Aditya Datt on Why Aparshakti Khurana Was Top Of Mind As ‘Gunmaaster G9’ Villain: ‘He Was The Man For Me, I Knew He’d Do Justice To The Role’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Director Aditya Datt’s “Gunmaaster G9” is in the news for the cast that has Emraan Hashmi, Genelia Deshmukh and Aparshakti Khurana in principal roles. Releasing November 27, the film marks Khurana’s first outing in a villainous role. Datt shares the reasoning behind casting the actor as a villain despite him having a slew of positive roles in his filmography. He also discusses “Gunmaaster G9”’s stylized action sequences.

“We were looking out for a villain. We thought to ourselves, ‘How do we break out?’ When you're doing these commercial action films, the villain is usually there with certain cliches that you want to break away from, on screen. You can't go away from the cliches but you try to. That’s where we wanted to put effort,” reveals the director explaining why he picked Khurana.

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Calling it an immediate choice to cast him, he reasons: “Aparshakti has never played an out-and-out commercial and crazy-ass villain. This was the thought behind going for him. I have seen many of his projects. I thought he was amazing in ‘Jubilee.’ He nailed his role in the series. Many of his performances are stuck in my head. So when I wanted to pick the villain, he was the man for me. He was on top of my list. I gave him a call. I knew he’d do justice to the role.”

Opening up about the high-octane action in the film, Datt also specifies that while he has made action films including “Commando,” “Bad Cop,” “Crack” and “Table No. 1,” he did not do a “crazy action movie” with Emraan Hashmi. “When we sat for ideas, ‘Gunmaaster G9’ was something that I was writing and ideating. I bounced off to him (Emraan) and said, ‘Why don't we do a crazy out-and-out emotional action movie?’ And I narrated the idea and it fell into place,” he reveals.

But what kind of action can audiences expect? Datt says, “I was very clear about not making a mindless action movie, given I also have such a brilliant cast with Emraan, Aparshakti and Genelia. I believe action makes sense when the emotions behind it are strong. I wanted the audience to understand and realize why the hero is going and beating up 10 people. It has to have a strong emotional intent. Otherwise, it's another gimmicky piece. I would call ‘Gunmaaster G9’ a musical drama action film.”

Adding further, Datt replies, “It is going to be a very sleek and massy kind of action. I designed the sequences myself while writing. I designed the action to look good.”