By Express News Service
The man of the moment, Dhanush, and the Russo Brothers, speak about the themes and creative choices that went into making the new Netflix espionage action extravaganza, The Gray Man
At the end of Polladhavan (2007)—the first of many future collaborations with director Vetrimaran—Dhanush rips off his shirt and faces off against an adversary insistent on murdering him. For an actor whose wiry frame was the topic of some unpleasant criticism around an earlier film, Pudhupettai (2006), being bare-bodied in a climax fight was a rather courageous move—and one that fetched a lot of adulation. It even drew comparisons with—hold your breath—Bruce Lee, with eager fans branding him our version of the Hollywood actor. And now, 15 years later, after winning multiple National Awards and drawing the fascination of an entire country, Hollywood has come calling for Dhanush.
His latest film, a Netflix release, The Gray Man, is a grand globe-trotting Hollywood action film directed by the Russo Brothers. Here are Dhanush and the Russo Brothers in conversation about a collaboration that has got the entire country excited:
Excerpts:
From Bruce Lee comparisons to a huge Hollywood film… dreams do come true, no? Would you call this your biggest dream realised?
Dhanush: (Laughs) It’s not the biggest dream; I have bigger ones. You have to dream in the biggest possible way… I’d rather call it hunger. The fire in me is still raging. The Russo Brothers have found me from India and provided me with a beautiful opening. I have to see where God takes me from here.
Anthony Russo: It’s funny you mention the comparison with Bruce Lee because the first time we learned of Dhanush, someone actually said that to us. It’s amazing.
Dhanush’s character, Avik San, is referred to as the ‘sexy Tamil friend’ in this film, and I think there’s great utility in defining the character by his Tamil identity, considering that successful artists from across India have previously been brushed under the generic label of Bollywood. Dhanush, did you make this distinction clear to them?
Joe Russo: Yes, it was Dhanush that made the difference clear to us. I think it adds great context and flavour to the character. We always believe in opting for the specific rather than the generic.
Dhanush: I’m grateful that they were receptive to my suggestion and agreed. They were generous enough to find it an interesting detail.
Joe, you spoke in the press conference about how you like your films to have a bit of everything, including comedy, action, sentiment… Dhanush, did you tell them that our cinema specialises in this formula?
Dhanush: (Laughs) Not really. A lot of the conversations we had was when the pandemic was raging across the world. There were too many restrictions, and we were connecting over video calls with masks on. The world is now healing and it’s a better place. I think I’ll tell them about our cinema in our future conversations.
The protagonist of The Gray Man (played by Ryan Gosling) is an anti-thesis of Bond. The film even makes a reference to 007 and the theme track also seems drawn from the Bond films.
Joe: We are self-aware filmmakers, and we like to pay homage… and also make fun of older films. It’s hard for us to take anything particularly seriously. As you said, the protagonist is the anti-Bond. We liked that he is a proletariat hero. He doesn’t enjoy being a spy and doesn’t care about the glamour. It’s this modern interpretation of a spy that drew us to this project.
And he’s a rogue agent too, isn’t he? I think it’s useful at a time when some oppressive governments across the world are demanding unquestioned loyalty and patriotism.
Joe: Yes, especially when the system is as corrupt as it is in our film. Our film, for this reason, also speaks up against patriarchy… The protagonist has an abusive father, and he has another father figure at the CIA. We reject patriarchy through this film.
Anthony: We also show that the problem for the protagonist isn’t the other. It’s within his system. I think that’s a better way for us to examine who we really are.
Speaking of patriarchy, I loved that Ana de Armas doesn’t need to be rescued by Ryan Gosling in this film. In fact, it’s the other way round.
Joe: We wanted a strong, independent woman character, someone whose story isn’t exactly dependent on the protagonist’s. That’s why she does most of the saving. We like fighting against conventions, and we thought adding some Bondesque cues would come in handy. You know, mix it all up into making an entertainer…
Dhanush, from tentative beginnings as an actor, you have turned into a natural. And yet, when you get a grand opportunity such as this, how do you make sure your eagerness to impress doesn’t get in the way of your natural flair?
That’s why I was careful about never approaching it like that. I just told myself I should do a convincing job of the brief given to me. Yes, it’s a big opportunity and it offers plenty of scope, but impress? Not really. The big responsibility was justifying their faith in me. The West is watching India and I knew that if I did a good job, it could pave the way for more Indian talents to get picked up.
There’s plenty of humour in this film, especially drawn from the antics of Chris Evans. Do you feel that this genre—globe-trotting action with self-aware humour—doesn’t quite get its due?
Joe: We appreciate it! (Laughs) We have a career built on not caring about what people think. Our focus is on making stories that entertain us, and that hopefully entertain others too. We find conventions to be constricting, to be boring. Certain tropes have been abused for years. We would rather embrace our challenges being aware of these pitfalls and try and have fun with them while also giving the audience something to chew on.
Anthony: We are trying to give people a meaningful experience in the theatre—
Joe: Or Netflix… (Everyone laughs)
Anthony: Yes! The idea is to create an experience that can speak meaningfully to everyone.
Any plans of returning to the Marvel universe? This new phase could perhaps do with the Russo touch.
Joe: (After a pause) There are no plans, no. If the audience enjoys The Gray Man a lot, we hope to work on the sequel. As for Marvel, look, they can’t do what they did in the first phase. They are now taking risks, and they are becoming more diverse. All the volume is a product of the success. I think the audience too has to embrace the content for what it is, and not for what it was. Perhaps Marvel can take us through surprising, new directions? Let’s see.
Dhanush, how do you see your experience of being part of Hollywood stunt sequences transforming the fight scenes in our films?
Dhanush: I think I can make the process easier for stunt choreographers. For The Gray Man, I was trained meticulously. They made me understand the basics and took me from there. They made me look like a pro. I think I now approach stunt choreography differently. I just hope that I can make it easier for our stunt choreographers to work with me.
As a last question, why do you think your Indian fans need to watch this film?
Dhanush: It’s a big treat for fans of the action genre. And so many of us grew up watching such films, no? Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Fifth Element, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Predator… I can go on and on.
And this time, there’s also the added pleasure of knowing there’s one of our own in such a film.
Dhanush: All gratitude to the grace of god.
(This story originally appeared on cinemaexpress.com)
The man of the moment, Dhanush, and the Russo Brothers, speak about the themes and creative choices that went into making the new Netflix espionage action extravaganza, The Gray Man
At the end of Polladhavan (2007)—the first of many future collaborations with director Vetrimaran—Dhanush rips off his shirt and faces off against an adversary insistent on murdering him. For an actor whose wiry frame was the topic of some unpleasant criticism around an earlier film, Pudhupettai (2006), being bare-bodied in a climax fight was a rather courageous move—and one that fetched a lot of adulation. It even drew comparisons with—hold your breath—Bruce Lee, with eager fans branding him our version of the Hollywood actor. And now, 15 years later, after winning multiple National Awards and drawing the fascination of an entire country, Hollywood has come calling for Dhanush.
His latest film, a Netflix release, The Gray Man, is a grand globe-trotting Hollywood action film directed by the Russo Brothers. Here are Dhanush and the Russo Brothers in conversation about a collaboration that has got the entire country excited:
Excerpts:
From Bruce Lee comparisons to a huge Hollywood film… dreams do come true, no? Would you call this your biggest dream realised?
Dhanush: (Laughs) It’s not the biggest dream; I have bigger ones. You have to dream in the biggest possible way… I’d rather call it hunger. The fire in me is still raging. The Russo Brothers have found me from India and provided me with a beautiful opening. I have to see where God takes me from here.
Anthony Russo: It’s funny you mention the comparison with Bruce Lee because the first time we learned of Dhanush, someone actually said that to us. It’s amazing.
Dhanush’s character, Avik San, is referred to as the ‘sexy Tamil friend’ in this film, and I think there’s great utility in defining the character by his Tamil identity, considering that successful artists from across India have previously been brushed under the generic label of Bollywood. Dhanush, did you make this distinction clear to them?
Joe Russo: Yes, it was Dhanush that made the difference clear to us. I think it adds great context and flavour to the character. We always believe in opting for the specific rather than the generic.
Dhanush: I’m grateful that they were receptive to my suggestion and agreed. They were generous enough to find it an interesting detail.
Joe, you spoke in the press conference about how you like your films to have a bit of everything, including comedy, action, sentiment… Dhanush, did you tell them that our cinema specialises in this formula?
Dhanush: (Laughs) Not really. A lot of the conversations we had was when the pandemic was raging across the world. There were too many restrictions, and we were connecting over video calls with masks on. The world is now healing and it’s a better place. I think I’ll tell them about our cinema in our future conversations.
The protagonist of The Gray Man (played by Ryan Gosling) is an anti-thesis of Bond. The film even makes a reference to 007 and the theme track also seems drawn from the Bond films.
Joe: We are self-aware filmmakers, and we like to pay homage… and also make fun of older films. It’s hard for us to take anything particularly seriously. As you said, the protagonist is the anti-Bond. We liked that he is a proletariat hero. He doesn’t enjoy being a spy and doesn’t care about the glamour. It’s this modern interpretation of a spy that drew us to this project.
And he’s a rogue agent too, isn’t he? I think it’s useful at a time when some oppressive governments across the world are demanding unquestioned loyalty and patriotism.
Joe: Yes, especially when the system is as corrupt as it is in our film. Our film, for this reason, also speaks up against patriarchy… The protagonist has an abusive father, and he has another father figure at the CIA. We reject patriarchy through this film.
Anthony: We also show that the problem for the protagonist isn’t the other. It’s within his system. I think that’s a better way for us to examine who we really are.
Speaking of patriarchy, I loved that Ana de Armas doesn’t need to be rescued by Ryan Gosling in this film. In fact, it’s the other way round.
Joe: We wanted a strong, independent woman character, someone whose story isn’t exactly dependent on the protagonist’s. That’s why she does most of the saving. We like fighting against conventions, and we thought adding some Bondesque cues would come in handy. You know, mix it all up into making an entertainer…
Dhanush, from tentative beginnings as an actor, you have turned into a natural. And yet, when you get a grand opportunity such as this, how do you make sure your eagerness to impress doesn’t get in the way of your natural flair?
That’s why I was careful about never approaching it like that. I just told myself I should do a convincing job of the brief given to me. Yes, it’s a big opportunity and it offers plenty of scope, but impress? Not really. The big responsibility was justifying their faith in me. The West is watching India and I knew that if I did a good job, it could pave the way for more Indian talents to get picked up.
There’s plenty of humour in this film, especially drawn from the antics of Chris Evans. Do you feel that this genre—globe-trotting action with self-aware humour—doesn’t quite get its due?
Joe: We appreciate it! (Laughs) We have a career built on not caring about what people think. Our focus is on making stories that entertain us, and that hopefully entertain others too. We find conventions to be constricting, to be boring. Certain tropes have been abused for years. We would rather embrace our challenges being aware of these pitfalls and try and have fun with them while also giving the audience something to chew on.
Anthony: We are trying to give people a meaningful experience in the theatre—
Joe: Or Netflix… (Everyone laughs)
Anthony: Yes! The idea is to create an experience that can speak meaningfully to everyone.
Any plans of returning to the Marvel universe? This new phase could perhaps do with the Russo touch.
Joe: (After a pause) There are no plans, no. If the audience enjoys The Gray Man a lot, we hope to work on the sequel. As for Marvel, look, they can’t do what they did in the first phase. They are now taking risks, and they are becoming more diverse. All the volume is a product of the success. I think the audience too has to embrace the content for what it is, and not for what it was. Perhaps Marvel can take us through surprising, new directions? Let’s see.
Dhanush, how do you see your experience of being part of Hollywood stunt sequences transforming the fight scenes in our films?
Dhanush: I think I can make the process easier for stunt choreographers. For The Gray Man, I was trained meticulously. They made me understand the basics and took me from there. They made me look like a pro. I think I now approach stunt choreography differently. I just hope that I can make it easier for our stunt choreographers to work with me.
As a last question, why do you think your Indian fans need to watch this film?
Dhanush: It’s a big treat for fans of the action genre. And so many of us grew up watching such films, no? Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Fifth Element, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Predator… I can go on and on.
And this time, there’s also the added pleasure of knowing there’s one of our own in such a film.
Dhanush: All gratitude to the grace of god.
(This story originally appeared on cinemaexpress.com)
