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Rakesh Roshan is not retiring from direction, is open to directing ‘Krrish 4’


The most accurate observation in The Roshans, a four-part docuseries on the famous Roshans clan of Hindi cinema, is made by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. As one of the several celebrity talking heads, Bhansali, speaking of actor-turned-director Rakesh Roshan, says, “I thought he was a very intelligent man who wasn’t a tad bit uncomfortable doing films that were made in those times.”

Rakesh Roshan acted in all sorts of films through the 1970s and 80s. With his charming looks and inquisitive manner, he kept himself in the business, frequently playing second fiddle to more established stars like Rajesh Khanna and Rishi Kapoor. Despite his lineage (his father was music composer Roshan Lal Nagrath), he had a tough start in the industry, assisting director Mohan Kumar and, as he recounts in the docuseries, organising house parties for industry bigwigs. “I would fix the tables and chairs and order the food. I always stayed in the background,” he recalls in an interview with The Hindu.

Roshan made his first directorial, Khudgarz, a reworking of Jeffrey Archer’s ‘Kane and Abel’, in 1987. His second film, Khoon Bhari Maang(1989), starring Rekha and Kabir Bedi, was even more iconic—a campy, darkly compelling croc thriller that shocked audiences and left lasting bite marks on popular culture.

The famous crocodile scene from ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’

The famous crocodile scene from ‘Khoon Bhari Maang’

“If you notice carefully, there is a trick shot where it looks like Rekha and the crocodile are in the same frame, which they weren’t,” Roshan, now 75, frailer but articulate, says with a twinkle. The crocodile was shot separately in a 3-feet-deep lake in Chennai; the actors filmed their portion at Abbi Falls in Coorg.

“There used to be a man who supplied animals for film shoots: horses, camels and the like. He was surprised by my request for a crocodile,” Roshan chuckles. Veeru Devgn, father of Ajay Devgn, was the action director on the film, while Sanjay Verma, a longtime associate of Roshan’s who passed away in 2023, handled the editing.

“I shot the crocodile from many angles — underwater, from on above, opening the mouth, grabbing meat — and we mixed it all up in the editing.”

I ask him if it was his toughest trick to pull off. “That was actually Jaadoo in Koi… Mil Gaya (2003),” he counters. James Colmer, an Australian special effects man, had designed the animatronics head for the benign blue alien who befriends Hrithik. Its movements and facial expressions were controlled via remotes, from afar, which posed a challenge for convincing scene work with real actors. “My solution was to take a wide shot and then only do closeups. In essence, it was a similar editing solution to Khoon Bhari Maang.”

Stills from ‘Koi... Mil Gaya’

Stills from ‘Koi… Mil Gaya’

Roshan cites David Lean and Raj Kapoor as his greatest influences. “I saw Dr Zhivago 28 times in a theatre in my youth,” he shares. His definitive Raj Kapoor film is Shree 420. “I must have seen it 500 times. Till today, whenever I start a new film, I rewatch it. It was a wholesome, forward-looking film for its time, showing the share market and all the exciting changes in our society.”

Roshan’s films emphasise scale and scenic locations; for instance, though ostensibly set in Nainital, the musical sequences in Koi… Mil Gaya were shot in Alberta, Canada. “The films they make today… they are too dark and cooped-up. I feel claustrophobic watching them.” A picturesque setting does not undercut a film’s realism, he argues. “All my films are about a common man and some injustice he is fighting. There is a form of archetypical truth in them.”

Two of Roshan’s biggest blockbusters, Karan Arjun and Kaho Na… Pyaar Hai, were recently rereleased in theatres. Meanwhile, Krishh 4, the next chapter in his successful sci-fi superhero franchise, is expected to commence this year. In an earlier interview, Roshan had hinted at his retirement from direction. He walks back his statement now.

“I am open to directing Krishh 4. It’s a highly special effects-heavy movie. With age, mera patience thoda kam hote ja raha hai (I am growing less patient with that stuff). But I want to continue as a director, perhaps in a more hands-off way.”



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