Exclusive! Kill Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat On John Wick Makers & Who He Wishes To Be Cast In The Hollywood Remake: “The Story Is Going To Choose The Cast”
Koimoi spoke to Kill director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat about his reaction to his film being remade in Hollywood.
Kill, directed by Nikhil Nagesh Bhat, was released in theatres on July 5, 2024. The action thriller stars Lakshya, Raghav Juyal, and Tanya Maniktala in the lead roles. The movie received mostly positive reviews from Indian and international critics. Bhat’s movie is praised for its high-octane, bloody, and violent action scenes driven by grief and rage. Produced by Dharma Productions, it’s the first time Karan Johar has produced such a violent movie (along with Sikhya Entertainment).
Even before the movie was released in India this Friday, the makers received incredible news. The Lakshya and Raghav Juyal starrer will be remade in Hollywood. The cherry on the cake is that John Wick director Chad Stahelski will be backing the movie. Koimoi spoke to Kill director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat about his reaction to his film being remade in Hollywood.
Kill Movie Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Reaction On The Hollywood Remake News
When asked if he expected Kill to get such a fantastic response and achieve this big feat, the filmmaker responded, “I’ll tell you an incident. Last year, it was premiering in Toronto. It was in the Midnight Madness section. This was the first time I was watching it in a theatre. We had seen it in smaller theatres, but when you were seeing it with some 1100 people, there’s a huge theatre in Toronto, and I was sitting over there, and the film started. When the film started, I started feeling that every shot I saw, every sound note, each and every shot was going wrong. It is not falling in place. I could only see the problems. I started sinking into the sea. That part that, you know, we have made a great mistake by bringing this. Now people are going to start hooting, and then they’re going to boo us out.”
Nikhil Nagesh Bhat added, “But within 20 minutes of the film, people started responding. I could hear the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ and sighs. So that’s when people started responding to emotions and actions. That’s when I started realizing that people are accepting it and liking this.”
“By the end of it, of course, we got a standing ovation from those 1100 people. They were clapping and cheering us. But that was when I started sinking in my seat. I had no idea what was going to happen. Now 8711 is going to do a remake of Kill in English language, this has never happened. We normally do it the other way around. This is the first time in Indian film, a Hindi film is getting remade into a Hollywood mainstream action film, and that too, by the director of John Wick. It’s a huge honour,” shared the Kill director.
Lakshya and Raghav Juyal have received a good response for their performances. When asked who he wishes should be cast in the Hollywood remake, the Kill director answered, “I’ll tell you honestly, right now we’re just discussing the decision been made about making it in an English language film. Now, the story needs to be set differently. It cannot be the same story, especially in the US. So, actually, the story is going to choose the cast. It’s the other way around. It’s not like we should choose a cast and then go and figure out what the story is. So we’ll wait for it once the story is finalized, and we will figure it out.”
