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Happy Birthday Rohit Shetty: What Makes Him The 'Manmohan Desai Of New Generation'?
If there is any filmmaker who knows the pulse of 'aam-junta' in today's times, it is Rohit Shetty. He knows how to tickle your funny bone; at the same time, he blows your mind with his gravity-defying action sequences. The director is quite unapologetic about his brand of cinema and the audience too, relishes his commercial potboilers. Be it the Golmaal or Singham franchise or Simmba, it won't be wrong to call him the baap of Bollywood blockbusters.
Way back in 2004, Kareena Kapoor Khan had famously called Rohit Shetty the 'Manmohan Desai of this generation'. Like Shetty, the legendary director known for films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Coolie, Naseeb, Dharam Veer also, believed that films are made for 'Entertainment, Entertainment and Entertainment.'
On Rohit Shetty's 47th birthday today, we decode what makes the Sooryavanshi director the 'Manmohan Desai of new generation'.
What's In The Logic?
Manmohan Desai had once said in an interview that the audience comes to watch his films with set expectations and they enjoy his standard tropes.
Rohit Shetty too, has a similar ideology says, "I make films for my audience. The tickets today for all films cost Rs 500-700 and we need to give them quality. For me, cinema is larger-than-life. If I cut down my budget, then it is like I am cheating them. I don't want to do that. They come with certain expectations of seeing something on screen... to see larger-than-life songs and sets. So I feel that I have to give them that."
The Mass Appeal
Talking about his struggling days, the Sooryavanshi director said in one of his interviews, There were many times when I did not have enough money. So I used to walk from Evershine Nagar to Natraj Studios (in Andheri). It used to take around two hours. This would happen at least twice a week. That's why I know what the masses are, that's why I know what films to make."
"I am a product of the middle class. I grew up on the streets of Bombay," confessed Manmohan Desai in various interviews.
The 'Critic' Factor
"There are many critics who invite me on their show and I have told them that when my film releases, you will give it one-and-a-half star rating. That's fine. There's no issue because stars will matter when I'm planning to open a five star hotel. When I'm making films I don't need stars," Rohit had said in one of his interviews in 2013.
Manmohan Desai too, was quite vocal about not caring a damn about critics and had said in several of his interviews, "I don't make my films for critics. I make them for those who are willing to stand hours in the sun and rain to buy a ticket."
The Magic Of Numbers
Love his films or hate his films, but you simply cannot ignore the blockbuster success of the masala maverick's films. Out of the 13 films he has made so far, 11 of them have struck gold at the box office (barring his debut film Zameen and Sunday). He is the only director to have 8 films in Rs 100 crore club and out of which 3 crossed the 200 crore mark.
Meanwhile, Manmohan Desai too, had emulated miraculous feat at the box office. In the year 1977, he delivered four super hit films (Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Chacha Bhatija and Dharam Veer) in one calendar year.
