A.R. Murugadoss came and conquered Bollywood with his first film -- action thriller "Ghajini", a remake of his Tamil hit of the same name. Now ready with his second movie "Holiday - A Soldier Is Never Off Duty", also a remake of his film "Thuppakki", the southern filmmaker lauds Hindi filmdom for providing a "platform to reach worldwide audiences" and reveals that his next in Hindi would be an original.
"It's my long time desire to do a straight (original) Hindi film, even 'Holiday' was supposed to be a direct film at first, but things didn't fall in place, hence I did it in Tamil as 'Thuppakki'," Murugadoss told IANS in an interview.
"My next venture in Hindi is for sure a straight film," added the director, whose southern films are a staple for filmmakers to adapt in different languages.
With his over a decade-long journey, which started with 2001 Tamil actioner "Dheena", Murugadoss later pleased the crowd with films like "Ramana" and "Ghajini".
In 2006, he entered Telugu industry with actioner "Stalin" starring Chiranjeevi, which was recently remade in Hindi as "Jai Ho".
In 2011, Murugadoss turned producer with hit Tamil romantic-drama "Engaeyum Eppothum". Later he successfully produced "Raja Rani" and "Maan Karate".
He made a splash in Bollywood with Aamir Khan-starrer 2008 movie "Ghajini", which reaped so much gold at the box office that it became the first film to earn Rs.100 crore, thus starting a new trend in Mumbai filmdom.
Asked what lured him to Bollywood, he said: "Bollywood is the industry which takes the creation throughout the nation, in addition it's the best way to carry our creation to the worldwide audience too, so I personally feel it's the platform where we can reach worldwide audience."
Renowned as the action master and a man of few words, the director, whose films break records at the box office, is passionate about action and says that the genre appeals to all age groups.
"I am always fascinated by action movies since my childhood, it's the genre which attracts from a small kid to an aged man, so I prefer to do action movies a lot," he said.
For "Holiday", he has teamed up with Bollywood's action star Akshay Kumar, who will be seen doing Akiru, a form of martial art. Releasing June 6, the film promises to unleash different style of action and take the audience on a new thrilling ride.
Produced by Vipul Shah, the film has action scenes directed by renowned British stuntman Greg Powell, known for his work in Hollywood's super hit franchises such as "Harry Potter" and "James Bond".
Most importantly, the realistic action scenes are a break from the usual southern style of stunts.
From where do you take inspiration to introduce innovative action sequences in the narrative?
"The character of the hero decides the action sequences in my narration. Considering 'Holiday', Akshay sir plays the role of a DIA specialist, so the narration goes in a manner how he handles an issue with his intelligence and brilliance. So, the characterisation of the lead in the movie decides the narrative style," said the director whose "Thuppakki" was the second film to join the Rs.100 crore club down south after Rajinikanth's "Enthiran".
After "Ghajini", expectations are high from "Holiday" and Murugadoss is keeping his fingers crossed.
"The expectations are definitely high enough after 'Ghajini'. I scripted the film and worked hard on 'Holiday' considering this a lot, definitely you all will like it. Hope you all will like 'Holiday' as much as you did 'Ghajini'," said the director, who is also directing Tamil film "Kaththi" with actor Vijay.
(Arpana can be contacted at arpana.s@ians.in)
