One look at the line up of films in 2008 of some of the top stars of Bollywood and you realise they are moving more towards action films than continuing with the box office friendly trend of comedies as it had been since the last 2-3 years. Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and even Akshaye Khanna, who had never done any hardcore action flicks, shall be seen in them this year.
2008’s first big release, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar, an epic love story has considerable amount of action with Hrithik Roshan shown indulging in battle scenes, one on one sword fights and the now popular taming of the wild elephant scene. Hrithik has Krrish 2 lined up but the superhero sequel may make it to the theatres only in 2009 as its shoot is yet to begin.
Akshay Kumar, who delivered four back to back hits last year, all comedies, has only action flicks releasing this year. His first release shall be Yash Raj’s Tashan. Then one can see him playing the leader of a Sikh gang ruling the underworld in Anees Bazmee’s Singh Is King followed by Nikhil Advani’s Chandni Chowk To China with Akshay exhibiting his parkour skills and finally Sajid Nadiadwala’s Kambaqt Ishq where he plays a Hollywood stuntman. Akki had recently said, “I had stopped doing action because it scared my son. Now he is four, he understands what it is and loves to watch me doing those hardcore stunts. He loves action and wants to see his dad flying around.”
Aamir Khan is the latest to join the six pack abs bandwagon and has been working strenuously to get one for the past few months for his role in the Ghajini remake. His only release for 2008, the A.R. Murugadoss directed thriller, shall feature him bare bodied in most parts of the film with a bald look to match.
Akshaye Khanna, who did a Gandhi My Father last year, shall be seen next along with Saif and Anil Kapoor (also in action thriller Tashan) in Abbas Mastan’s Race which boasts of some dare devil stunts and nail biting action by its lead cast including the three female leads - Katrina Kaif, Bipasha Basu and Sameera Reddy.
Race’s action director Allan Amin says, “Saif shall be shocking his fans big time with his never seen before stunts. I won’t be surprised if he becomes the most sought after action hero post Race. For one of his stunts he went up on an air balloon to a height of 200 feet. The scene required him to bungee jump from the air balloon into an open-top, moving car traveling at 60 kms per hour. He then had to get into the car and put on its brakes since it was headed into a deep valley about 1,000 feet ahead. He had to perfectly apply the brakes just when the car reaches the edge of the valley. He has done a marvelous job performing this one.”
While Abhishek Bachchan’s next release, childhood pal Goldie Behl’s Drona features him in a super hero avatar, Salman Khan will get back to action with Boney Kapoor’s Wanted Dead or Alive directed by ace choreographer turned filmmaker Prabhu Deva. This Telugu super hit Pokkiri remake has Salman playing an undercover cop working as a ruthless gang member of a dreaded don. Sanjay Dutt too shall be seen in an action role after a long time in Dhoom series maker Sanjay Gadhvi’s Kidnap. Even Priyanka Chopra will be seen indulging in a lot of action in 2008. Her next release, Drona has her playing Abhishek’s bodyguard for which she has trained herself with Sikh martial art of Gatka. Following Drona shall be sci-fi thriller, Love Story 2050 featuring her in a double role. Kareena Kapoor too shall be seen in Uma Thurman’s Kill Bill like avtaar in Tashan.
About this latest trend of popular stars shifting to action roles, Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh states, “The stars are striving for a change and so is the audience. They are all tired of the same slapstick kind of comedies that are following one after another for a long time now. They want to experiment with new kind of roles and what better than action. Also one must observe, action has also become very stylized with the latest technology available here now. Audience definitely loves seeing their favourite stars performing thrilling stunts.”
Action directors speak
Ace action director Shyam Kaushal (Drona), feels, “Action films have always been popular in Bollywood whereas many other trends were just transitory phases. I am noticing even super stars along with smaller stars are ready to take the risk to perform difficult stunts. The safety measures have improved and it has all become very hi-tech. So, artistes also feel assured about their safety and give their 100%. With the kind of budgets films are being made at nowadays there is a large scope for us to experiment with new ideas.”
Jodhaa Akbar action director Ravi Dewan is all set to launch his state of art equipments filled truck to be used as a one stop shop for action scenes. Ravi informs, “I have invented most of the equipments and got them especially made. It shall also have a cabin where on line editing can be done immediately. I have fan descenders, Jack ramp, crash mats, blasting cannons, modern cables, harnesses and bungee jumping ropes available throughout the world. Few of the equipments have been imported. Everyone has become safety conscious since there has been a lot of action going on in Bollywood.”
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