The soppy romance genre was the common thread that united Bollywood’s two biggest filmmakers — Karan Johar and Sanjay Leela Bhansali — but not anymore. Both are leaving the cozy comforts of romantic sagas behind to tread uncharted waters; with Agneepath and Rowdy Rathore respectively, both are making action flicks.
First up is Agneepath, and Karan is ecstatic about the “biggest action film his production house has ever made”. “More than 20 years ago, Agneepath was the biggest ever film coming from Dharma Productions, with Yash Johar at the helm. Now that Karan has matured as a filmmaker, he feels that the timing of his take on Agneepath couldn’t have been better,” says a close associate.
“Leave aside the ‘biggest’ tag, it is the ‘only’ action movie we have made since Big B’s Agneepath,” smiles Karan. “This is an action movie centred on revenge. It is a monumental film by all means and also very big in scale. We are revisiting the genre that we had left behind,” he adds.
On the other hand, Bhansali can’t believe he’s making an action thriller. “Can you imagine me making a film with a title that goes like Rowdy Rathore?” he asks with a laugh. “But that says it all about the kind of zone I want myself to be seen in, in the near future. I am having a blast with Rowdy Rathore.”