For one in all his endorsements, Saif Ali Khan could also be advocating 'Make it large'. Guess the similar philosophy holds true for his films besides. While Agent Vinod is actually larger than life, it has also been revealed that the film is longer than a normal commercial Bollywood affair.
"Yes, the film is just a little longer than a typical 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 which might be 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 more or less time and space for its story telling. The overall edit was locked for 150 minutes and that is the way it will remain", informs a prominent crew member.
In fact after they met some exhibitors who desired to know the general length of Agent Vinod, Saif and Sriram were candid enough to tell them concerning the real duration. On being asked if the film could be further edited, they put their perspective at the table.
"Exhibitors thought that by reducing the film's length, they might 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 might possibly must reduce within the final edit. Now since these were really entertaining parts or even exhibitors didn't wish these elements to move away, they agreed for the film to stay as is", the source continues.
All of which means now this spy thriller which travels continents wouldn't 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 it is 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 an extended film. Every 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.
