Before venturing into Bollywood, the South film director Siddique burned the midnight oil to understand the Hindi films, and found that there are cultural differences.
'Bodyguard', a romantic-thriller starring Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor, will mark his debut as a director in the Mumbai film industry.
"Before I started Bodyguard in Hindi, I saw over 60 films to understand how Bollywood movies are made. Every day I watched at least four-five films. What I have learnt is, besides the cultural differences, the canvas is big, choreography is different, the way emotions are enacted -everything is high-profile," Siddique told PTI.
The director saw 'Maine Pyaar Kiya', 'Hum Aapke Hai Kaun', 'My Name Is Khan', 'Fashion', 'Sarkar', 'Jab We Met', 'Taare Zameen Par', '3 Idiots' and 'No One Killed Jessica', among others.
"I feel everything is simple, sober, low-profile in the South. Here everything is huge and big. There is a cultural difference between the two industries," Siddique said.
Siddique admits there could not have been a better opportunity for him to enter Bollywood, as he has got Salman to work for him.
"Having Salman in my debut Bollywood film is a dream come true. He has a mass appeal. He knows what the audience is expecting from him. He had given suggestions at the scripting stage and on the music front. He kept listening to tunes again and again and chose the best one. He has a good music sense," Siddique said.
Interestingly, this is the third time Siddique is directing the same script, because the film was earlier made in Malayalam (with the same title) and in Tamil as 'Kaavalan'. The film is also being made in Telugu as 'Ganga', but he is not directing it.
Ask him about the differences between the three versions and Siddique says, "The Hindi version is very much different from the Malayalam and Tamil. The basic idea -- heroine needs a Bodyguard -- is the same. The different part in the Hindi version is that hero is a drop-out and by profession a bodyguard. He is courageous, honest, and innocent. We have kept Salman's macho image and his stardom in mind.
"Kareena's character is same in all the three versions --a college girl. Kareena has seen both the Malayalam and Tamil films and added her personal touch to the character," he said.
Produced by Salman's brother-in-law Atul Agnihotri, 'Bodyguard' releases on August 31.
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