Vishal Bhardwaj on Shahid Kapoor-Kangana Ranaut's 'Rangoon' failure: 'I should've put my foot down'

Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut came together for Vishal Bhardwaj’s ambitious war-drama Rangoon that came out in 2017. It opened to mixed reviews and dismal numbers at the box-office. Talking about the same while speaking to Mid-day, Bhardwaj said, “I should have put my foot down in Rangoon and said I don’t care about the release date. The VFX is not right in the final scene… That kind of pressure. Everyone’s like, ‘No, it will be a huge loss…’ At that time, you should become Sanjay Leela Bhansali, no matter how much loss there is, things wouldn’t go like that.”

He added, “I don’t regret my creative thought of Rangoon. It was very pure, very unique. But, of course, a film that should be made in Rs 70 crore, and I have decided to make it for Rs 35 crore, then I am foolish, I should have learned something from Shekhar Kapur and disowned the movie.”

In the same interview with Mid-day, Bhardwaj first spoke about SRK and 2 States, and said, “We had differences over the setting of it. I wanted to set it not in a college but in a bank like ICICI. So, that’s where we were different. Shah Rukh wanted it in a different setting.” He added every time they meet, the Pathaan star tells the filmmaker how they should work together.

Vishal Bhardwaj on Shah Rukh Khan

Calling Jawan a beautiful film, Vishal Bhardwaj was quoted as saying, “They showed perfectly what they wanted to show. He is my hero in Jawan.”

The director revealed that the subject of espionage has not been dealt with by Bollywood. He added that while it happens to be an extremely thrilling and exciting topic, it does not offer flying cars. Vishal Bhardwaj revealed that Shah Rukh Khan starrer Pathaan and Jawan are part of a heightened imaginative world and are not espionage films in reality.