 "Did Sundeep Kishan's brilliant film Michael suffer due to ill-conceived reviews?")
There is no doubt that the new Sundeep Kishan film Michael is an impressive experience. It is a gangster film that makes sense, Kuttey being the most recent film of the genre which made zilch sense, and which doesn’t use foul language to show gangsters in a negative light.
And yet the reviews have been less than reasonable, comparing Michael absurdly to KGF when the two films are as similar as Pathaan and Faraaz. Just because there is a lot of action in both Michael doesn’t become another KGF.
Lekin innko kaun samjhaye? To turn time-tested traditional formulistic themes into refurbished revivified experiences as Vamshi Paidipally and Ranjit Jeyakodi have done in the new Vijay starrer Virusu in Tamil and the Sundeep Kishan starrer Michael, respectively, is not an easy task.
And yet we have an ill-informed especially stupid review of Michael describing the film as a “wannbe KGF”(I repeat, no similarities between the two) and it further asks pompously, “Why do we need yet another ‘pan India’ film about gangsters that has nothing new to offer?”
Why not? Why can’t we have more pan-India films about gangsters?
Sundeep is unfazed by the unfair criticism. “We wanted to pay a homage to the cinema of the 1980s and 90s. In fact at the end when my characters locks himself in a godown with a bunch of aggressive goons, this is meant to be a direct tribute to Bachchan Saab in Yash Chopra’s Deewaar.”
As far as the sadly misconceived reviews go, Sundeep is all for constructive criticism. “Tell me where we went wrong. So we won’t make the same mistakes again. We are very proud of Michael. And the audience loves it. They are getting the point. Our hard work has paid off.”
Sundeep spent months getting into the correct shape to play Michael.
“It would be nice to get some appreciation for the hard work rather than being constantly told we are not good enough, and worse being compared unfavourably with other films.” says Sundeep.
Sundeep suffered many bruises and much battering. “But it was all worth it. I think we’ve made a film we can all be proud of.”
But more than the action it is his co-star Vijay Sethupati that Sandeep is most excited about.
Says Sundeep, “I was apprehensive as to what it would be like working with Vijay Sir.It was actually very easygoing and enjoyable. He is so down-to-earth. I got to learn so much about him and about cinema and life by just hanging around with him. After a while I forgot I was interacting with THE Vijay Sethupati.”
Shooting for Michael was a breeze for Vijay. “ I think the relaxed atmosphere during shooting also came from Vijay Sir’s decade-long camaraderie with our director Ranjit Jeyakodi. It was a beautiful learning experience. There is much to learn from Vijay Sir.”
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based journalist. He has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
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