"Blue" director Anthony D'Souza would have gone into oblivion had it not been for Akshay Kumar's support. Now he marvels at the response to his new film "Boss", and he is planning an aerial adventure drama.
"It's a pet subject. It's a project close to my heart. And I want to make it the way I do. I am happy that 'Boss' has been accepted. More than myself, I am glad for my wife who has gone through three years of uncertainty. And my eight-year-old son loves 'Boss'," said Anthony.
Talking about the response to "Boss", Anthony said: "How do I feel? No, I don't feel vindicated, just happy and relieved that my producers will make money. My film opened very well at the single theatres. It is an out-and-out masala entertainer."
He says "Boss" can't be judged by the same standards as Ritesh Batra's "The Lunchbox".
"That is not right. My film is a different genre from 'The Lunchbox'. And they are both for a different audience," he added.
Anthony's understanding of the language of the commercial Hindi cinema is quite evident in "Boss".
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"I guess Akshay and I have grown up watching the films of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and this is our humble homage to that style of filmmaking," he said.
"Boss" also departs radically from the original Malayalam film "Pokkiri Raja".
"We were very sure there were elements from the original that we could take and many elements that did not suit the Hindi-speaking audiences. Even the action sequences are very different. They are more realistic. We had a one-on-one fight between Akshay and Ronit Roy in climax that wasn't there in 'Pokkiri Raja'," said Anthony.
He is grateful to his entire team for making this difficult film happen.
Anthony says he has gravitated towards a more commercial language because of the failure of "Blue".
"I tried a different language in 'Blue'. I failed. So I gravitated towards a conventional commercial language. What attracted me to 'Pokkiri Raja' was the father-son story. I lost my father when I was 14."
"Akshay too remains deeply attached to his father although he is no more. In fact, Akshay sir's father gave me my first break to make a commercial while I got my first feature film 'Blue' because of Akshay sir," he said.
The filmmaker can't stop thanking Akshay for his support.
"After 'Blue', I'd have wiped out if Akshay sir hadn't supported me. I never went to any actor after 'Blue'. It was only Akshay Kumar for me. I just wanted a script that I could connect with. It was Ashwin Warde who came to me with the idea of remaking 'Pokkiri Raja'. Ashwin has stood solidly behind me."