BOMBAY TIMES (March 5, 2020)

With over 91,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths, the effects of the coronavirus are now being seen worldwide. The virus has affected not just tourism, education and work life, but even the film industry. China, where the virus first broke out, is the second-largest moviegoing market, and it plunged by nearly $2 billion as compared to January and February 2019. Last year, the country’s box office hit a record $9.2 billion, more than 20% of worldwide revenues. This year, the key holiday period (from January 24 to February 12), generated just $3.94 million in sales, compared to the $1.76 billion last year, according to Artisan Gateway, a consultancy that follows the Chinese film industry.

According to a report by a Hollywood magazine, the global film industry is facing a $5 billion loss amid the coronavirus outbreak. The virus has impacted moviegoers of China, Japan (the third-largest moviegoing market) and South Korea (the fifth-largest moviegoing market). In February, revenue in South Korea slid nearly 70%. According to KOBIS, South Korea’s national box office service, ticket sales for last month totalled $52 million, as compared to the $158 million over the same period last year. In Japan, while official data has not yet been released, local analysts are expecting a slide of around 10-15%.

Makers initially planned promotions for the Bond franchise, No Time To Die, in China, South Korea and Japan, but those plans have now been cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. The founders of two of the most popular James Bond fan sites are even asking the makers to postpone the film’s release. What’s more, Mulan, which was a $200 million adventure film with a cast comprising Asian actors, including Wuhan-born Liu Yifei in the title role, was expected to do well in markets like China, but it may not be released for a few weeks or months. At the same time, makers of the Margot Robbie-starrer Birds Of Prey have blamed the coronavirus outbreak for the losses they suffered. And recently, the makers of Mission: Impossible 7 revealed that they had to stop filming in Italy’s Venice due to increasing coronavirus cases.

Foraying into Hindi cinema with War, Hollywood biggie and Game Of Thrones' stunt director Paul Jennings on designing Hrithik Roshan-Tiger Shroff's actioner
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; September 16, 2019)

The star cast is arguably the biggest USP of War — the October 2 release sees the coming together of Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. Knowing that the union of two of Bollywood's biggest action heroes will be surrounded by high expectations, director Siddharth Anand wanted to have a reputed action director helm the face-off sequences between the two on-screen rivals. Enter Paul Jennings, one of the biggest action directors of Hollywood. The stunt director has previously lent his expertise to Hollywood action spectacles like The Dark Knight (2008), San Andreas (2015), Jack Reacher (2012), Sherlock Holmes (2009) and Game Of Thrones, among others.

"What I love about Bollywood is that you can push the action a little bit further," says Jennings, who forays into Hindi cinema with War. "You can do things that push the boundaries of believability right to the edge. As a result, you can end up with more spectacular sequences. In Hindi movies, you can sometimes be limited by the budget. But on this film, Adi [Aditya Chopra, producer] wanted to have the best action sequences possible. So, we had a big budget and were able to [give shape to] any grand sequence we envisioned. So, I would say there is no difference between the sequences in War and say, Mission Impossible or The Fast and Furious! The film is at par with them."

If it is the stunt choreographer's job to visualise never-seen-before sequences, it is up to the actors to breathe life into them on celluloid. He applauds Roshan and Shroff for bringing their own to the scenes. "They are both dedicated actors who worked hard at different facets of their craft, including physical training, fighting and dancing. We would choreograph fight sequences during rehearsals and then show them to Hrithik and Tiger, who would then inject their individuality to the moves. It is because of them that we could take the fights to a whole new level."