Indian film maverick Karan Johar brought action thriller “Kill” to the Toronto International Film Festival this year.
Speaking to ET Canada’s Sangita Patel, the 51-year-old filmmaker, who recently completed 25 years in Indian movies, said “Kill” is unlike any other Bollywood action movie.
“Let him (Keanu Reeves) do ‘John Wick’. Let us just create our own ‘John Wick’.”
“People put blood, sweat and tears in their films. We just put in blood. It’s literally like blood-athon on steroids. And when I read it and saw the vision that the director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat had, I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll just go ahead and do this genre film and give it optimum support,” he said.
Johar, the man behind globally appreciated films like “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”, “My Name Is Khan” and recently released “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani”, told ET Canada that he hopes to make “Kill” Bollywood’s “own John Wick.”
“I’m making all kinds of movies, producing all kinds of films. I’m directing next year something that I’m working on. “Kill” though, is a franchise. We hope that if this one meets with love theatrically as well as with digital viewers, we hope to make ‘Kill 2’, ‘Kill 3’ and make it our own ‘John Wick’,” he said.
When Sangita Patel suggested that “John Wick” star Keanu Reeves could be part of it, maybe as protagonist Lakshya Lalvani’s brother, Johar said, “We’re happy with that. Let him do ‘John Wick’. He owns that so beautifully. Let us just create our own ‘John Wick’.”
“We hope and pray that the film really achieves the kind of cult status that we designed it for.”
Talking about the film’s reception at the Midnight Madness segment of TIFF, Johar said, “Last night was exhilarating to watch the film with such an active audience, even at midnight, giving it just scream, shout, scares, jumping in the seat. I was like, ‘Wow, this is the reason why we make movies’.”
“We woke up in the morning to some good reviews and knew we were taking a chance with a film like this because it’s not like anything like this has been made in India before. We’ve made horror and specific action films, but this is a crazy ride. We hope and pray that the film really achieves the kind of cult status that we designed it for,” he added.
Karan Johar is presenting “Kill” at TIFF along with Academy Award winner Guneet Monga.
