Rocket Singh was no hero: Abbas Tyrewala

Abbas went to see the latest Yashraj production Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year not only as a writer and director but also as an eager fan of the films that the banner comes out of. “I love Jaideep Sahni’s writing and Shimit Amin’s direction. But what were they thinking while doing Rocket Singh? Where is the payoff in the screenplay? Where is the hero? Ranbir plays a timid Sardar who steals phone lines and computer hardware from his work-place to start his own business. And we are supposed to accept him as a man of integrity! Would he be able to start his own business if it wasn’t for the nefarious support he gets from his work-place? In other words, the ‘hero’ resorts to those very underhand tactics that he claims to abhor and takes the help of that very organization which has disgraced him!”Mostdamaging of all, Abbas couldn’t see a hero in Ranbir’s character.“The boss (Manish Chowdhary) is so over-the-top he belongs to anothersensibility altogether, calls Ranbir a ‘bastard’ several times,humiliates and disgraces him publicly. We wait for our hero to have his revengeon the boorish boss. I completely believe in the old-fashioned Hindi film formula where the hero gives his tormentor tit for tat. But Boss, where’sthe comeuppance for the villain? In fact, the story comes across more as theboss’ redemption story than the hero’s.”Abbas isnow more than sure what he wants to do with his own hero John Abraham in1-800-Love at the end. “I want my hero to either win or die at the end.Not a hero whose fight for the right simply peters out to adeadend.”In fact, Abbas’s disappointment with RocketSingh Salesman Of The Year has given him a renewed creative strength. “Inow know exactly how my hero’s journey should end. I’m anoldfashioned storyteller. And we’ve at heart a very traditional audience.They want to see the hero triumph at the end, not walk away from the villain ashe makes a apology speech.”