Amitabh Bachchan biggest inspiration for all my movies: 'KGF' director Prashanth Neel

PTI / Updated: Nov 29, 2023, 17:00 IST

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Director Prashant Neel, known for the 'KGF' series, credits Amitabh Bachchan as his inspiration for portraying complex, grey characters in his films. Neel admires Bachchan's ability to make villainous roles heroic, citing the 1990 hit 'Agneepath' as a favorite. Expressing a dream to direct Bachchan in a film and make him the biggest villain, Neel envisions it as the "biggest honor" of his life. While primarily associated with action, the director is open to exploring different genres, acknowledging the desire to break away from monotony in filmmaking.

Amitabh Bachchan

No one portrays grey roles the way megastar Amitabh Bachchan does, says 'KGF' director Prashant Neel, who believes all his leading men carry a bit of the superstar's anti-hero persona in them. Neel, who directed the pan-India hit 'KGF: Chapter 1' in 2018 and followed it up with 'KGF: Chapter 2' in 2022, is currently promoting Prabhas-starrer 'Salaar Part 1: Ceasefire' that is set to release on December 22.
"Amitabh Bachchan is the biggest inspiration for all my movies. There are a lot of movies that he did where he played the hero but he was also the villain. That's a genre that was rarely seen post that period. The way he portrayed the greys, I don't think anybody else did it," the writer-director told PTI in an interview.

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"He made villainy look heroic. So, I try to do that with my movies... I try to make my characters look as negative as possible, even the positive ones. The hero has to be the biggest villain of my movie," he added.

Neel said his all time favourite Bachchan movie is the 1990 hit 'Agneepath', a revenge drama directed by Mukul Anand. The director said his dream is to direct the megastar in a movie.
"Before I die, I want to do a movie with Amitabh Bachchan. Being a student of cinema of the 70s, 80s and 90s, I can't think of anybody else other than him. It's my biggest dream to want to make a movie for Amitabh Bachchan. I've to make him the biggest villain of my movie. I would not make it another way. If he agrees to do something, it will be the biggest honour of my life."
When asked if he would ever direct a picture in a genre other than action, Neel said he would be thrilled to try something different.

"It becomes monotonous for anybody to do something like that, you want to move away from a genre," he added.

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