MUMBAI: Filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar says he approached "Bloody Daddy" as a big-budget OTT movie designed in a way that its story can be taken forward.
A remake of the 2011 French film "Sleepless Night", the movie stars Shahid Kapoor as Sumair, who faces off against Gurugram's white-collar drug lords, deceitful friends, a ruthless crime boss, murderous narcs, and both corrupt and honest cops - all during one fateful night.
Zafar, who has directed films such as "Gunday", "Sultan" and "Tiger Zinda Hai", said the medium of the release of the film doesn't alter its visual language.
"'Bloody Daddy' has not been compromised budget-wise and scale-wise to make it look like an OTT film. The story is supported and backed by a certain kind of content, which made all of the stakeholders decide that the truest way to bring this film is on an OTT platform. We are going with that gut and we are hoping that this becomes bigger. It's designed in a way that it can be taken forward. And let's see, what destiny holds for us from there," the filmmaker said in an interview.
Zafar said the "relatability" of the content is the latest parameter of success rather than box office numbers.
"The relatability right now has become the box office. It's not numbers anymore," he added.
The first trailer of "Bloody Daddy", also starring Ronit Roy, Sanjay Kapoor and Rajeev Khandelwal, was released last month.
The 41-year-old filmmaker recalled that after the trailer came out, many people told him that the film belonged to theatres, which made him feel happy.
The most empowering aspect, Zafar said, was that he could tell the story in a "grittier" way.
"I could try and create a universe, which is grittier and more believable," he said, adding that the film allowed him to go beyond the tropes of a commercial entertainer.
"Shahid and I had this continuous battle. I was telling him, 'Let's open up a bit more' and he used to say, Ali, I'm not that commercial. I completely respected that fact because what it made me do is something that is new."
"Bloody Daddy" will have a direct-to-digital release on JioCinema on June 9.
