Boss

About the film

Boss is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Anthony D'Souza, written by Farhad-Sajid and produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Cape of Good Films and Ashwin Varde. A remake of the 2010 Malayalam film Pokkiri Raja, it stars Akshay Kumar as the titular character, along with Mithun Chakraborty, Shiv Panditt, Ronit Roy and Aditi Rao Hydari. The film was released worldwide on 16 October 2013, coinciding with both Dusshehra and the fourth anniversary of D'Souza's directorial debut starring Kumar, Blue (2009).

Plot

Transport businessman Tauji a.k.a. Big Boss, also known as a notorious gangster based in Kurukshetra, is being escorted by his man Lallan on the way to Mirzapur for work. Enroute, they halt over at a stop where Tauji encounters an unnamed young boy who later saves his life after Lallan reveals his betrayal of Big Boss to his rival Dushyant. Big Boss takes the young boy in, calling him "Boss".

15 years later, retired schoolteacher Satyakant Acharya Shastri is shown to be reading an old report on the incident when his friend Raghunath asks him why he is not over it. Satyakant reveals that the young boy, in fact his son Suryakant "Surya" Shastri, is no longer his son but rather a criminal; he believes his only son is his other son, Shivakant "Shiv" Shastri. Satyakant and Raghunath send Shiv to Delhi to live with his maternal uncle Zorawar Singh, a sub-inspector, who contrary to their perception is not really the competent cop he is thought to be. Zorawar, who is injured, suggests Shiv take his place as assigned security to Assistant Commissioner of Police Ayushman Thakur's sister; to his surprise, it turns out Shiv knows her as Ankita from an intercollege fest. Shiv and Ankita grow close and fall in love. Ayushman is in cahoots with the corrupt and power-hungry Home Minister, Vishwaas Pradhan, who suggests to Ayushman that he should get Ankita married to his son Vishal. Ayushman agrees and decides that Ankita will marry him whether she wants to or not. Upon finding out she is in love with Shiv, he has Shiv arrested and convicted for crimes he hasn't committed right in the presence of Satyakant and Raghunath who were summoned quickly by Zorawar, who is also suspended in the process.

Ayushman, on realizing Satyakant is Shiv's father, humiliates and throws him out. He and Raghunath then warn Ayushman that the one they must now turn to help for will prove to be a menace for him. The story then shifts to Kurukshetra, wherein Boss has grown up into a suave, tough transport businessman who fights for justice. At his palatial residence, he kicks out one of his clients for bringing a contract related to a schoolteacher, which is when his past is explored in a flashback.

Production

Anthony D'Souza had previously directed Akshay Kumar in the 2009 film Blue, which marked his directorial debut. He and Farhad-Sajid, while unofficially adapting the 2010 Malayalam film Pokkiri Raja, chose veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan as the narrator who would introduce Boss.

According to reports Amitabh Bachchan was sent the script in advance and journalist-turned-producer Ashwin Varde (for whom the film marks his first project as a producer) offered Bachchan the role personally over a phone call which he readily accepted. Bachchan, in spite of his hectic schedule, completed the dubbing session at the earliest in merely 30 minutes. To the crew's pleasant surprise he improvised his lines as well.

Akshay Kumar played a kind-hearted Haryanvi businessman, known as 'Boss', and Mithun Chakraborty enacted the role of his father. Shiv Panditt portrayed Akshay Kumar's younger brother's role and Aditi Rao Hydari is paired opposite him. Danny Denzongpa played Boss's mentor and Ronit Roy played a ruthless police officer who is pitted against Kumar. It is his first film as a direct antgonist, and also the second consecutive instance where he played a police officer, having recently starred in Shootout at Wadala wherein he played Inspector Raja Ambat, based on real-life encounter specialist Raja Tambat. Roy and Kumar, who were working together for the first time in two decades, filmed the climax in temperatures exceeding 47 degrees Celsius in Thailand, involving high-octane stunts that both actors performed successfully.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack featured nine tracks composed by Meet Bros Anjjan, Yo Yo Honey Singh, P. A. Deepak and Chirrantan Bhatt with lyrics written by Kumaar, Manoj Yadav and Sahil Kaushal. Sandeep Shirodkar composed the film score. The soundtrack CD containing the songs was released on 9 September 2013 to coincide with Akshay Kumar's birthday along with the auspicious festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. T-Series acquired the film's music rights.

The soundtrack was preceded by the promotional video for the first and title track of the film "Boss Title Song" unveiled on YouTube on 30 August 2013 and subsequently for legal purchase as a soundtrack single on the digital music platform, iTunes. The second song "Party All Night" being marketed as a 'party anthem' was made on a budget in excess of ₹60 million ($1.02 million), with the fee of Sonakshi Sinha being ₹6 million ($102,393), thus making it the more expensive Bollywood music video ever shot and was released on 6 September 2013.

Key details