Atlee talks about Jawan’s success, what he plans to do next, and learning from the criticism the film has received.
Atlee’s Bollywood debut has been beyond his wildest imaginations. Jawan, his first Hindi film, is racing towards the Rs 1000-crore mark at the worldwide box office, and will, in all likeliness, also be the highest-grossing Hindi film in India soon. This is a huge leap for the Tamil filmmaker whose previous films have grossed significantly lower. In an exclusive chat with DNA, the director opens up about the grand success of Jawan, what is next for him, and response to the criticism the film has received.
You keep going bigger in each of your films. From Raja Rani to this, it’s been a constant upwards climb. So does that make you nervous somewhere, that now the responsibility is even higher? Because even though your previous film were hits, this is 3, 4 times bigger than any of your them.
I think somewhere my formula is working. I don’t know what my formula is. But somewhere I’m hearing my heart, and I have the right friends and family with me to support. And I have a great wife to be a backbone on all my progress. I’m not complicating myself. Not thinking that I’ve given Raja Rani so I have to do something like that like this. No, whatever comes to my heart, makes me happy, feels better, and I am just approaching it.
I have not taken steps, I have taken leaps by a trade language, If I have to say. After doing a romantic film (Raja Rani), I went with action film (Theri), and that do with Vijay sir. At that time he was the biggest person to work with. Every film I have made bigger and bigger and it’s only because I have good support around me. So Jawan has brought me a lot of goodness. Now, I have lot of fans here also (in the north). So the next thing should be much bigger than what I’ve done in Jawan.
You talked about Jawan being this hit, and of course it was following Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, which was, of course, a massive blockbuster. Did you ever expect Jawan to do even better than that?
Yeah, of course! From day one we were very positive about the film. Confidence is something comes through with merit. So we had really a good feeling about the content we were making. We definitely knew that we were going to go higher. But then always, God will surprise you. I’ve expected something, God took us beyond that. Pathaan really put us in a very good position in terms of expectation. So thanks to Sid (Siddharth Anand), Adi sir (Aditya Chopra) for making Pathaan before us.
I was reading a lot of comments from fans and fans up north. We loved Rajni sir, Thalapathy Vijay, Ajith and their movies. That is the kind of grammar and cinema that you have brought to Hindi films with with Jawan. But a lot of South fans have said that this is something that we have seen before, maybe not the story, but the kind of film it is. They found parallels with Mersal because of the medical corruption angle and so on. So, how do you address that criticism from fans in the south?
There are a few of those comments somewhere up North also. It’s going to be there for any film. Some people expect something different while others may be surprise. But I think, 90-95%, if you are through with any product, then you’re there. So I think I have crossed even 95% (with Jawan). And there are few people who will say something and that’s okay. I have to learn certain things. So, I will learn, and I’ll get better. But overall, what was my target audience, what was my intention of making this film? I wanted to make a commercial with responsibility. And, I made it. And even my fans are in South are going really gaga about the film. And I’ve got new fans in the North, and they are also. So I’m happy in that space. Of course, for any product, there will be a little dissatisfaction.
So basically it’s impossible to please 100% of the audience…
No, when you make 100%, you are done, that’s all.
You mentioned that you have new fans up here in North. So what will be Atlee’s next film? Is it a Hindi film, a Tamil film, or is it Jawan 2, about which you have already spoken?
Me and Khan sir (Shah Rukh) came together after Bigil to make an Indian film. So from now on, I will make lots of Indian films, which is for everyone. So my target is to make the film for all, and I have to cater to all the audience now. Now, I have fans in his West Bengal, in Bihar, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. They are people who love you for your work. So when they love you, you have to be very responsible, and take the business very seriously. You can’t just take things for granted that ok they will come and watch my film. So, I’m taking this note very seriously. I’m becoming very responsible now. Whatever I’m going to make, it’s going to be for everyone. And from here, where I can go is, I can take our Indian cinema to a global standard and make our India proud about filmmaking. So that’s the takeaway I’m going to take from this. That’s the promise I’ve given to Khan sir that with Jawan, I will take our cinema to the next level. That’s what he also wishes.
So, is Jawan 2 just in your head right now or on paper also?
I haven’t started thinking about anything that what my next will be. I am just living with Jawan right now. I’m just reading the audience and gauging what is what I have to make for my next. I’ll come back to what I’m going do next a little later.
