‘Tiger’s fans won’t be disappointed with Baaghi 2’

Ahmed Khan promises that Tiger Shroff will look different in Baaghi 2. “We have focused on action and taken it a notch higher,” says the choreographer-dancer while promoting the film.“Having said that, the story is very important. Tiger’s action scenes have been designed keeping the story in mind. We have used Tiger’s action capabilities to the fullest. The climax will have a hardcore 90s action scene,” he adds.

But did it occur to him to present Tiger in a different light because the audience in past has seen him doing high octane action and brilliant dance steps. The director points out that Tiger is doing Student of the Year 2, which is a light film. “But Baaghi 2 isn’t; it’s a fast-paced film and the audience will enjoy watching it. He is a youth icon in terms of fitness and kids love him. We have kept the story in mind and he was presented accordingly. His fans won’t be disappointed. The audience will get whatever they are looking for,” he adds.

Ahmed, who has directed films like Lakeer and Fool and Final and worked as creative head in Ek Paheli Leela is highly impressed with the action hero. “It’s so easy working with him. I have always maintained ‘Tiger Shroff is the action hero who takes action very easily’. When the actor takes action easily it becomes comfortable for the director because it becomes edgy as we shoot in harsh conditions,” he says.

The first quarter of Bollywood hasn’t been too successful in terms of box-office collection. Excepts for big-budgeted films, most haven’t been able to make money. Following this, the trade pundits has set their eyes on Baaghi 2 and hope that the film makes business at the BO. Is that making him nervous? But Ahmed maintains, “We had bad times in October-November. But films like Judwaa 2, Fukrey Returns, Tiger Zinda Hai, Toilet Ek Prem Katha have done good business. The numbers have just gone up.”

But remind him that the number of flops are much higher than hits and he replies, “Overall, we have done good business. Raid and Pad Man have done well. Having said that, there is always pressure. You have to be confident about your product and ensure that the audience appreciates your films.” 

Does the ‘Friday collection’ bothers him? “It used to and that’s why I did not direct for so many years. I did not wanted to be slave of a Friday. I directed my last film eight years ago and I got busy with choreography, production, being part of TV reality shows. But then I was offered Baaghi 2 and I accepted.” 

Ask him if he’s planning to take another seven year break after this one and he laughs, “My actor and producer won’t let me do that as I will start working on Baaghi 3. I will be on board soon.” 

Before signing off, we ask him about the backlash that the remake of Ek Do Teen is receiving on social media and from several film personalities. Where does he think, things went wrong? Ahmed replies, “I have no idea. I had tried to pay tribute to N Chandraji, Madhuri Dixitji and Saroj Khanji. They have loved the song. It’s a free domain and people can share whatever they want. The fact is that the song has been popular and has been watched by a large number of people. So when a song is watched at such a large scale, we have to accept both appreciation and criticism.”