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00:00And it gives me a reflected right to know that you chose Dubai to film parts of Patan.
00:14So it's actually my, I shot in Abu Dhabi in 2013, being the first Hindi film to have shot
00:22in Abu Dhabi, while they were still setting up their film offices.
00:27I think it was 2, 1, what was it?
00:30I think I forgot the name of the company that they were setting up, the film commission.
00:342454?
00:352454.
00:362454.
00:37Was it?
00:38Yeah, 2454 was a film company that was being set up still at that point in time.
00:43And we landed up to shoot Bang Bang over there and shoot some extensive action sequences.
00:48And we got some great support and great infrastructure.
00:51Now it's a whole different ballgame to shoot in the UAE.
00:53They've got everything.
00:54They've got studios.
00:55They've got sound studios.
00:56They've got equipments that are comparable to anywhere in the world.
01:00So it's a dilemma to have shot in the UAE.
01:03No, I was just saying that because some of the stunt sequences that were shot in Dubai,
01:09and when I saw the movie, I thought it was hyper realistic, first of all, and it was
01:13also very ambitious.
01:14The scale was massive.
01:16Did you at any point think that you needed a city like Dubai and, you know, and an infrastructure
01:22that can make it all happen?
01:24It's not easy, right?
01:25I mean, it's easy to be to have a certain vision, but to execute it must be a different
01:28ballgame.
01:29A city to shoot that kind of kind of kind of sequences, that kind of ambition has to
01:35have inherently the scope and infrastructure and logistics to support it, even from a know
01:41how how to manage crowds and traffic and and people and tourists, because Dubai is a tourist
01:48hub.
01:49So you have to manage that and not disappoint or, you know, or trouble anybody, inconvenience
01:55anybody.
01:56So that's something that you have to master.
01:57And I think Dubai has mastered that.
01:58Right.
01:59Right.
02:00And Siddharth, what's your process like?
02:01I've always wondered, because you have always I feel one of the directors that always believes
02:08in scale.
02:09I can never imagine you doing a small scale film if I correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel
02:15bigger the better for you.
02:16Don't say that.
02:17I think it's it's something it's a story that that warrants what I do.
02:23I had this nurtured this script, which is which is a courtroom drama, which is something
02:32that I have nurtured for the last 14, 15 years, but nobody had had the faith to do it with
02:39me.
02:40So, yeah, that's an intimate small, small scale, but a true story courtroom drama, which
02:47I just love, love and just no one shows faith in doing that with me.
02:51They just want to do big, big 10-fold action films with me.
02:54So I want to do a small film, an intimate film, a film with a big heart, but which is
02:59which can be big.
03:00Big is what the audience makes it.
03:02So Siddharth should do it at some point.
03:05Right.
03:06You sound like such a privileged first world problem there.
03:10Nobody trusts me with small scale films, you really do.
03:15You can say that God has been kind.
03:17God has been kind, of course, but listen, when you do all these big action entertainers,
03:22I'm sure you're often asked, are you inspired by Hollywood?
03:27Are you trying to be like I made my friend who's an American watch the movie and he loved
03:31it.
03:32He said it's like Iron Man, James Bond, all mixed into one.
03:36It's a fantastic cocktail.
03:37He loved it.
03:38But my thing is, the comparisons are there.
03:40So are you always worried you will be, you know, you will be compared to your movies
03:45would be compared to paler imitations of Hollywood films?
03:49But that's inevitable.
03:50You know, when you make the kind of films that are beyond the scale of a Bollywood film,
03:54what your conventions of a Bollywood film are, you're instantly compared to Hollywood,
03:58which is obviously much has a better infrastructure, better technology and huger budgets.
04:05So we always seem like we're trying to imitate that, but our limitations are much more.
04:11We also have ambitions, our directors have the ability to mount films, but we are limited
04:18with the reach of a film because we make it in one language, which is limited to Hindi.
04:23And so our revenues are directly in proportion with the budget that we can afford.
04:28So we have certain limitations, but I think we're doing great.
04:30We're telling stories that are reaching across the world and being appreciated everywhere.
04:35So we're doing well.
04:37Right.
04:38Of course.
04:39I know this is a very basic question, but was having Shah Rukh Khan as the lead the
04:43biggest strength or the biggest weakness?
04:45Because what do you do with an actor like him?
04:48Forget the box office success of it.
04:50What were your thoughts when you knew you had to direct him?
04:53I think Shah Rukh Khan is a privilege and a huge strength.
04:56There's nothing more to it.
04:57Nothing else that he can be.
04:59And he proved to be that for Pathan.
05:03Right.
05:04Right.
05:05How involved are you in the casting of a film?
05:08Do you say, these are the actors I want, these are the ones who should do my stunts?
05:12How does it work with you?
05:13I think 100%.
05:14I think that's what a director does.
05:15He chooses everything.
05:16He's the captain of the ship.
05:17He chooses his crew.
05:19So I'm like any other director who chooses who he wants in the film to run the show.
05:24Really?
05:25No, but do you have a process in place, like now that you are like the go-to person for
05:30action spectacles, I'm pretty sure you are like, you know, you have aced that game.
05:36You've managed to strike that balance.
05:37So do you have a process in your head, in your own, how do you make things happen?
05:43In terms of casting or in terms of what you're asking?
05:46In terms of the movie as well, like how do you, you know, how do you bring it to life?
05:51It's not easy, right?
05:52It's a lot of work.
05:53And it was during COVID times as well, this one, that you filmed it.
05:57So you need, I mean, what's most important for a director is a great production backup.
06:04And with Adi and with Bayarat, it's a dream setup.
06:08And I keep telling Adi that he and me make a great team in the sense that we fill each
06:13other's voids well.
06:15And we are, we, our strengths combined do something which is really special.
06:21And it's been proven with War and Pathan and all our films that we've done together.
06:26So yes, for a producer, for a director, you need a great producer and a great production
06:30backup and that simplifies everything.
06:34And the production is what, production team is what allows a director's vision to fructify.
06:41So put it on screen of what you want.
06:44So at YRF, I just need to say, I want this, this, this, and I get that and much more.
06:49So it's a dream.
06:50Right.
06:51So there's no studio sanitization that most directors complain about.
06:56In fact, I have to control Adi.
06:59In fact, I have to say, we shouldn't do this.
07:02Really?
07:03Calm down.
07:04He's a great mind and he's a giver.
07:08So you just ask for the moon and you'll get the stars.
07:13Right.
07:14Right.
07:15Subhash, you seem very awfully young.
07:17Did you grow up on a staple of Superhero, Marvel, DC movies?
07:22You know what?
07:23Are you serious?
07:24I actually...
07:25You look fresh out of college.
07:27Sorry?
07:28You look fresh out of college.
07:29And I'm like, God, did you steer the ship?
07:32Which college is this?
07:33Old age college.
07:34In the Bollywood, where nobody ages.
07:35It is that Bollywood.
07:36I guess it's something that, you know, is genetic, but let's not talk about that.
07:44But the thing is, I forgot your question actually is about MCU, right?
07:50So I haven't, I have to admit, I haven't watched more than two MCU films.
07:57I'm not a fan of that genre as such as a viewer.
08:02I've seen a couple of them.
08:04My son is a huge fan and he's like an encyclopedia and he brings me up to date.
08:10So I have to run my scripts and my sequences past him and there will be no tag.
08:14This is in that film.
08:15No, you can't do this.
08:16It's already been done.
08:17So I'm like, what the hell do I do then?
08:18So I take ideas from him on how to maneuver things around.
08:22It helps.
08:23I think I should get onto the bandwagon and just start watching those films so that there's
08:27no overlap.
08:28Right.
08:29Of course.
08:30And how old is your son who seems to be a sounding board?
08:33He's 16 now.
08:34Okay, great.
08:35Great.
08:36He's in a good age where he can also give you credibility.
08:40Listen, about Pathan, I thought John Abraham, we should have a separate movie about him.
08:47Just like a backstory, an origin story.
08:49He's warranted that.
08:50He's warranted that.
08:51Yes, yes.
08:52Jim is a character that's been much loved and I think he's been really brave to take
09:02up this role and I think it was important that the payoff happens, that he's vindicated,
09:09he's validated for taking up the role of a baddie in a film that's called Pathan.
09:14So it's really brave and commendable that John did it and the love that is coming his
09:19way is so validating and it completely warrants that we see Jim's origin or even Jim is not
09:28dead.
09:29Yes, I'm thinking he's recuperating in some mountain where the tribes are putting like
09:35Yeah, some man with, you know, grazing his sheep found his body and tended him back to
09:42life, sutured him back to life.
09:44Never know.
09:45For sure.
09:46Yeah, yeah.
09:47It's not the Western medicine that saves him.
09:49It's always those green things, the green stuff.
09:51Absolutely.
09:52Some herbs being rubbed over him.
09:54For sure, for sure.
09:55In our head, it's all happening.
09:56Listen, what I loved about Pathan as well is that the woman had something substantial
10:01to do as well.
10:02And that's one of the, you know, the negatives that's often said about a hero-led film.
10:07What does a woman do?
10:08In your case, were you very sure that even Deepika's role would have some heft?
10:14If not more, she's matching strides with all the men in the movie.
10:17I think that's her persona also that comes through and inspires you to do more with her.
10:22So obviously, you have a character you've written with a particular actress in mind
10:26that she can do this, this and that.
10:28And then when you actually get to cast her, then you improvise more to suit her personality.
10:33And so, Dhrubhai's character is Deepika.
10:37She is out there, she's charming, she can do action, she can dance, she can do everything.
10:42She can emote, you can feel her pain, her angst, she can betray you, and then yet make
10:49you fall in love with her and then trust her again.
10:51So it's a great role and Deepika just bit into it and there can be a separate spinoff
10:57of Dhrubhai also, who knows.
10:59For sure.
11:00And what was your brief to them?
11:02You know, honestly, there's no brief as such.
11:05They get the script, they know what is to be done, they're far too experienced to know
11:12how well they bite into the role and what juice there is and how it will come out.
11:17So I think there's enough experience in them to know how to manoeuvre these kind of roles.
11:24Right, right.
11:26I know this movie is doing incredibly well, I mean, in terms of box office, the kind of
11:31numbers that are bandied about, honestly, I've lost track, but there's a lot of money
11:35going around.
11:36How important is that?
11:37Like, is it all about the money at the end of the day that, you know, you feel a sense
11:40of validation?
11:41For you, money speaks.
11:44I think, you know, money is in direct correlation with the love that audience gives.
11:47If they're not loving it, they don't want to watch the film again and you won't make
11:51the money.
11:53So it is a direct correlation between love of the audience and money and we crave for
11:56both, yeah.
11:57Really?
11:58Oh, but it must be you're laughing your way to the bank, I'm assuming.
12:02My producer definitely is, I've not seen him.
12:06He must be enjoying the wealth that you have created.
12:08I hope so, yeah, it's validating for me also because he's been so brave to put in that
12:13kind of money in this scenario and mount it like a film, like, you know, there's so much
12:18to lose and he's been so brave and I'm so glad that it's paid off.
12:24Right, right.
12:25Siddharth, what do you, what was your most challenging bit about this film?
12:30I ask you this because I'm like, it's, there's so many elements here, right?
12:34The stunts, the stars, the set pieces, everything is complicated.
12:38So which one had your head in where you had to like, tell yourself, calm down?
12:44I think we've had a lot of challenges, whether we're shooting in the frozen lake of Baikal
12:48in Siberia with bikes, or we're shooting in the middle of the boulevard in Dubai, or using
12:53jetpack in the middle of the Alps that we shot it in.
12:55So it comes with its own fair challenges, yeah, or even if it's a song that we're shooting
12:59in freezing, freezing weather in Mallorca, but make it look like summer.
13:04So I mean, the film has various challenges.
13:06And every day is something that we pray to God that let's just try and make it easy and
13:10make it happen.
13:11See the day through.
13:12So even if it's a romantic comedy that comes with its own challenges, yeah, no, I mean,
13:16it's not easy for me.
13:17Right, right.
13:18I really want to go to the last message.
13:23Could we touch upon the numbers and the other pointers that you just shared with you?
13:27The numbers and the online trolling?
13:30Do you want to talk about that?
13:31Yeah.
13:32Oh, she had sent me some pointers, of course.
13:37I have a quick question, this movie, even before it hit the cinemas, it kind of raked
13:42in all the kind of like hate it could possibly get.
13:45And then there was love.
13:46But in your case, how did you handle both?
13:48Like it must have been stressful for you.
13:50How did you deal with the online trolls?
13:53I think this is something that you need to take in your stride and not get affected by
13:56it.
13:57Because if you do, then obviously, it's just something that is inevitable when you make
14:04a film, which challenges the norm, and which doesn't, you know, conform to certain expectations.
14:13While we actually made a film that is patriotic, which is a commercial entertainer, which has
14:20nothing controversial in it.
14:23But you know, people find something to pinpoint and draw attention to themselves.
14:28But you have to take it in a stride and believe in the audience.
14:30And that's what we did.
14:31Oh, of course, of course.
14:34And you're also one of the directors who seems to have the Midas touch.
14:38You know, the numbers do all the speaking, actually.
14:41Apparently, according to Tanya's notes, you have delivered 300 crore plus openers for
14:48a first film like War and Patan.
14:50And you also have not delivered a single flop.
14:53Well done you.
14:54Okay.
14:56Congratulations on that.
14:57That is some impressive statistic.
14:58What do you have to say?
14:59I mean, is that so important?
15:01Like, this is your claim to fame that you have not delivered a single flop, especially
15:05in an industry which is ailing?
15:08I think it's something that I try and make stories that connect to the audience at some
15:15level.
15:16So I've been very, very fortunate that all my films have somewhere connected with an
15:20audience and have had varied degrees of successes.
15:26So it's something that empowers you that you're doing something right.
15:31And that you can continue making films.
15:32So yeah, it's pretty, pretty feeling good.
15:37But the money is important, I think, at some point, right?
15:42So that I mean, without which I think you cannot make these bigger spectacles, like
15:46you can't be more ambitious in your next one.
15:49I mean, however successful your last film is, that allows you to make something at least
15:54an equivalent to what you made last.
15:56And so it's important because you're here to make films to do a job.
16:00And the fact that you're successful allows you another job.
16:05But has your street credit improved tremendously over the years, just by delivering these movies
16:12that are not easy to make?
16:15I don't think anybody can just wake up and say, come, let me make this film.
16:18It has to have a certain discipline, know-how, technical expertise, right?
16:23So yeah, I mean, that's something that is inherent, that I can't set out and say, okay,
16:28today now I want to make these big 10-fold films and come on, back me.
16:31Obviously, you need a track record, you need someone to have extreme faith in you, whether
16:35it's an artist or whether it's a producer or a production house.
16:38So I've been lucky that way that, you know, I started out making rom-coms slowly, slowly,
16:43you know, scaled up in the films that I wanted to make, and all of them were successful at
16:47some level.
16:48So it empowered me to make bigger films in terms of box office or even budgets.
16:54That paid off.
16:56So today, fortunately, I have actually made the biggest film of my career in terms of
17:02box office.
17:03So it empowers me to do better and try and push the envelope more and give audiences
17:07even bigger spectacles.
17:09No, that's important because I feel Bollywood has taken a beating of sorts because I feel
17:14South Indian films have done well.
17:15There was this narrative being spun, which is also, you know, true, it was doing way
17:20better.
17:21Suddenly, there's this impetus, you know, this kind of catalyst for Bollywood films.
17:25Do you feel like a Superman yourself?
17:27No, I think I just feel I feel vindicated.
17:31And because War, I think, was the last film that actually was a big success, big, big
17:35success, which across the barometer threshold of 300.
17:38And then after that, there was no film that actually did that.
17:41And South was actually South films were actually being loved by the audiences across India
17:46and they were reaching big numbers.
17:48So there was certain belief that, oh, will the Hindi film industry again bounce back
17:53to those golden days?
17:56And thankfully, Pathan has done that and reaffirmed faith that Hindi film audiences are still
18:02there that are going to love Hindi films and they can continue doing so.
18:08So I'm glad.
18:09Yeah, no, but Siddharth, your movie was also an unapologetic play into all this machismo
18:14and swagger.
18:15You know, it's not easy to carry it off.
18:19Did you tell them, bring it on?
18:20Like, did you tell Shah Rukh and Deepika and John, everybody bring on the swagger?
18:24But they have inherent swag, yeah, Manjusha.
18:26So I don't need to do anything with them, yeah, they have a lot of swag, when they walk
18:29into the room, you can feel it.
18:31What was the thing that surprised you the most about all the three?
18:35Surprised me most?
18:36Their humility, yeah.
18:37The fact that they allow you to direct them the way you want and allow the director to,
18:47you know, put his vision out rather than saying, listen, I can't do this or listen,
18:51my audience and my fans don't want me to see, do this, to see me do this.
18:55So that that's something that is really liberating for a director to be able to do what he wants
19:01and they empower that.