The indefatigable Anil Kapoor returns as Jai Singh Rathore with a bigger, better second season of 24. This one aims to awaken the patriot in you
Anil Kapoor
The set of the Indian version of 24, at Goregaon (East), is a sleek one. Lead actor Anil Kapoor, who reprises his role of ex-Army man Jai Singh Rathore in the second season, is dressed in fatigues and a bullet proof vest. The scene is an intense one set in the Anti-Terrorism Unit, full of computers that beep and blink with graphics and pictures of missing people and suspects. If the first season was about saving a politician from being assassinated, this one is about saving the country from a terror attack — think bio warfare. "We are waking up to reports of terrorism every day. So it made sense to address that. This season is adapted from the third season of the original series for the same reason. The terrorists have gone beyond weapons of mass destruction. This attack deals with a virus — a virus that can kill within 24 hours of infecting you," says Kapoor, who owns the Indian rights to the show.
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Anil Kapoor on the sets of Return of 24. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Written by Rensil D'Silva (Rang De Basanti), Bhavani Iyer and Priya Pinto, and directed in parts by D’Silva and Abhinay Deo (Delhi Belly), the show is a fast-paced, stay-on-the-edge-of-your-seats thriller. Along with Kapoor, it stars Sakshi Tanwar, Ashish Vidyarthi, Sikander Kher and Suvreen Chawla. "In the first season, we got comments such as 'oh we can't even go to the bathroom, for fear of missing something’. But that’s the fun of it. The plot and execution is done so well that you wouldn’t want to move," Deo tells us.
Rensil D'silva directs Anil Kapoor on the sets of 24
It’s clear that the makers have upped the ante from the first season, which followed the antics of Rathore trying to save the Prime Minister from an assassination attack. Rathore, a patriot, ends up saving the PM but loses his wife. Season 2 starts three years later — Rathore has been fired from the ATU, and is an alcoholic. There is also a son, who is now an agent, with whom Rathore has a troubled relationship. But, of course, he gets his act together to save the country.
"This time around, the scale has been upped in all ways possible," says Deo, "characters, locations, magnitude of threat… but we have still kept it simplified keeping the TV audience in mind." D’Silva adds, "There are many things happening — there is a jail outbreak, so a jail set had to be set up. There are people getting infected, they need to be quarantined... it was ambitious in many ways. The good thing is that TV is a writer’s medium. We took two years to write the show and it was exhausting. We had to make sure whoever was directing — Abhinay or me — we had to keep the grammar of the show intact."
For Kapoor, it’s key that the audience is hooked.
"We have tried to make the twists and turns original, and that’s why everyone will enjoy it," he says, as he wraps up a scene. As actor, he had to go through intense training to be prepared for the show’s action scenes. Deo was convinced that 60-year-old Kapoor needed to try out action like he had in his entire career. "He’s the youngest on set if you go by energy levels," laughs Deo. And so experts were brought on to train Kapoor in the fine art of fighting.
"It’s a lot like dance. You need to be choreographed. And it’s not like hammer and tongs physical. There are slight movements — where a single touch can maim someone," explains Kapoor. Ask him how much input he gives to direction and writing, and he says, "I am always around if they need any help. But my main focus was to get the right people and then let them do their work. They let me focus on the acting."
But it’s not just the action that 24 has in plenty. There’s emotion too. Kapoor has a budding romantic relationship and is also trying to mend fences with his son. But his relationship is the one he shares with his country. "The biggest feeling the audience needs to take away is a feeling of patriotism. For Rathore, everything in his life comes after the country. The nation always wins, you know?"
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