Director Sabbir Khan tells Arjita Mishra that Baaghi was conceptualised around the Ramayan and explains why he shot a scene in Kerala similar to the song Jiya jale as a tribute to Mani Ratnam
What was the idea behind making BaaghiIJ
Post Heropanti, my producer Sajid Nadiadwala was extremely happy with the success of the film and was amazed at the appreciation which we received from everybody. One day, he called me and said I want to make a film with you and Tiger again. So, I was happy that my next film will be with the same team. He shared various ideas with me but we both were searching for something new which no one had seen or done before. One day he said that there is a Telugu film called Kalvarsham which was released in 2002 and asked me to watch that film. So, I watched the film and the only thing which I liked was that it was adopted from Ramayana. Then I said, ‘Yaar sab kuch bhul jao’ (forget everything), what if we do the Ramayana againIJ This excited both of us — me and Sajid. And after that, it took us eight to nine months to write the script. I think it is my version of Ramayana. What would happen if the characters of the epic were to live in today’s worldIJ I have taken few of the characters and the basic plot.
So the whole process of making the film took two years or it was just a script that took two yearsIJ
The whole process, right from idea to the script and to the casting, took two years because there was a lot of detailing and research involved in the film. It is a tough film, not a niche one. The dialogues, drama, action, romance and music, everything was difficult to compile.
Is there any specific reason behind casting Tiger in back to back filmsIJ
There was no specific reason to cast Tiger in back-to-back films. We were working on the script and he was free to do the film. But he kept telling me, ‘Sir I don’t want to do any film, I want to be different from other’. So I shared the story idea with him and he was excited to come aboard.
One of the Baaghi’s scene just looks like a scene from song Jiya jale which shot on Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta in Dil Se. Was that intentional or a demand of the screenplayIJ
That scene was shot intentionally. Actually, when we were shooting in Kerala, where the first half of the film was shot, someone told us that it is a place where Jiya jale was shot. Suddenly it came in my mind to pay a tribute to Mani Ratnam sir with this scene. It was also going with our story. We were shooting love sequence of the film. In the film, it is Kerala where Tiger and Shraddha fell in love with each other.
We have never seen Shraddha doing action. How did you think of casting her for this roleIJ
Shraddha was my first choice. I thought that people love her a lot and what if I give her a role which she has never done before. That is why she also got excited and agreed to this film. And we are glad that everyone is liking her in this new avatar. She is getting a lot of appreciation, too. Shraddha is very sweet and soft and no one would have imagined her doing actions. We are glad that we took a decision to cast her in this role and she proved that our decision was correct.
Your first film was an ensemble star cast. And in your subsequent films, you’ve chosen relatively new actors. Is there any specific reason behind thatIJ
It’s just the demand of the script. The script of Kambakht Ishq required established stars. It was a great experience of working with them. And withHeropanti, we thought that if the script is so good, then why we can’t launch new faces. I pushed myself and took that risk and got a really good result. It feels nice to take the risk and then to receive success.
photo Pankaj Kumar