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EXCLUSIVE: Rohit Shetty on Simmba, being a king of masala entertainer, Ranveer Singh and Box office numbers
Rohit Shetty in an exclusive chat with PINKVILLA opened up on his brand of cinema, the stereotype attached to it, collaborating with Ranveer Singh for the first time for Simmba and more. Read on.
Beaming with joy after the special screening, Rohit Shetty, the director of blockbusters like Singham, Golmaal, met up with Pinkvilla for a candid chat. He spoke to us on his latest offering Simmba, Ranveer Singh, cameo by Ajay Devgn and the expectations and pressure which comes with success. Starring Ranveer Singh in and as Simmba, the movie marked the first collaboration between the duo who now seem like a match made in heaven. What happens when dynamite meets another dynamite? Explosion! And that is exactly what Simmba, also starring Sara Ali Khan, promises. Relatively relaxed, Rohit isn't too fond of giving interviews, we concurred but his candour and frankness in answers will leave you impressed.
When asked if after so many successes, he stills feels the jitters of excitement or nervousness pre-release, Rohit said, "Mixed emotions. Excited because we have seen the film and it has come out good. It is cliche for a director to say this but I rarely do, I leave it to the audience but this is something my team has seen and the actors who are involved in the film have said that they really loved it. I am excited about it. Nervous? Yes, that I am. When any of my film releases, that Friday morning, the first show, I am nervous, be it Golmaal, Singham or Golmaal Again, Chennai Express. I was nervous then and I will be nervous even on that Friday till the first show is not over and people don't come out and give the verdict."
Rohit Shetty Films comes with the stereotype of masala entertainers, car flyings and a lot of action and comedy. Does he wear this as a badge of honour? Rohit added, "Knowingly or unknowingly. what happens is when they say that it is a Rohit Shetty film, it is like a brand, it's like a genre, it's like a complete package. I don't take it as just an action film. After so many films, and the kind of business the film does or the kind of appreciation you get from the family audience, not only from the masses, I call it a complete entertainer, that's what I try to do every time and I cater not only the mass, actually, I cater the family audience and they love that sort of cinema. That's why it runs not only in theaters, but later on on satellite as well and that's because of the family. That's my audience. So when they say that it is a Rohit Shetty film, that cars are flying, which they haven't been for the last two films, (laughs) it is a tag, but that's fine. It is an easy way out to write something. It's okay. I take it as a badge of honour more than anything else I take it as a responsibility."
Another thing which comes with an RS Film is the box office expectations. A bonafide winner is what is expected out of Rohit Shetty, does this add pressure to you as a director? "When it comes to that, it is a Rohit Shetty film, it will earn money, it will be a blockbuster, when people start saying that and put pressure, I take it as a compliment but at the same time it's a pressure. It has both the effects. One, that it created positive energy, 'okay, if it is his film there will be entertainment, there will be action, there will be a set of audience who will go and see the film' but at the same time, it does create a pressure of what if tomorrow it doesn't come to the level of expectations people have."
Now that numbers are spoken off, we asked Rohit whom would he have cast opposite Ranveer if Sara hadn't called him. To this, the blockbuster director laughed, "When we were writing the final draft and by the time we were ready and before we got into that exercise of whom to approach, Sara called me up. It is in the month of December when she called even before we could put a thought on whom to cast and that's how she came onboard."
What about Ranveer? Given that Rohit has made cop films before with Ajay, how different was it having Ranveer play a cop? To this, Rohit earnestly said, "Ranveer is a bundle of energy and has a very different approach towards performing a character. Both Singham and Simmba, the characters except for the uniform, if you see, are very different. Singham was very quite honest, by the books kind of a person whereas this guys is notorious, naughty, corrupt, so it had to differentiate. That was the first reason that I started working on this film. And then it just happened that we were shooting for an ad, two and a half years ago when I told him that this is one film I want to make, this is the line of this particular film I've seen. And if you change it into a Hindi cinema keeping the character in mind, but we change the whole of screenplay, it will really work and I narrated him few scenes and he got excited about it. And he said, I would love to do this film. And that's how the journey started. Today, when I see the film, I don't think any other guy or any other actor could have done justice to Simmba."
The elated director also listed the three things he learnt about Ranveer whilst shooting which perhaps many amongst us don't know. "Three things which people don't know about Ranveer is that he is a child, is a kid, is pure at heart, he is genuine and second, he is still the Bandra/ Khar boy, being such a big star, he is still grounded. And he is still that middle class mentality he has. And that's what makes him such a big star. Because he can emote that emotions, he can feel that emotion of a middle class person or a commoner, I would say. So, he still has that approach. And he still believes in that. And thirdly, I think he is too honest with his work and his craft."
Lastly, given that Ranveer was shooting whilst prepping for his marriage, did it ever come as a hindrance? Rohit prompted, "No, never," and concluded, "He made it a point that it never, you know, the marriage part or the preparation of marriage ever came in, in the line of Simmba. Never. And the credit goes to him and Deepika. Never ever we had a moment that Ranveer is coming in an hour late because he's prepping for his marriage or he's doing some bookings or he's gone somewhere, never, like we made this film in four and a half months with him but never was a day that the prep of marriage came in our way."
Simmba released on December 28 and has got good response from the public.
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