Avengers director Joe Russo wants to promote Indian cinema globally: ‘Thank God for movies like RRR’

Joe Russo, along with his brother Anthony Russo, has directed several big Hollywood films including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and The Gray Man. The filmmaker was attending the Sands International Film Festival in Scotland where he spoke about his upcoming series Citadel with Priyanka Chopra and Richard Madden as well as other future projects. He spoke about backing other industries around the world, including Bollywood, to give them a wider reach. He singled out SS Rajamouli’s RRR for getting the movie fans excited by its storytelling around the world. It won the Oscar for Best Original Song for the Telugu hit Naatu Naatu. (Also read: Russo Brothers say honoured to meet ‘great SS Rajamouli’, he responds: ‘Looking forward to learn a bit of your craft’)

Prime Video’s Citadel is going to be adapted for Italian and Indian audiences as well. The Indian version of Citadel will be helmed by filmmaking duo, Raj and DK, with Varun Dhawan and Samantha Ruth Prabhu taking on the lead roles. While the original Citadel will premiere on April 28, the Indian version is currently under production.

When asked what the best version of Hollywood looks like, Joe Russo said it should get more international and pointed out Bollywood as an example. He told Hollywood trade website Deadline, “Certainly a more diverse version and one that’s more international. Bollywood, for instance, is one of the more significant film businesses in the world but it has extremely minimal exposure outside of India. Thank God for movies like RRR, using a level of technical genius, visual effects, and mythological storytelling to appeal to a much wider audience. We learn about other cultures from movies like that. So, I guess, our goal would be empowerment. We want to support other markets as much as possible so their stories can get through in a broader way.”

Joe has worked with Indian artistes before in the films Extraction and The Gray Man. The former starred Randeep Hooda, Pankaj Tripathi and Priyanshu Painyuli, while the director cast Tamil star Dhanush in The Gray Man. The filmmakers have also hinted that Dhanush’s character, an assassin named Avik San, could return in the sequel of The Gray Man.