Director Rohit Shetty on how Sooryavanshi is starkly different from his past police dramas
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; May 18, 2019)

Churning out successful cop dramas at regular intervals is not a cakewalk. But filmmaker Rohit Shetty, who is giving Bollywood its first cop universe with Singham (2011), Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi, reveals that the trick lies in making each protagonist individualistic. Currently filming his next with Akshay Kumar in Goa, the director says that writer Farhad Samji and he made a conscious effort during the brainstorming sessions to give his latest hero a distinct flavour.

"Akshay's Sooryavanshi is entirely different from Singham or Simmba. He doesn't wear a uniform and is very stylised. [In sharp contrast], Simmba was a brat. Sooryavanshi's department too is showcased differently. Also, while Singham fought corruption, Sooryavanshi deals with terrorism. So, the individual traits of these characters will give us enough [to play with as a whole unit]," says Shetty, who recently unveiled the animated series Golmaal Jr, for children.

Excited as he is to present his cop universe, Shetty is certainly taken aback by the comparisons with Marvel's superhero universe, Avengers. Citing the difference in the scale of production of the two franchises, the filmmaker refers to this comparison as "a joke".