DC Exclusive: Stunt director, Andy Armstrong talks about his 'Bang Bang' experience

Mumbai: While people still cannot stop raving about the action-packed 'Bang Bang', we bring you an exclusive interview with the stunt director, Andy Armstrong himself. Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif pushed themselves to the extreme to pull off some of the gravity-defying stunts and surely all the hard-work paid off. Creating the spectacular scenes definitely needed the best team in the business. Andy opens up about working with Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif, identifying their capabilities and challenges, directing the stunts, the limitations and the brilliant outcome.

What was it like working with Hrithik and Katrina on ‘Bang Bang’? Did Hrithik do everything himself ?

Working with Hrithik and Katrina was a really nice experience. Both are really professional, they understand the action movie making process and so for an action director like me, they are an absolute pleasure to work with. Obviously most of the really complex and unique action I designed and directed was with Hrithik and doing those action sequences with him was absolutely wonderful.  Hrithik is a superb athlete and as well as being a great actor and amazing dancer, he possesses all the qualities and physical attributes which would make him a truly great stunt man. I used to joke with him that if his day job (acting) didn’t work out he could always come and work with me as a stunt man! I brought a team of very highly experienced specialist stunt people to work with him and we worked out precisely how each stunt was going to work with stunt performers first and then, once we had made sure everything would be as safe and controllable as possible, we would have Hrithik perform the action. 

Have you watched Hrithik’s films before getting on board with ‘Bang Bang’?

Yes, I did watch Hrithik’s other movies. It is because of this that I knew that if we were to better these performances in terms of scope and scale, we would need to aim extremely high as he has already raised the bar of action in Bollywood movies.

Did you spend time with Hrithik and Katrina getting to know them and their capabilities, or did you just plan a few stunts that they practiced till they got it perfect?

All the stunts and action I designed was discussed with them before hand because I wanted to make sure everything I had in mind was action that they saw as right for their character to be doing in the movie. I feel it’s very important for action to not only be big and spectacular but also to feel organic and “right” for the character. I like to think that this is one of the big qualities I bring to a movie. 

 Everyone is aware that Hrithik went through a brain surgery, how did that affect the shooting? Did you have to moderate the stunts or have to make changes?

This was something I was very much aware of and discussed with Hrithik but he was very determined to not let his earlier medical issues affect his work.Like all great athletes, once his health issues were dealt with and he was fit to work, he came to work with no limitations what so ever. I don’t feel his earlier health issues affected anything we did together on the movie.   

‘Bang Bang’ is the first of its kind in Bollywood, and we are sure it was very challenging, is there any one moment of the shoot that you are particularly proud of achieving?

Choosing one particular sequence would be difficult because I am very proud of all the action we created for the movie. If there was one particular element it would be the work with vehicles. I was very aware the style I was using was extremely different from usual in India and so am extremely happy that I feel we achieved what I set out to do which was to make a more Hollywood car chase style within a  Bollywood movie. I am particularly proud of the great working relationship my US based team and I had with the Indian action team and Siddharth Anand, as well as all the Indian production team. It was a very satisfying and pleasant experience all around. Even one of the big crashes we did in the alley in Delhi was performed by an Indian stunt driver using our US safety and stunt equipment. There have been other movies which have employed British and American action teams but I don’t believe any have amalgamated with the Indian action teams as well as we did. I am very proud of that.

Have you watched any Bollywood action movie and is there any actor you would like to work with. (Salman Khan in ‘Kick’. Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh)

Yes, I try to watch as many Bollywood movies as I can and have met other stars such as Arjun Rampul but ultimately, I feel that Hrithik is, for me, the ultimate action star to work with because he and I understand each very well, have similar tastes and opinions. I would really enjoy doing another movie with him. I would rate him right at the very top of the list of any movie star in the world in terms of performing his own stunts and having the skill set to do this safely and controllably. Having someone as skilled and committed as Hrithik opens up the possibilities of creating an entirely different look to a movie’s action.

In Bollywood many a times, stunts and action sequences are ‘over the top’ and in reality, miles away from possible, but with ‘Bang Bang’ it was actually believable. How did you think the audience would have received it?

Well when I watched the movie it was with an American audience in Hollywood and the movie was received very well. I agree about some movies being absolutely unbelievable in terms of what actions are being performed and I feel we avoided that on Bang Bang by having real people actually do just about every stunt in the film. The problem I feel comes when you design a stunt that has never been done and put it in a movie without first seeing if it could be done. We tested every single stunt in 'Bang Bang' before it was decided on to put it in the movie. We really did drive a formula car on the streets of Abu Dhabi, bare foot water ski behind a huge Grumman Albatross seaplane, run along the rooftops of Shimla, jump a motorcycle over a car, spin a car forwards and backwards in real traffic, swing between busses on a cable, had both actors riding (Katrina facing backwards) on a motorcycle at speed on desert roads. I feel everything we did looked and felt authentic simply because it was authentic and real.

8.In the film, (all the behind the scenes videos) showed you with the cast filming on actual roads and by-lanes and many sets. But in your Hollywood movies like Thor, Amazing Spiderman and Planet of the Apes, F and F, you have worked with a lot of green screen. How did that limit you?

Working with real actors in real locations is always far more satisfying and rewarding for me. And even movies like 'The Amazing Spiderman' and 'Planet of the Apes' I still did a lot of practical shooting on real locations, even on 'Thor' we shot a lot of the exterior action on location and it was only the interiors which were done partially green screen. For me to be able to work with the actors on a real location is always far more fun and in most ways easier because you don’t have to explain to the actors what they are supposed to see around them, they just have to look around and feel the location. Shooting for instance on the rooftops of Shimla was truly beautiful and spectacular, so what I tried to do was to design a violent chase which was a sort of contradiction to the surroundings. Here were these guys running along roof tops kicking, punching, jumping and shooting while this beautiful and spectacular background around them simply went on with it’s day. I think contradictions often make the most striking and memorable images that you take from a movie when you watch it.

9. Was Hrithik or Katrina scared or nervous to perform any stunts? Any particular fears they had before performing the stunts?

Not really, once they understood what was planned and what would be expected of them while the stunt or action was happening, both were quite happy to get on with it. I believe very strongly in explaining and in some cases, having someone demonstrate the action before a movie star attempts it and usually once this has been done any reservations or fears can be addressed. But both these stars seemed extremely comfortable and trusting around my team, the Indian team and myself. I think most of the action that they performed they really enjoyed doing. Hrithik certainly did. If anyone was ever extremely wary if not exactly frightened, it was me. Hrithik was so incredibly relaxed and unfazed by the jump of the building (which was the first big piece of action I got to do with him) I thought at first "this guy is either absolutely crazy or extremely cool and skilled”… Luckily, it turned out to be the latter!