By Subhash K. Jha, IANS

Director Tanveer Khan's second film "Deadline - Sirf 24 Ghante" has just hit the theatres and he admits that it is not an original film but an adaptation of Hollywood flick "Trapped".

"I can't claim 'Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante' is an original film. It's again an adaptation of an American film," Khan told IANS.

Luis Mandoki's "Trapped" starred Kevin Bacon as a serial kidnapper who seeks his wife's support to kidnap a rich victim.

Two years ago, Khan released his first film "Madhoshi", starring John Abraham and Bipasha Basu, where he turned director Ron Howard's Oscar-winning "A Beautiful Mind" into a passionate love story.

"Yes, I enjoyed the experience. I'd have enjoyed it even more if the film had worked better at the box office. But I don't regret anything about 'Madhoshi'. The only problem is that when your first film fails, no one wants to give you a second chance."

Before taking a plunge into direction, Khan wrote innumerable hit flicks for Indra Kumar and Kuku Kohli like "Ishq", "Raja" and "Rishtey".

About "Deadline..." Khan said: "I've turned the Hollywood film completely inside-out. Even 'Madhoshi', you've to admit, wasn't a straight-off copy. And 'Deadline' is even less connected to the source material."

What about the cast volte-face, from John-Bipasha to more art house actors like Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen Sharma in "Deadline"?

"The cast always comes after my script. When I closed my eyes, I could see the actors I wanted for 'Deadline'. And I got them all."

Clearly the era of Hollywood remakes isn't over.

While Khan is ready with his own take on "Trapped", Raksha Mistry, who ripped off "Collateral" to make "The Killer", is now doing her own version of the Jennifer Aniston-starrer "Derailed".

Suneel Darshan's upcoming "Shaka Laka Boom Boom" is apparently inspired by the Oscar-winning "Amadeus". And the format for Nikhil Advani's "Salaam-e-Ishq" is borrowed from "Love Actually".