AR Murugadoss opened up on the failure of Darbar and Spyder

A R Murugadoss is currently promoting his much-awaited film August 16 1947. The director who have had career spanning over two decades, has made several blockbuster films. He is known for introducing new concepts to the film industry. He has a great way of storytelling which grasps the attention of the audience throughout the film. Recently, in an interview the filmmaker opened up on how his films Darbar starring Rajinikanth, and Mahesh Babu’s Spyder, did not perform well at the box office. He also recalls a wise advice give by actor Aamir Khan.

A R Murugadoss in an interview with Galatta Plus spoke about Spyder, he said, “I did a calculation with Spyder–at a time when a huge pan-Indian concept was non-existent. The idea was to balance the film out for both Tamil and Telugu audiences. I calculated that the Tamil audience will watch the film for SJ Suryah, and the Telugu audience will watch it for Mahesh Babu.”

He further explained, “Since I can’t project Mahesh Babu as a huge commercial hero in Tamil, I made his role a bit subtle. However, this resulted in a severe backlash in Telugu as they thought that a Tamil director has downplayed a Superstar like Mahesh Babu and elevated SJ Suryah because he is his friend. However, I have put the same effort into films that worked and the ones that turned out to be average.”

The critically acclaimed director then said, “About Darbar, I started miscalculating that the art of filmmaking and screenwriting are coming very easily for me. So, because of that when Rajini sir gave me dates in March, I didn’t want to miss the film for no reason. I started the film in March. By June, the rainy season starts in Mumbai, and I had to wrap up the film before that. On top of that, he was planning to start a political party in August. Also, back then it was said that the film might be the last one of Rajini sir. So, I misjudged and started the film in a hurry.”

He further added, “So, however talented one might be, if he doesn’t plan a project well, it wouldn’t work. You need enough time to plan everything from set to locations to make-up to make a film believable. Aamir Khan once told me, ‘I will tell you a secret. If someone is announcing the release date of a film even before starting the shoot, there is a 50 per cent chance that the film is already a flop. Start a film and see if it is coming out the way you wanted it to. See rushes and once about 80 per cent of the film is done, then lock the release date.’ I realised that (after Darbar).”