For considered one of his endorsements, Saif Ali Khan is also advocating 'Make it large'. Guess the similar philosophy holds true for his films to boot. While Agent Vinod is actually larger than life, it has also been revealed that the film is longer than a regular commercial Bollywood affair.
"Yes, the film is slightly longer than a standard mandate of 2 hour requirement. Agent Vinod runs into two hours and thirty minutes. It's considerably longer if one looks at 90% of alternative Hindi films that are being made within the recent times. However there won't be any negotiation at the running length as Saif in addition to his director Sriram Raghavan believe that Agent Vinod needs such roughly time and space for its story telling. The general edit was locked for 150 minutes and that is the way it will remain", informs a prominent crew member.
In fact once they met some exhibitors who desired to know the overall length of Agent Vinod, Saif and Sriram were candid enough to tell them in regards to the real duration. On being asked if the film can be further edited, they put their viewpoint at the table.
"Exhibitors thought that by reducing the film's length, they may pump in additional choice of shows per multiplex. It was a legitimate point but that is when Saif and Sriram showed the film to them and informed them in regards to the parts they'd possibly need to reduce within the final edit. Now since these were really entertaining parts or even exhibitors didn't wish these elements to head away, they agreed for the film to stay as is", the source continues.
All of which means now this spy thriller which travels continents should not have any jerky moments in its narrative where one would have otherwise got an impression of a sudden jump being introduced because of forced editing.
"Yes, two and a half hours duration is something that we felt was right since that is the type of narrative that Agent Vinod demands. The type of story and scale that it has requires a longer story telling. Also, since this can be a tout script, I needed to give some breathers in between besides. See eventually it's not about how long or short your film is. It just shouldn't 'seem' like a protracted film. Now and then even a 90 minutes film can become boring", smiles Raghavan.
This signifies that the film would join the likes of alternative action films like Ghajini, Ra.One, Bodyguard, Singham and Robot, each of which has exceeded the 2 hour diktat.
Watch 'Agent Vinod' promo:
