Hours from the release of his directorial debut, Sonu Sood was nervous, anxious and excited. “I’ve done my best. Now it is up to the audience to decide whether they appreciate my efforts or not. All I can say is, there is nothing fake about Fateh.”
During the Pandemic Sonu helped thousands of the needy. But that’s not why he wants the public to watch Fateh. “Sir, if they were the needy and if I was able to fulfil that need, then it was just good karma that I was at the right place at the right time. And Sir, I don’t expect anything in return. I don’t want anyone to see my film for the help I extended to them. I want them to see Fateh for the right reasons. That being the quality of my work. Fateh is not any ordinary action film. I don’t know how good the stunts are. But I can assure you, nothing like this has been seen in Hindi cinema. The three-and-a-half minute climax was filmed as one shot, not a single break. It is one of the highlights of the film. Fateh is all me. There are no body doubles, no stunts on wires… all the action is done by me, no trick photography. Now all I want is for the people to carry see the film and judge for themselves whether they like what I’ve done.”
The release is here and Sonu feels a mix of emotions. “It’s been months and months of endless toil. I never knew direction, production plus playing the lead would be so difficult. Fateh has been a learning experience. It is an experience that has taught me the importance of every department of filmmaking. You can’t afford to slacken in any department. Today’s audience is globally informed. He watches film from all over the world. You can’t pull cheap stunts on them and get away with it. One has to compete with action in John Wick and Kraven. If you give them anything sub-standard, they would reject it outright. And why would I? I respect my countrymen too much to give them anything unworthy.”
