‘Chennai Express’ is romantic, says Rohit Shetty

Rohit Shetty’s idea of romantic films? Chennai Express, says the director.

The filmmaker says it is his priority to make a film that entertains the masses and makes money.

When asked why he doesn’t make a romantic film, Shetty said: “When I try to make a romantic film, it turns out to be a Chennai Express.”

Released last year, the film, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, was basically a romantic comedy, but it had the Shetty element in the form of high-octane action scenes, an art that the director has mastered over the years. People accepted it and it became one of the highest grossing films of 2013.

“It depends on many aspects. What happens with my films is that it is always a big budget film with a lot of money pumped in. I need to recover that money because I cannot make somebody sell his house because of my film.

“I cannot cheat the audience ever. That makes no sense. This is my audience, I cater to them and I know how to make films for them,” he added.

From the Golmaal franchise to the Singham series, the director has always churned out films infused with core commercial elements, especially action and drama.

“When you make a film, you want your money to be recovered,” says Shetty. “Unlike earlier times when a film doing well was not counted by how much it earned [at the box office], but on the basis of how many days it ran in theatres,” he said.

“Now we say the film has earned Rs1 billion [Dh60 million] or Rs1.5 billion or Rs2 billion. Business is definitely important because otherwise, you won’t survive,” added the director who has hit the jackpot once again with his recent release Singham Returns.