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What appealed to you about D-Day?
Nikhil (Advani, director) dropped in on the sets of Inkaar to meet me. At that point I didn’t know him personally. He said he wanted to make a realistic spy thriller. I couldn’t believe my ears. He had made films like Kal Ho Naa Ho and he was talking about action and guns. (Laughs) But when he shared the premise of the film, I was immediately hooked. It took him about three months to narrate the script. I was really impressed with the amount of research that had gone in.
Wasn’t one of the reasons you signed the film also that you wanted to do an action film?
Yeah, I have been waiting for a long time to do an action film with a great plot. This film is perfect. You don’t get films like D-Day often… also because it looks realistic. Add to that the fact that Nikhil managed to get one of the best action directors (Tom Struthers) from Hollywood on board. I couldn’t have asked for more.
Espionage films in Bollywood have always been larger than life. D-Day looks nothing like what the audience is used to. Our spy films are too unbelievable; they are almost like superhero films. I would describe D-Day as a Bourne Ultimatum-meets-Argo-meets-Zero Dark Thirty. It’s got that kind of eeriness and research. For example, how do two spies communicate? It’s not like you pick up the phone and call the chief of RAW. If you are stuck in Karachi and you have to send a message, you place a coded ad in a local paper. Or if I am attacked in a room and I don’t have a weapon, I pick up a newspaper, fold it up many times over and use that to fight. When you are chased, you don’t stop to beat the shit out of whoever is after you; you need to know how to immobilise him in seconds. These little nuances made D-Day real.
You had to go through intense training, didn’t you?
Yes, all of us did and the beauty of the action scenes is that it’s very real. There is no flying 10ft in the air or picking up a car and throwing it at someone. (Laughs) Tom Struthers is the reason why every sequence has a lot of heart. You don’t have to snap someone’s head off when you can break a finger to impart pain. He taught us to disintegrate a gun and put it back together; or what to do if a bullet gets stuck in a chamber. Tom met us first to understand our physical levels and our ease with action and then we trained for two months with Tom’s assistants before the shoot. It was quite educational. My daughters’ future boyfriends better beware! (Laughs)
After Hrithik Roshan’s recent surgery (to remove a blood clot in his brain), there is a debate about whether there are enough safety measures in place for Bollywood action sequences...
I know Hrithik really, really well. And action comes very naturally to him. He is very fit and what happened was scary and unfortunate. It was very disturbing for me to see such a fit guy, who is so cautious about everything he does, going through something so scary.
Will this play on your mind the next time you are called in to do an action sequence?
Of course. I think the fear of injuries plays on all our minds. Breaking your leg or arm is still okay because that can heal but neck or shoulder injuries are frightening. People get knee or back problems from some sequences they shoot. It’s just a part of the profession. This is why we keep ourselves really fit. After Hrithik’s surgery, I hope people wake up to more stringent safety measures. I hope Hrithik gets back to doing action scenes because he is wonderful at it and he loves it.
How long is your list of injuries?
Well, I have a slipped disc from a shoot where I jumped on to an airbag from the fifth floor. The airbag was too hard because not enough air had been released. My knees banged into my chin and my neck snapped. So, there is also a neck problem. If I sleep wrong, my neck gets jammed and I have to take a hot-and-cold shower. I have shoulder and upper-back injury. It’s long enough!
D-Day is your second release of the year (after Inkaar) and you have Satyagraha next. The films couldn’t have been more different.
These are films I want to be a part of. It’s coincidence that they are releasing in the same year. If I start working to a strategy, I am convinced that nothing would fall in place… Murphy’s Law! (Laughs)
In the last few years it seems like you have found your footing when it comes to picking films…
I don’t know.… (Pauses) My attempt always was to pick the best projects from what were being offered. I am a little more choosy now because I am doing only one film at a time. When I am 80, I want to be proud of the films I have done. So, I am picking films that challenge me and make me happy. I am not in a rush to do 200 films. I am lucky to be in the industry when there are films like Rock On!! and D-Day. Filmmakers are ready to experiment and I would be a fool to not take advantage of that.
