In a return to the herogiri of the 1970s and the ’80s, Sajid Khan’s Housefull 2 will have four actors —Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Riteish Deshmukh and Shreyas Talpade — taking on 40 goons in an action sequences that the director promises is one of the USPs of the much-anticipated sequel.
“The actors I grew up watching—Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna—were heroes in the true sense and you didn’t question the irrationality of them taking on an army of villains. Since retro is in, I thought why not rewind to those glory days when heroism wasn’t simply about fighting but fighting the odds,” reasons Sajid.
He insists he has designed every kick and punch himself and roped in the action director of Rambo, Kawee Sirikhanaerut better known as Seng Kawee, as his associate action director to execute his vision.
“The action in my film has no shades of Rambo. Why should it? It’s not a boxer’s story. But you will get to see some amazing hand-to-hand combats, Akshay picking up and throwing John bodily and he responding with a counter-punch that broke my camera,” Sajid laughs. “And all this without cables and CGI (Computer Generated Imagery).”
He has an ally in Akshay whom he rates as one of the best action stars in Bollywood today, always ready for any kind of daredevilry. “Akshay has done so many fights in the last two decades that he knows where to place the camera, what safety norms to practise and how to cheat the viewer if the need arises. He’d make a superb action director. When Akshay is on the set you can happily take the backseat,” smiles Sajid who shot one action sequence over four days and four locations in Thailand, from a dense forest to the top of a mountain and under a waterfall.
“I’ve always had a passion for action and now when I’ve got the chance, I’m going ballstic”, he added.
By Hindustantime
