Neeraj Pandey discussed directing thrillers, how he puts the onus on regular people in his storylines, and his successful collaborations with Akshay Kumar and Taapsee Pannu.
Neeraj Pandey refuses to claim credit for the box office success of his thrillers. the best epics aren’t suspense novels In other words, it’s not a certain kind of film, according to him.
A look at his films like A Wednesday, Special 26, Baby, and Rustom reveals that the majority of his plotlines place a normal guy or ordinary people amid the action, leading to surprising twists. The director told indianexpress.com that the goal was never to start a trend.
“A story like A Wednesday has occurred before. So to claim we began a trend would be incorrect. Every year, we have a film that speaks about a generational issue from the perspective of an ordinary man or woman. It’s just passing the torch, not beginning anything from scratch.”
With Special Ops and Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story, Neeraj ventured into the digital realm. He recalled how Special OPS first struggled to acquire an audience owing to the outbreak of Covid-19, and how the online program survived purely on word of mouth.
“There was no advertising or public relations for Special OPS at all.” As a result, no one on our team was prepared for the initial lockdown. All of our press conferences had to be canceled due to the lack of outside space. The MCD had taken down all of the hoardings to make room for posters promoting Covid. A preview and a few social media mentions were all we had, Neeraj stated.
According to him, word-of-mouth was “the best endorsement that any product could ever have” as a result of the audience increasingly enjoying it.
Aside from spying and national threats, his main priority is to keep a watch on a wide range of concerns and threats. This is why you’re a magnet: “You’re constantly looking for something that hasn’t been done before,” he said.
“I’m not going to call it to pressure,” he added, adding that these are “interesting and trying times.” According to him, if the environment drives filmmakers to make cautious selections when selecting a narrative, they must also elevate their game regularly. “And if everyone is lifting their game, that’s a wonderful thing because the audience is in for a treat,” Neeraj said.
“All I hope is that we will continue to have chances to make films.” I’m satisfied as long as our picture elicits a positive response that enables us to go on with another project. Its longevity is never in sight. It gives you confidence when the audience respects your idea,” he continued.
So, how does he guarantee that his thrillers or tales leave the audience satisfied and convinced? On a more serious note, he said, “you cannot take a thread of your thoughts and then go about your work.” Instead, he referred to it as a difficult procedure. This time in the story, when you want to rally behind a character and bring some comfort to the audience, is a function of the event itself, says the author. It’s the result of several things interacting. As a storyteller, your role is to convey a certain tale. As a result, you’ll want to be as convincing as possible.”
Neeraj, who previously helmed MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, has worked best with Akshay Kumar. A 10-minute battle scene in Baby also flipped the script on Taapsee Pannu, with whom he eventually collaborated on the prequel Naam Shabana. Neeraj praised their working relationship, saying it is completely collaborative. They were all ready to get their hands dirty and participate in whatever we were working on.” Moreover, they did their utmost to do so. They have faith in our vision,”
And how did he respond when the current movie A Thursday, starring Yami Gautam, was dubbed a sequel to his film A Wednesday? For him, it seemed like he had “absolutely nothing to do” with the success of a film.
Neeraj Pandey, who recently bankrolled Operation Romeo, is now working on Vikram Vedha, a film starring Saif Ali Khan and Hrithik Roshan.
READ: Mrunal Thakur on Jersey’s box office failure: ‘Undoubtedly disappointing, one does tend to feel bad.’
