About Rohit Shetty – The Baap of Blockbusters

If there is one filmmaker who can guarantee action with a healthy dose of laughter it is Rohit Shetty. Considering it is his birthday, we thought it would be cool to explore a bit and share some facts about Bollywood’s most bankable filmmaker.

Born on 14 March 1974, Rohit Shetty is the son of late villain and action director M. B. Shetty, famous for his work on many hit Bollywood movies. Hence, many say that action runs in his blood and is evident in the larger than life action sequences in his movies, be it Zameen, Singham or the most recent Simmba.

The path to Bollywood

However, the path to making blockbusters was far from easy. He began his career in films as an assistant director in Ajay Devgn’s first film – Phool Aur Kaante, for which he earned Rs 35 as his first salary. The maverick filmmaker was ornly 17 at that time. There were times that he didn’t have enough money to travel to the studios. In an interview with Rediff, he once said, “There were many times when I did not have enough money. So I used to walk from Evershine Nagar to Natraj Studios (in Andheri). It used to take around two hours. This would happen at least twice a week. That’s why I know what the masses are, that’s why I know what films to make.”

Now, that is why he is not just a great director but also an inspiring human.

Friendship with Ajay Devgn

Now, this is not some new info. However, what many do not know is the dynamics of that friendship and the story behind its beginning. So, as seen in this article before, Ajay and Rohit first met on the sets of Phool Aur Kaante. But it is over the years after the film’s releases that their friendship gradually blossomed into something much bigger. Even today, Rohit, as seen in this India TV article, cites Ajay Devgn as someone having a big role in his success as a filmmaker. He did his first movie Zameen with Ajay. After Zameen didn’t work at the box office, they still collaborated to try something different – which led to Golmaal. And the rest is history!

The Rohit Shetty Style of Filmmaking

Rohit knows his audience really well. While many are focussing on making ‘intellectual’ stuff, Rohit is focussed on making wholesome entertainment that every section of the audience enjoys, be it urban or rural. Let’s have a look at some of his protagonists. In the Golmaal series, all the central characters are just regular chaps who fall into absurd yet strangely relatable circumstances, like their parent’s marriage with a rival’s parent in Golmaal 3.

Even in the action genre, the relatable funda is in still place. Like, in the Singham series, the police officers, especially Singham, basically are a larger-than-life version of cops we come across in real life, both good and bad. This characterisation format continues with Simmba where Sangram Bhalerao aka Simmba (Ranveer Singh) shares a lot of traits and sentiments with many real-life cops we come across. But with Simmba, Rohit also hits the right chords by shedding light on an important issue in our country, through our character’s transformation from bad to good, which makes us root for the character.

The Road Ahead for the Baap of Blockbusters

With Simmba adding a blockbuster tag to his filmography, things sure look bright for Rohit Shetty fans. Most because of the buzz around Sooryavanshi, a spin-off to Simmba, creating a first-of-its-kind cinematic universe in Bollywood, or even in India. So while you wait for Sooryavanshi to hit the screen, you could watch Simmba online on your digital screens with its exclusive online release on ZEE5. That would be one good way to celebrate the birthday of the badass Rohit Shetty.