Source: HT
Date: May 13, 2006
By: Hiren Kotwani
Filmmaker Rakesh Roshan is in the midst of supervising the sound mixing for his forthcoming film Krrish when we meet him for a Q & A session.
Roshan directs son Hrithik again, so how does that work?
“We’re father and son at home only. At work, we’re filmmaker and actor,” he says, adding, “Hrithik is a fast learner and will surely take to direction when he’s ready.”
What is the USP of Krrish?
In Koi Mil Gaya, the alien Jaadu gives superpowers to Rohit (Hrithik). Krrish is a continuation of the story after Jaadu leaves and Rohit becomes a superhero of sorts, thanks to those superpowers.
Besides, there are some mindblowing action sequences and special effects, not attempted in Hindi cinema before.
Can you describe the action sequences with Hrithik that required extensive wirework and cable usage?
There are a lot of awe-inspiring action sequences, which have been choreographed by Tony from Hong Kong, who’s worked with John Woo (Face/Off, Mission Impossible – II). After watching his work in The Hero and Flying Dragons, we knew he was the right person for the job. Before beginning shooting, Hrithik went to China for over two months of martial arts training.
Despite professionals from Hollywood for the action sequences, Hrithik suffered an accident during the shoot in Singapore. Comment.
We had taken all precautions, but accidents do happen. The cables can carry a weight of 7000 kilograms. It was a freak accident. Some iron piece must have been protruding somewhere in the building and frequent friction with the cable might have caused it to give way. It’s difficult to explain the kind of action that has been conceived for the film. Because of his superpowers, Rohit is able to jump from one building to another, some distance away. This was a busy commercial locality so we couldn’t have had a safety net underneath. But Hrithik was fine and resumed shooting about half an hour after the incident.
With special effects and foreign technicians, the budget of Krrish must be hefty. Does that make you apprehensive of recovering your investment?
We do have a high budget for Krrish, but when you see the film you’ll agree that it was worth every penny. Besides, the efforts that we’re putting in to make this film are no less either. We’re making Krrish as per international standards.
Does Krrish have the potential to be our superhero, like Spiderman or Batman?
If Krrish does well at the box office, then this superhero is here to stay. We can have comic books, animated films even sequels to Krrish. But I can’t confirm anything yet.
How significant are the other characters?
It’s not a story of a superhero but of a grandmother and her grandson; a love story between Krishna (his name in the film) and Priyanka’s character, and at the same time a story of Krishna and Naseeruddin Shah, who plays a scientist. These three stories are interconnected in this 3hour film.
Hrithik’s popularity especially among kids seems to be growing. Will you push this image for him?
Till now I’ve presented him in four different roles. If he was an introvert in the first half of Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai, he was an extrovert in the second half. In Koi Mil Gaya he’s a mentally challenged guy who gets some superpowers from an alien. In Krrish, he’s a superhero. So he’s playing different characters. That kids connect with him instantly is something even we haven’t been able to explain. But there’s no strategy as such.