Shahid won't go the Salman way for R... Rajkumar

The Dabangg era may just be nearing its end. With everyone from Ranbir Kapoor (Besharam) to Sanjay Dutt (Policegiri) trying to enter this space but with no luck going in their favour, courtesy audience showing a red flag to their outings, the whole pitch of R... Rajkumar, the last of the desi action films this year, is seeing a different pitch for itself.

As per the makers, the Shahid Kapoor starrer is far removed from the masala space of the Salman Khan starrer that led to many a clone being built during last three years.

"Instead, the film is being positioned as the romantic action entertainer with the USP as the 'youngest action hero' on screen in the current times. Even there, Shahid would have limited engagement with goons and scenes centered on one 'mukka' resulting in 'ten-men- flying-in-the-air' would be drastically reduced," informs our source.

As a matter of fact, when the original script was shared by producer Viki Rajani with Prabhu Dheva and Shahid, the director as well as the actor liked the script. However after coming on board, Prabhu Dheva decided to turn around everything in the film except for the core premise and wrote it in his own style.

Eventually, R... Rajkumar turned out to be a film that had a style of its own without falling into the trap of several clones floating around in the market. Also, Prabhu Dheva worked on the entire story and screenplay himself, hence lending his own style to the narrative.

Confirms Viki Rajani, who has produced the film along with Sunil Lulla of Eros, "We are definitely not getting into the Dabangg space with R... Rajkumar. We have not gone overboard in making Shahid a superhero. Instead, he is this young guy who does what a hero has to do."

He goes on to add that at the core of it, R... Rajkumar is not just a wham-bang entertainer but instead a romantic action movie, a genre that hasn't been explored for a long time.

Says Viki, "We have had action comedies or action dramas in last few years but there hasn't been a romantic action film for long. R... Rajkumar fills that space. There are songs, dances, fun and a lot of action too. It is a wholesome family entertainer. Shahid is doing stuff that no one has done before. He is a hero but not like a Salman in Dabangg or Akshay in Rowdy Rathore."