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[Photo Source: Facebook/RockyHandsome]
Any amount of action or even the best action in the world is absolutely useless if not backed by emotion—at least, that is the notion actor John Abraham swears by and he promises to deliver in his upcoming movie, “Rocky Handsome.”
Get ready for a very dangerous man. His name? #RockyHandsome. 2 day to go! @TheJohnAbraham @shrutihaasan pic.twitter.com/c2qidHObfl
— Rocky Handsome (@iAmAzure) March 22, 2016
A remake of the Korean original film, “The Man from Nowhere,” the Indian version will see Abraham as a lean, mean killing machine with his only emotional connection as a seven-year-old girl (Diya Chalwad). When she gets kidnapped, he will do everything in his power to bring her back. It’s the father-daughter relationship each of them have always wanted, but never got. The emotional aspect of the film is what makes it interesting, Abraham believes, because without it, the audience will walk out knowing nothing new was offered to them.
“I believe you have to base your film on content and emotions,” he said. “Nishi [Nishikant Kamat, director] and I both hope that the audiences walk out saying this is a very emotional film, but it also has great action.”
Originally, Abraham wanted to make a movie like “Taken” for the Indian audiences. Based on the suggestion of his co-producer, however, he saw “The Man from Nowhere,” which was the highest-grossing film in South Korea in 2010. He found that this version was even better than “Taken” and knew he had to do something like this in Bollywood.
“India hasn’t seen a film like this, and I’d really like to make it,” Abraham recalled were his first thoughts upon seeing the film. “The three things that attracted me to the film were the emotions, the actions, and the action I wanted to practice—and for the emotions, the director is the captain of the ship.”
[Read Related: “John Abraham Promises Equal Parts Action and Emotion in ‘Rocky Handsome’“]
He credits that having Kamat, the director of “Rocky Handsome,” on board for the film was fortunate. In addition to his direction, the film will also see Kamat don the role of a villain for the very first time. Abraham and Kamat have previously worked together in “Force,” which also thrived on actions and emotions—but this is the first time they have acted side by side.
“Nishi is a friend and we were supposed to work together a long time ago,” Abraham said. “We did ‘Force’ together and now, “Rocky Handsome”—so we’ve spent so much time together. We are on auto-pilot mode now. He just looks at me and I say yes because he knows I’ve got it. That’s how we shot our scenes. We are clear in our communication and that’s fantastic.” Abraham added that he believes Kamat’s performance in the movie will truly surprise and impress audiences.
Abraham not only worked alongside his director, but many of his scenes are also with a child actress—which may or may not prove to be challenging for many actors. However, for Abraham, the general impression that working with kids would be tough didn’t stand true.
“She turned that impression around. She made me realize that kids are less moody than actors so I was very impressed,” he said of working with Chalwad, who plays Naomi in the film.
Another important aspect of this movie was the physical action and stunts, for which Abraham underwent rigorous training.
“I enjoy doing it, but when I saw ‘The Man from Nowhere,’ I was nervous because the action is pretty tough,” he confessed. Abraham then went to Thailand for a month and trained for 14 hours a day.
“I trained in knives, I trained in hand-to-hand combat, I trained in art forms like Aikido and Hapkido to get my body language right so people could believe I knew what I was doing,” the actor explained. He knew his hard work paid off when he got an important compliment from Kamat. “When Nishi saw the rehearsal shots, he said he thought I had been learning Martial Arts since like the age of 4,” Abraham said. “So that’s a big one.”
The trailer of the movie gives us enough glimpse into all the amazing action we can expect from Abraham, especially in the scene where, in a single motion and with the use of knives, he cuts apart his opponent.
“That knife art form is called Silat, and it’s a Malaysian art form, and it includes a lot of knife fights, especially using one that’s shaped like a tiger’s claw,” Abraham explained. “We trained with blunt knives when we started but by the end of it, I was using proper knives because of the control I had and how over my body.” Abraham enjoyed it so much, he called it poetry in motion.
“Rocky Handsome” is making waves not just for the phenomenal stunts but also for its range of music and songs. From the soulful “Aye Khuda” to the classic Bombay Rockers track “Rock tha Party,” there is something for everyone on the album.
Thanks for all the love! #AyeKhuda crosses 1 million views. #RockyHandsome @TheJohnAbraham pic.twitter.com/fNfhZnvmj4
— Rocky Handsome (@iAmAzure) March 15, 2016
“I think we are very lucky that we got Sunny and Inder Bawra, and they made me listen to a song [“Rehnuma” from the movie] and I fell in love with it. I sent it to Nishi because I found it special and thought it would go well with the film,” Abraham said. “He liked the song too and they composed more tracks and ended up becoming the music directors of the film!” In fact, “Rehnuma and “Aye Khuda” are two of Abraham’s favorite songs from the movie.
Abraham also shared that he believes so strongly in the story and the character that he is portraying that both he and Kamat see the possibility of a sequel. Most recently, Abraham was a part of sequels such as “Welcome Back,” “Housefull 2,” the forthcoming “Hera Pheri 3,” and “Force 2”—which he is working on with Kamat.
“I asked the sequel question for “Rocky Handsome” to Nishi and told him to answer me in a yes or no immediately—and he said yes,” Abraham said. “When I asked him why he said that most of the sequels today are forced and in this case, it can be a natural progression for the character. This can be understood once you’ve seen the film.” Clearly, they both see a Rocky series in the future of Bollywood as well. “We hope that each part if made, gives something new but also credible.”
Abraham puts forth a simple, final message he wants audiences to take away from “Rocky Handsome,” in three parts—“I want people to be entertained, first. I want people to be moved, second. I want people, when they walk out, to feel it’s money well-spent, three.”
“Rocky Handsome” releases on March 25, and stars Abraham, Chalwad, Kamat, Nathalia Kaur, and Shruti Hassan.
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