John Abraham to take on Batman, Superman

John Abraham’s Rocky Handsome will take on Zack Synder’s Hollywood extravaganza Batman Vs Superman: Dawn Of Justice on March 25.

Director Nishikant Kamat feels the action scenes in Rocky Handsome take the action genre in Bollywood to the next level.

"We had to make sure the action scenes surpassed whatever John had done in his earlier films or for that matter, whatever was attempted in the action genre before this," says Kamat.

The director feels the stunts in Rocky Handsome are unique. "They are stylish yet raw and real. If you ask me for a reference, it would have to be Transporters."

Kamat conducted a three-week action workshop with John before the shoot.

"He has a very pumped-up, gym-designed body. We needed John to be more agile. We prepared John for the role in Bangkok. We had an action team from Bangkok and India," he says.

Rocky Handsome, which is the Hindi remake of the Korean film The Man From Nowhere, also has television actor Sharad Kelkar attempting some daring stunts.

"The endeavour was to go one-up on what was attempted in the Korean film. Let’s see how far we’ve succeeded," adds the filmmaker.

In the past, a lot of Hindi movies have failed at the box office whenever they have clashed with Hollywood films.

Talking about the same, trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, "Should Bollywood feel threatened by Hollywood? Yes, it should. Hollywood offers interesting plot lines with a larger-than-life canvas. There is a sizable chunk of audience  that favours Hollywood films. And when most big Hollywood films are released simultaneously and dubbed in local languages, the danger to Bollywood releases is even more pronounced."

Amul Mohan, on the other hand, says, "If we keep on delivering outdated entertainers with outdated stories, then we should feel threatened. If we improve, then we can survive. At the same time, Hollywood films are huge brands and franchises and have an audience here."