoor saab, Balraj Sahni, Motilal, Dev Anand saab, Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. Performance is living the character.

You are known for helming patriotic films, but your son's debut will see you attempting a new genre..
I don't think I have become any different as a director. Kya likhega aadmi, kya dum hai uski syahi mein, haalaat ne jo chotein di, shabdon mein ubhar aayi hain. Jo aadmi jaisa hai, waisa cinema banayega. I'm from Mathura, so dharti, desh, log, all these emotions will reflect in my films. My movies are for family audiences. Talking about Genius, Utkarsh also gave his inputs, but insisted I handle the writing part. Mithun Chakraborty plays a pivotal role in the film.

With many industry kids making their debuts, are you stressed about the competition?
The only pressure was to come up with a good script. I had announced the film, but the script was not ready. But once that was completed, we were confident. If you have a strong script, actors, production, distribution etc will automatically fall in place.

DoesUtkarsh's role see him as a romantic actor? Or, do you want him to establish him self in one genre before exploring others?
Utkarsh's character in this film portrays a lot of variations. It's not often that a new actor gets to do everything. Pita ke launch karne se koi star nahin banta, bahut dekhein hain. Actor apni mehnat se star banta hai, Utkarsh too will earn his stardom. He is dedicated, focused, hard-working and humble. Dekhte hain Gadar ka Jeete Genius ban ke kya karta hai. Aasmaan toh bahut aage hai, abhi to panchhi ne sirf par khole hain.