Action Reloaded

As the tide turned,drama and comedies took over in Bollywood and Shetty chose to turn director with Zameen,an action film followed it up with Golmaal,now a successful franchise of comedy films. Similar reasons kept Vijayan Master away from Bollywood. Master,who made his debut with Bulandi in 2000,turned his focus on South Indian movies.

Now,after two decades,Shetty is returning to his roots with Singham. “With the blurring line between single screens and multiplexes,audiences from all strata are watching masala films. Action is the box-office king again and it’s an opportune time for us,” explains Shetty.

Shetty’s return as an action director,is exemplary of the genre,and the action directors’ appointment diaries overflowing with a slew of projects. Vijayan,the award-winning action director,known for his stunts in Wanted and Dabangg,is hoping to recreate the magic with Salman Khan-starrer Bodyguard. While Allan Amin has his hands full with Force,Players and Dhoom 3,filmmaker Puri Jagannadh has recreated vintage Bachchan in Bbuddah… Hoga Terra Baap. The director recounts how,since the release of Mard,he didn’t watch a single Amitabh Bachchan film. “The aggression that Bachchan epitomised,had ceased to exist,” he sighs. So when Jagannadh got the opportunity,he penned the script for Bbuddah… and approached Bachchan to play the role of the ‘angry young man’ once again.

Action directors,better known as ‘stunt coordinators’ in the 1970s,made their presence felt in Bollywood with films like Deewaar,Dharam Veer,Zanjeer and many others.Ravi Khanna,Kodi S Irani and Veeru Devgan were behind the mean kicks and punches that popular actors like Bachchan,Dharmendra and Shatrughan Sinha delivered. The next big wave of action directors — Ravi Dewan,Jay Singh Nijjar and Akbar Bakshi — came in the 1990s to give us action heroes such as Devgn,Akshay Kumar and Suneil Shetty.However,the predominance of dramas,romances and comedies ruled over action until Ghajini,Wanted and Dabangg marked the genre’s return recently. “It wasn’t like we did not have work in Bollywood,there’s bit of action even in dramas,comedies and rom-coms,” clarifies Amin. “But the last two years have turned the tide for us,” says Amin,who has just completed shooting for Players,with Abhishek Bachchan and Bobby Deol.

This recent trend also means that it is upon the action directors to ensure that one film can be different from others.While Singham will have raw handto- hand fight sequences,Bbuddah… and Bodyguard will stick to the popular South Indian style action. Players will have cable stunts that emulate the Mission Impossible sequences,whereas Force is stylised with martial art moves. “More action films result in higher competition. And this means producers are happy to pump in more money. So experimenting with action becomes easy,helping us differentiate them,” says Amin.

The risk factor has also reduced with action directors making use of harnesses,cables and other equipments in order to make stunts safe.The cars and bikes too are of high quality with a lot of modifications. Bachchan,who is returning to action after long,too,is overwhelmed with the recent concepts in action.

“Back in the ‘70s,we did our stunts without any protection and the body went through a lot of wear-and-tear.But now,all you need is some flexibility; the rest is taken care of by action directors. And to perfect these further,there is always the computer,” he smiles.