‘Heropanti 2’, ‘Rashtra Kavach: Om’, ‘Dhaakad’: Why have action films failed to impress the audience? – #BigStory – Times of India

Action films were once the crown jewel of the movie-watching experience in the 80s and 90s. Larger-than-life heroes like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha used to fill theatres like they were cricket stadiums. People used to hoot, whistle, clap, slap and guffaw as the action unfolded on the screen. Equally important were the villains like Amrish Puri, Amjad Khan, Prem Chopra and many more. But in 2022, these memories seem like distant pockets of nostalgia. While films like ‘Sholay’, ‘Kalicharan’, ‘Agneepath’ and ‘Khuda Gawah’ continue to entertain to date, the world of action films has changed dramatically.

One of the biggest punches to the gut of the action genre has been the recent lackluster performance of movies like ‘Heropanti 2’, ‘Rashtra Kavach: Om’, ‘Dhaakad‘ and others. Movie buffs have started asking pointed questions – Why are our action films failing? Why are action films from the South doing way better? Has the genre run out of steam? Or have Indian action movie fans entrusted their faith in Marvel and Tom Cruise movies? This week’s BigStory will answer all these questions and more. It’s a high-octane story, where contrasting opinions will ricochet around like stray bullets. Without much ado, let’s dive into the thick of the action.

Explosive comparisons

Vidyut Jammwal’s ‘Khuda Haafiz: Chapter 2’ is still running in theatres and day-by-day, it has posted reassuring numbers. With a one-week total that’s gone past 10 crores, the film is being considered by trade pundits as a moderate success and a heavy hitter of sorts considering its budget. The wisemen are attributing the mild success of ‘Khuda Haafiz’ to the dramatic weight of its story, which puts forth a relevant premise of victims, violence and vindication.

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh explains why some films succeed and others do not. He says, “There has to be some content to match the action. Be it ‘Heropanti 2’ or ‘Om’, you can’t stuff your film with action just for the sake of wooing the masses. The audience won’t be entertained by these efforts if there’s no proper story there.”

Compared to the report card of Hindi actioners, our Southern counterparts like ‘RRR‘, ‘Pushpa’ and ‘KGF: Chapter 2’ have done spectacular numbers. While some are saying the South is beating the North, others feel this is just a passing phase. Senior action director Sham Kaushal, who has helmed the stunts on films like ‘Dangal’, ‘Krrish’ and ‘Dhoom 3’ feels these comparisons aren’t fair. He says, “The statement that South action films are working and Hindi action films are not working is totally wrong. Good action films are working. Even in the South, there are 3-4 films that have worked and the rest haven’t. The performance of films has nothing to do with where they were made. Everyone makes a film to entertain, where they go wrong and right is what determines the fate of their film.”

ETimes spoke to the writer of ‘Heropanti 2’, Rajat Arora and asked him where it all went wrong. Sportingly, he says, “If I knew what went wrong with any of my films, I would have never made those mistakes. Nobody sets out to make a bad film. We all want to make films that entertain. The only surety in the filmmaking business is a flop film. Everything else is decided by the audience.”

High-flying history
The action genre has always been a producer’s best friend. It’s also been a great adrenaline booster for the careers of leading men. But the win-win situation that was so abundant in the genre, has become less certain of late.

Director Sanjay Gupta, who has made memorable action films like ‘Kaante’, ‘Shootout At Lokhandwala’ and ‘Kaabil’ believes the times have changed. He says, “Films that were working pre-pandemic will not work post-pandemic because the audiences have evolved. They’ve sat at home and consumed enough to know what’s good and what’s not. The theatre audience will forgive a film that doesn’t make sense, but they will not forgive a film that was made lazily. The effort needs to show. ‘Sooryavanshi’ worked because Rohit Shetty poured his heart into every frame and every set piece of the film. ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ worked because the incredible amount of effort that went into staging every single frame of that film, showed on the screen.”

Director Sanjay Gadhvi, who made ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Dhoom 2’ believes action films are a tough cookie to crack. He explains, “Most producers and directors take the genre a little too lightly. They feel that an action film is an easy thing to pull off. ‘Dhoom’ came out 18 years ago, ‘Dhoom 2’ came out 16 years ago. The reason they’ve stood the test of time is because a lot of effort, thought and hard work went into making them. India’s greatest action films – like ‘Sholay’ – have a great story behind them. You can’t just hire an action director, a stunt coordinator and roll the camera. The train sequence in ‘Sholay’ is important and integral to its screenplay. That’s how the policeman evaluated the honesty and integrity of the two men he was about to hire.”

Director of Sunny Deol’s ‘Gadar’, Anil Sharma supports the argument and says the emotion is of supreme importance. He adds, “The audience never claps for the action sequence. They always clap for the emotion behind the action sequence. No one makes a film to get applause from the audience. We make films to entice and evoke emotion. Shashi Kapoor’s dialogue to Amitabh Bachchan is a simple line that says, Mere paas Maa hai. There’s nothing in those words that can draw claps from the audience. But the audience clapped on that dialogue because of the emotion that those words conveyed.”

Tara Adarsh tries to explain the dwindling fortunes of the genre when he says, “The peak of action films was in the 80s, but once heroes like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan came out with their romantic films like ‘DDLJ’, ‘Maine Pyar Kiya’, ‘QSQT’ the focus shifted to romances and family dramas. The trend came back with ‘Dabangg’ and it had lots of entertainment, apart from the action.”

Missing pieces

So are modern action films missing the quintessential emotion? Have they become too choreographed? Anil Sharma highlights the problem with the conception of modern movies. He says, “The problem with modern filmmakers and writers is that they are making films for an audience that lives between Bandra and Versova. When they should be focussing on an all-India audience.”

Sanjay Gupta feels modern actioners don’t have the perfect foil for the hero. He explains, “Every action film needs a big villain. Every action film should have a Gabbar Singh. If your villain is not strong, who on Earth is your hero going to fight and impress? Look at KGF: Chapter 2 and look at Sanjay Dutt’s presentation. Director Prashant Neel’s vision was the real hero of that film.”

Sanjay Gadhvi feels the audience can’t be sold on the image of action stars anymore. He says, “The image of a star can no longer pull off an entire action film. Those days are gone and the last man to pull it off was Mr Amitabh Bachchan.”

Veteran action director Aejaz Gulab, who has designed action for films like Ghulam, ‘Lagaan’ and more recently The Family Man series, believes the change in producer preference has played a big role in the emotion going out of Hindi films. He says, “Action stars like Shah Rukh Khan and Akshay Kumar began their journeys with Indian stuntmen and action directors. But today their producers hire foreign technicians and stuntmen. Nothing wrong in that, it’s their call, but the intent of hiring them is not always right. Most producers hire big shot Hollywood action crews to show off how much money they’ve splurged on a project. It’s not really a logical way of making a film. Indian technicians, crews and stuntmen can do the same things without hurting the film’s budget.”

Sanjay Gupta raises another red flag as he says, “Unfortunately, the national sentiment is that Bollywood filmmakers need to learn from South filmmakers.”

Conflict of opinion

Sanjay Gadhvi, who had also hired foreign crews for ‘Dhoom 2’, offers his rebuttal to the side-effects of bringing in foreign technicians. He says, “I will go back to ‘Sholay’ and like to point out that the film gave an action photography credit to Jim Allen. He was a specialist brought in by Ramesh Sippy back in 1975. Getting foreign technicians to do action is fine, because they’re more clued into evolving technology. Despite all the frills, thrills and spills, the storytelling has to be strong and your feet have to be firmly planted on the Indian soil.”

Many believe that contemporary action film directors try to ape Hollywood movies and that’s a major reason why Hindi action films won’t connect with the desi audience. Anil Sharma supports this line of thought and says, “Anyone who makes an action film getting influenced by the West, will never connect with an Indian audience. The West has its own sensibility and culture and their films are designed to appeal to that. If you use that design for Indian audiences, you will leave them feeling confused and alienated.”

Sham Kaushal builds on the argument and adds, “When you consider 300-crore hits like ‘Dangal’ and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, you have to acknowledge that those films were deeply Indian at their core. You see, Indians like to have a little bit of everything when they consume, whether it’s our food or our films. We like to have spicy, sweet, salty, bitter and richness in our food. Likewise, we like to have love, anger, drama, emotion and tension in our films. Any film that will serve this Indianness, will always do well.”

Senior action director Tinnu Verma, who has designed action for iconic films like ‘Gadar’, ‘Border’ and ‘Khuda Gawah’ feels the South filmmakers have learnt to respect Indian technicians more and that’s why their current action appeals more to an Indian audience. He says, “There are two problems. One is, Hindi stars meddle too much with the director and action director’s job. Here, we even have directors and actors taking official credit for choreographing stunts. People should learn from Mr Amitabh Bachchan. Despite being the biggest action star of our country, he still comes to the set like a student, works like a student and leaves like a student. The other problem is, Hindi producers give too much importance to foreign crews. Those guys can do good action, but they don’t have the emotional context of the Indian audience. In the South, filmmakers strike a balance between foreign and Indian stuntmen and that makes all the difference.”

Thrilling climax
Taran Adarsh believes a modern action film should focus as much on its drama as it should on its stunts. He says, “For an action film to work today, it will need to deliver wholesome entertainment. The one filmmaker who does that beautifully is Rohit Shetty and that’s why his films work.” Rajat Arora feels this is a phase that will change with time. He says, “We’re going through a phase of realistic and raw action and that’s why movies like RRR, Pushpa and KGF have done well. The films that have had stylish and slick action have not connected with the audience.”

Sham Kaushal sums it up when he says, “The audience doesn’t care about how big a stunt you pull off, even a single slap can leave a lasting dramatic impact on a theatre full of people. It’s the intent, emotion and thought that counts.” Sanjay Gadhvi, ties up loose ends when he explains, “I believe four people make a film – the producer, director, writer and actor. Everyone else on a film set is a technician. These four have the power to make a good film. And these four people from Hindi cinema have let their counterparts from the South steal the thunder, for now.” In true genre fashion, he signs off with a classic one-liner, “The best action film directors are the ones who believe in the magic of cinema.”