During my conversation with Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, Strike The director tells the story of growing up in a simple middle-class family in Patna. “There used to be a bandit in my area,” he says, as if remembering an itinerant salesman like an uncle who brought foreign toys. “We kids would play cricket and he would come with three truckloads of 50 rifles. And he would politely get down and ask us, “Can I bat?”
This riveting memory — which Bhatt narrates with evident affection and time-balanced wisdom — is like a piece StrikeA blazing Hindi action film that draws its power from a powerful source: the terrifying, hair-raising proximity of violence and crime to everyday life in India. Released in cinemas on July 5, the film stars newcomer Lakshya as an NSG commando who takes on dacoits on an express train. Though it’s a thrilling, crowd-pleasing genre film, Strike The story is rooted in reality, such as Bhatt’s nap during an actual train robbery that took place in 1995 (the film also has a similar scene, where two RPF constables wake up too late to witness the incident).
In an interview HinduBhatt talks about the complex reactions to her film, from James Cameron to her influences Aliens ranging from 1960s spaghetti westerns, and “having a taste for blood” as an action filmmaker. Part…
‘Kill’ premiered in the Midnight Madness section at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 and was also screened at Tribeca earlier this year. However, the festival audience is different from the one that enjoyed the film and its excessive violence in Indian theatres.
Different people react differently to violence in film. I was very serious from the beginning that I didn’t want to celebrate violence. Celebrating violence is almost like you’re endorsing violence. Violence for bravery, violence for swag… that’s not something I want to show. Even in my last film, extraordinary (In 2023) I show violence in a way that … it comes back. You can’t escape its consequences. StrikeThe consequences of violence are far more terrible than the reasons that fuel it. There is only pain and loss on both sides.
That may be so… but this is still a movie in which a human head is set on fire and the rest of its body is butchered with equal brutality. Sometimes our thirst for catharsis, for bloody spectacle, can override context.
As a society, we have a lot of anger inside us. You and I are both filled with anger. Anger and rage are an integral part of our collective psyche. But a film like StrikeEvery moment that reminds you that violence is not good, it has consequences, can make you uncomfortable. I went to cinemas like Juhu PVR and Fun Republic in Mumbai. When Amrit (Lakshya) was doing justice, there were sounds of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ and slogans. But I also met people who told me that they don’t want to see what is happening, but they have to see the story till the end.
Bhatt and actor Raghav Juyal, who plays the villain ‘Fani’, in a making scene from ‘Kill’
You have portrayed the dacoits in the film as simple beggars who supplement their meager income by robbing trains. This is a great commentary on the connection between crime and unemployment in India.
Crime has increased in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic. I read a news article which said that there were 699 robberies and attempted robberies in the Indian Railways between 2021-2022. Out of which 14 to 18 were major robberies. So yes, this is a commentary on that. Also, my intention was not to preach and I wanted to make my point in a cinematic way.
In the 1970s, we had films about the working class versus the upper class – the Babu class. The themes of economic inequality and class resentment were very strong in our cinema. This in fact gave birth to the Angry Young Man in the form of Amitabh Bachchan, a dock worker who turned to crime. Wall.
The strangest thing is that this is not limited to India. People in America, Saudi Arabia, Spain or Mexico are also having similar feelings, this shows the social structure and inequality prevailing in the world.
The film features a family of Muslim travellers who become embroiled in the tragedy. Were you conscious of its significance in the current political climate?
I was. After all, we are all children of the same country. We are all the same people. When a crisis comes, we come together. An Indian train is the perfect reflection of a society where people from different religions, castes and sects travel together. There is a scene where a character says something like, “We should have done something earlier… but we chose to ignore.” It speaks of collective spirit and the need to take action when we see something wrong happening to others.
What were your biggest cinematic influences for “Kill”?
First of all, it should be compared to historical action films such as Raid And john wick-As Strike to have been so generously – it’s an honor. But one of my first reference points was actually Aliens (1986), which is really about two mothers protecting their territory. Because the story is told from Ripley’s perspective, we’re supposed to cheer for her, yet the emotional pull is felt on both sides. I wanted a similar feeling for Amrit and the dacoits. In fact, if you think about it, StrikeDacoits don’t start the fight. The first murder is committed by the other side.
Lakshya shooting a scene in ‘Kill’
….I grew up watching movies like spaghetti westerns Once Upon a Time in the West, the good, the bad and the ugly And 100 riflesVillains in western movies always have very sharp and distinctive characteristics, which is what we tried to do with the cast of the film. StrikeThe cyclicality of revenge is another classic Western theme.
There is another filmmaker, Johnnie To from Hong Kong, whom Quentin Tarantino also greatly admires, whose exiled (2006) I really admire it.
One of your two action directors, Se-yong Oh, worked on ‘Snowpiercer’ (2013), Bong Joon-ho’s supernatural action film set on a train. What did Se-yong Oh bring to the design and execution of ‘Kill’?
When I wrote the script StrikeMy first condition was that I did not want an action director to come and shoot fight sequences for me, as is common in India. You sit on the side and they shoot the entire film for you. This was not possible because 70 per cent of my film was action. What should I do for what? (Then what will I do?)
Also, every scene in the film was tied to an emotion, so I needed to guide the actors closely. Action choreographers in India told me I hadn’t done any action before. They couldn’t put their careers in my hands, and maybe justifiably so. But I was adamant. So the search took us from India to Germany and Italy and Southeast Asia and finally we found Se-Yong Oh. I told him my request and he said he needed to read the script. He can’t read English, so it was translated into Korean for him. A couple of weeks later, on Zoom, he came back and gave a double thumbs-up. He did a great pre-vis for the film and mapped out the tiniest details and inspirations. For example, there is a crucial scene in the film where Amrit is fighting and it was supposed to be at a distance from the camera. But Se-Yong Oh told me to bring it closer and that made a huge difference in selling the emotion of the scene.
An English language remake of ‘Kill’ has been announced, with John Wick director Chad Stahelski set to produce. As for you, will you continue working in the action space or will you switch gears?
well i’ve tasted blood (laughing) I would definitely like to do more action films. But it won’t be a limited action film StrikeI want to experiment with the format and the story. I am writing something right now.
