“There is an important mystery element in Force 2” – Vipul Shah

By Joginder Tuteja -

November 18, 2016 - 10:08 AM IST

After directing Action Replayy, he may have taken a backseat as a director. However, as a producer he has been keeping busy as ever. His Holiday went on to do very good business. Commando ended up holding itself well too while the film's sequel is set to release next year. On the other hand Force too managed to go past the recovery mark and now its sequel is hitting the screens today. Vipul Amritlal Shah, the man who started his career as a director with a hat-trick of hits [Aankhen, Waqat - Race Against Time and Namastey London] and also scored a biggie as a producer with Singh Is Kinng gets talking.

“There is an important mystery element in Force 2” – Vipul Shah

The promo of Force 2 has been received well and film has also stayed in news ever since. That must be giving you a good comfort feel?
Yes, obviously. The promo indicates what the film is going to be. You become a little more confident about what you have made. Now the next few days are going to be crucial. The momentum has to continue.

Considering the fact that the film is arriving at the time when sentiments are high on the patriotic front, to tell a tale from RAW and Mumbai police point of view couldn't have been better timed, right?
On the national level we have a war type of situation with Pakistan and to hear about our ‘jawans’ dying is not a happy situation at all. Yes, from a film's perspective we are telling a topical story though having said that, a year ago when we started shooting for Force 2 then we obviously had no idea that by the time we would come closer to the release, this is the kind of situation that we would find ourselves in with our neighbouring country. It is a coincidence. Still, more than everything else, I think what is very important is the topic of the film that it deals with.

Can you please elaborate that?
The film deals with the fact that 'A Dead Soldier Is A Martyr.... A Dead Spy Is A Traitor'. No country will ever accept that they have spies in the other country; they are disowned by the government as that is the protocol. What actually happens is that the sacrifice is made not just by the spies but also their families. To narrate that subject is much more important than the timing of the film's release. The way the world is going, life of spies are more and more in danger. I am sure people will connect with the film.

Force dealt with the drug menace while Force 2 is talking about spies. So what came first? The idea of making the sequel or the story that fitted in well into the dimensions of the sequel?
Me and John were discussing about making Force 2 for quite some time. Then we met Abhinay (Deol) and he also liked the idea of making the sequel. This is when we came across this script and once we signed off on the idea, we began to do our research. Then we realized that the problem surrounding the spies is very serious. We continued to delve deep into it and this is how the script of Force 2 took shape.

So how does connect get established between Force and Force 2, other than the fact that John Abraham is the common element?
Yes, John is playing the original character of ACP Yashvardhan. That was highly appreciated and loved by the audience and we had to continue that with Force 2. The film now tells a new chapter in his life. The same would be the case with Force 3 too which would tell a new chapter in his life. As for Force 2, there is an interesting mystery element that you would see. The manner in which it unfolds is something that helps the screenplay to make it even more engaging.

How has director Abhinay Deo dealt with this narrative?
He had quite a job in his hands since the film deals with two very different worlds. On one end it deals with RAW agents, spies, their tragedy and situations, and then on the other side you have John lifting cars, beating people left, right and centre and then of course indulging in car chases. To balance both these worlds requires a fine balance and in that aspect, Abhinay is fantastic. He has managed to tell the story so very well by merging these two worlds seamlessly. Force 2 is a commercial entertainer with an interesting topic that has been realistically told.

Alongside John Abraham, there is Sonakshi Sinha who is actually playing a RAW agent. Did you ever think of casting another leading man alongside John instead of a heroine?
I will tell you how it all happened. See, generally a cop has a jurisdiction which is restricted and the story of Force 2 warrants that we take it to a bigger level. We had to shoot the film in Budapest and this is how the agent played by Sonakshi Sinha came in. Today, women are prominent in so many areas of life; they are no lesser than men. Here, both John and Sonakshi are on a mission. We had absolutely parallel roles written for both. We were very clear from day one that the other character had to be a girl. They didn't have to be in a romantic relationship. For the record, John and Sonakshi are the two heroes in Force 2.