Cracking the code to action

Saripodhaa Sanivaaram star Nani believes south actioners fare better than Bollywood ones as they prioritise emotions over stunts

Telugu star Nani has played an action hero several times in his 16-year career. What separates his latest release, Saripodhaa Sanivaaram, from his previous offerings is his brooding character. “Since the antagonist is full of energy, I decided I needed to play a character opposite of that. If his USP is energy, mine should be intensity,” says the actor.

It won’t be wrong to say that filmmakers in the south seem to have cracked the code to the genre. Of late, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada actioners have found takers across the country. In contrast, Bollywood action films underperformed at the box office this year. Nani believes the key to a successful action film is the story. “Action is not about stylish choreography; it’s about the emotion, the build-up to a fight, and its purpose. You should focus on story-building. I saw an action film here [in Bollywood]. I don’t want to name it. It’s shot brilliantly, but it was a disaster here. Everything was done so well, but it missed the most important fact—that action needs emotion. Someone’s kicking another person and you aren’t feeling for either of them. Then it’s just a well-shot demo reel of an action choreographer!”

Is that what south actioners get right? “Our focus has been on the emotion. There are some great action films in Hindi as well. But where they could’ve gone wrong is in putting too much attention on technique and less on emotion.” That said, one of his favourite action heroes hails from Bollywood. “I’m a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan and Kamal Haasan sir. I love how Bachchan sir holds an expression and delivers it with double impact. Kamal sir is all about trying out things.”

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