The awaited R… Rajkumar opened on Friday. Bollywood Hungama’s Joginder Tuteja talks about what went down behind the scenes in the making of the movie…
PRABHU Dheva has worked with the likes of Salman Khan in Wanted and Akshay Kumar in Rowdy Rathore, giving both actors their biggest money spinners.
Now he returns to the action genre with R... Rajkumar, and it is pretty much a given that Shahid Kapoor, the film’s lead, will strike it big with this one.
From the trailers for this Viki Rajani and Sunil Lulla production, one could clearly see that not only is Shahid in an altogether different avatar, he is clearly enjoying himself in front of the camera.
“For that, full credit should go to Shahid himself and no one else. This kind of freshness can be experienced only when a hero has total belief in you,” says director, Prabhu Dheva.
“It was so nice to see him totally surrender himself to my vision. Today, everyone is so happy with him, be it the co-actors, technicians or the producers.”
While the film-maker, despite directing some of the biggest hits in Bollywood, remains his humble self, he says never once did Shahid make him feel uncomfortable on set.
However, one wonders if, at the beginning of the shoot, Dheva was confident about Shahid actually making the cut as an action hero. After all, though Shahid has done many pyaar (romantic movies) since the days of Ishq Vishk, one hasn’t seen him indulge in maar (action movies) except for Kaminey (2009).
Laughs Dheva: “For R... Rajkumar he has not just given his heart and soul, but also his blood and sweat, since he got hurt so many times during the film’s shoot. As for him being the first and final choice for the film, well R... Rajkumar couldn’t have been realised if not for Shahid.
“This is the reason why it all seems convincing on screen. See, you can fool yourself but not the audience. Moreover, while each of the men in the industry has indulged in action, Shahid has not. Him doing action is actually a drawcard.”
Even though Shahid’s last film, Phata Poster Nikhla Hero, flopped, producers Sunil Lulla and Viki Rajani lpromoted R... Rajkumar aggressively.
“Why should we compromise?” asks Viki. “Shahid has been our family member.
“The release as well as promotion had to be of the highest levels. These kind of films make the man on the street believe that when it comes to love, any villain can be defeated. Shahid brings that aspect really well.
“The way he looks, dances, acts, he was waiting to do something different from what he had done before and the answer was R... Rajkumar.”
Dheva said: “When a hero does something with heart, it shows and makes everything believable. Everyone knows Shahid is a very talented artist. With the film, he is going to make it all count.” – bollywoodhungama.com