Can you visualise blind children learning tap dancingto perfection? This is exactly what one-time TV actor Kumar Bhatia hasdone in his forthcoming film 'Seven'. And he has signed on seven kidswho are actually visually challenged.

'It's an idea turned into afilm that I lived and worked with for four years,' said Bhatia, whoplayed a junkie in Doordarshan's soap 'Subah'.

Bhatia venturedinto direction with 'Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge' in 1998 and Naseeruddin Shahplayed the lead in the film that didn't do too well at the box office.But he is now hopeful that 'Seven' will finding a viable market, goingby the accolades films like Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black' and AamirKhan's 'Taare Zameen Par' received.

'My film doesn't treat thechildren as physically challenged, marginalised children, but as partof the mainstream. When the idea of training seven blind kids to tapdance came to me, I decided I'd make it with kids who were really blind.

'Ivisited several schools hunting for them until I came to the Happy HomeSchool For The Blind. What I saw there changed my life. The childrenwere so happy, so well adjusted to their routine and not at alldefeated by their deficiency.'

Out of all the kids that thedirector met, he chose Gaurav, Mukesh, Rahul, Sanjay, Pradeep, Saif andShrikant. Two of them suffered a terminal illness.

'So we had toexercise that extra bit of precaution with them. They're all betweenthe ages of 6 and 10 - all very bright and natural performers. Theschool was initially hesitant to let the kids undergo the gruellingexperience of facing the camera. But once my intentions were madeclear, the kids became a part of my extended family.'

It took Bhatia a year to find the suitable children.

'Thenit took another year to teach them to tap dance. By the end of ourworkshops, the blind kids could 'see' every frame in every shot. Theyperformed completely oblivious of their handicap.'

Besides thechildren, 'Seven' features an impressive cast comprising Lilette Dubey,Kay Kay Menon and Makrand Deshpande. Farouq Shaikh plays the narratorwhile Nauheed Cyrusi is the one who teaches the children tap dance.Bhatia himself plays a brief role.

'It has been a learningexperience. And I hope 'Seven' gets an audience that would appreciateall the effort that has gone into it.'