Hollywood studio dials Director Atlee to praise Jawan's action

Director Atlee discussed removing boundaries between the north Indian and south Indian film industries as well as the possibility of helming a Hollywood production in the future. His film Jawan was the biggest commercial success of his (and Shah Rukh Khan's) careers. Atlee said in an interview that he had visited with a Hollywood studio and said that working there would be something he'd want to accomplish.

Asked about the blurring lines between cinema industries in India, Atlee said at the India Today Conclave, “Cinema doesn’t have any classification. This vision has come from Shah Rukh sir. Without this vision, he would have never called me. He felt it should be a national film, it should be a national collaboration of cultures. I’m thankful to the audience, because earlier, they used to say, ‘It’s south masala’. I don’t know what that is. What I used to do there, I’ve done here also. Audience knows what is good and bad.”

Atlee said that all classifications need to be eradicated, and that filmmakers should be described as only ‘Indian’. “In Hollywood, they don’t have that classification. Two days back, I had a discussion with a Hollywood studio, and they really respect us as national filmmakers. I told them I’d made some Tamil films, but they didn’t know the difference.” Asked if he had just given some ‘breaking news’ about a Hollywood project, he said, “We should. I don’t want to say I should make a Hollywood film, ‘we’ should make a Hollywood film. God willing, I will.” In a recent interview, Atlee had also revealed that he’d received calls from Hollywood technicians, who were impressed with the action in Jawan.

When asked about his first encounter with Shah Rukh, which took place in 2013, the director recalled that the actor didn't know who he was and that he had been presented to him as "the south Indian Karan Johar." Atlee claimed that the reason he received this label was because he began his career by producing romantic comedies. When asked if it would be more accurate to refer to Karan Johar as "the north Indian Atlee," the director brushed off the concept and added that Karan was really quite supportive of his decision to move to Hindi films. He said, "I owe him.