The night before our chat, director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat had dropped by at an Andheri multiplex to see the audience’s reaction to Kill. “The oohs, aahs, clapping and cheering—there is nothing better than that,” he smiles.

Kill is unlike any Bollywood movie we’ve seen so far. Set almost entirely inside a train, the Lakshya and Raghav Juyal-starrer is unabashedly violent. Its biggest feat is that it’s among the few Indian films to get a Hollywood adaptation, when the reverse is the norm —John Wick director Chad Stahelski is set to produce the remake for Lionsgate. For this, Bhat credits producers Karan Johar and Guneet Monga Kapoor, who showed faith in the material.

“They didn’t stop at making the film; they distributed and released it in Latin America and Japan. They got Lionsgate on board. People [draw parallels with] a John Wick or The Raid, but that’s because there is a lack of reference point from India. John Wick producers remaking this, is a huge thing for Indian films. I will meet them in Los Angeles soon. They said it’s a unique film because they felt for the antagonist as much as for the protagonist. The action and all is great, but the film emotionally gripped them.”

While the action fare was inspired by a burglary Bhat had witnessed on a train from Patna to Pune in the mid-90s, he is eager to see how the Hollywood adaptation will be anchored. “In 2021, there were 699 thefts and robberies attempted in Indian trains. They will have to adapt it to a local story from their culture.”

Kill is touted as Hindi cinema’s most brutal film. That makes us wonder what led Bhat to make such a gory movie. “There is so much latent anger and angst in me. I left advertising to pursue filmmaking. In 2008, I made a film [Saluun] that didn’t release. For eight years, I was struggling to make another movie; I got my next in 2016. In 2015, I remember taking the longest bath of my life. For an hour-and-a-half, I was standing in the shower, thinking of everyone who has gone ahead of me—my friends, cousins, and colleagues. I decided to not waste my time; it’s with that angst that I wrote this film. Fani [Juyal’s character] came to me before Amrit [Lakshya’s character] did. I was channelling my angst in the story.”

The Deols are known to wear their emotions on their sleeve, and they have never shied away from expressing themselves in the presence of their fans and the media. Last year saw the Deols enjoying a fabulous run at the theatres – Sunny and Bobby’s films (Gadar 2 and Animal) broke box office records, and papa Dharam ji’s romantic turn in Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani melted hearts. Post the success, and what was called the return of Bobby Deol, the brothers-in-arms were seen at several events and television shows getting teary-eyed while sharing stories about their family and individual journeys in cinema.

Talking about the high emo-quotient in their family, Bobby says, “It’s like when you see sportsmen playing in the stadium, when they win, they cry. I think when you achieve something big after so much hard work, what you see are tears of joy. It’s a normal phenomenon that happens to anyone.”

He adds, “I think my whole family is extremely emotional. All Deol men cry. We are not embarrassed about it. It is an emotion that is just there. I think everybody cries, it’s just that most don’t talk about it. The Deols are emotional people, and we are happy to be that way.”

In his last release, Animal, Bobby Deol as Abrar surprised everyone with his never-seen-before avatar. The actor was seen doing some gory action with Ranbir Kapoor in the Sandeep Reddy Vanga directorial and won praise for his hot-headed performance. He will soon be seen doing some more action in an upcoming pan-India film.

He says, “My brother and my dad have been my inspiration when it comes to action. I have always wanted to do films like my brother, but I wouldn’t get those films because bhaiyya was doing them (laughs).”

Bobby’s favourite action film is the Sunny Deol-starrer Ghayal. “I loved Ghayal. I think an action film always works when there is an emotion behind it. I haven’t really enjoyed brainless action. I mean, I did enjoy John Wick. It was brainless action, but there’s something about Keanu Reeves that you just enjoy watching on screen,” he shares.

As the Coronavirus crisis eases its grip across the world, Hollywood is making merry, and how! With major releases raking moolah at the box office and many big films going in production, it looks like things are finally headed in the right direction for the entertainment business.

Over its opening weekend, Fast & Furious 9 tallied $70 million in box-office receipts, the highest figure for a film that released in the midst of the pandemic. The previous record holder was A Quiet Place Part II, which opened in May with just under $50 million in ticket sales, reports CNBC.

According to Deadline, A Quiet Place Part II is closing in on $250 million worldwide and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It crossed $100 million at the international box office. Other releases that have hit the bullseye include The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway.

In the next few weeks, a number of blockbuster features are lined up, such as Black Widow, Jungle Cruise, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Snake Eyes. This would be followed by Dune, Free Guy, Eternals, The Green Knight, The Suicide Squad, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time To Die.

Not just releases, even film productions are going into overdrive. Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — the highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster Black Panther (2018) — has started production in Atlanta, reports Variety.

The original cast of the film is set to reunite sans Chadwick Boseman, who died in August last year after a four-year battle with colon cancer. The film is slated to release in July next year.

Filmmaker James Wan shared a picture of a clap board placed in an icy cavern and wrote, “Day One. #aquaman2”, signalling the commencement of the shoot of Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. The Jason Momoa-led film will hit cinemas in December 2022.

Filmmaker Rian Johnson also took to social media to announce the production of Knives Out 2. Actor Daniel Craig will reprise his role as the clever private investigator Benoit Blanc, alongside a new cast that includes Dave Bautista and Edward Norton, among others.

The fourth instalment of the John Wick franchise is also in the works. The Chad Stahelski directorial, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Rina Sawayama and Shamier Anderson, is scheduled to release in May next year.

Ali Fazal was shooting for the Netflix series, tentatively titled X-Ray, in Aurangabad last week. In a bid to keep details of the project under wraps, director Srijit Mukherji had adopted a no-phone policy and employed heightened security on the set. However, mid-day laid its hands on a picture of Fazal, clicked by a fan when the actor was on his way to the vanity van. 

“The week-long Aurangabad schedule served as the final leg of Srijit da’s project. Ali plays an interesting role in the series that is based on the short stories of Satyajit Ray. During the shoot, Ali sported a suit, long hair and multiple bruises. His look was similar to Keanu Reeves’s from the hit franchise, John Wick. The director has now dived into the post-production as the streaming platform is eyeing to drop the series online later this year,” says a source. The venture is backed by Tipping Point Productions, the web wing of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.

Fazal, who was recently seen in the second season of Mirzapur, is expected to kick off the shoot of Fukrey 3 soon.