Since the 2000s, Rohit Shetty has endured as one of Bollywood’s most successful and most unrealistic directors. Known for staging over-the-top stunts and tongue-in-cheek theatrics, Shetty’s action flicks and comedies have been top-grossers at the box-office, especially the ones belonging to his two franchises: Golmaal and the Rohit Shetty Cop Universe.
Gravity is definitely Shetty’s arch-nemesis as he loves exploding and flipping off cars in the most physics-defying ways possible. But it’s this extravagance that often works in his favour, allowing audiences to suspend their logic for enjoyable mass entertainers. While some of his films like Cirkus failed to mint a fortune, Shetty has mostly retained his status as a bankable filmmaker in mainstream Indian cinema. Here’s a look at his career so far.
Success with Golmaal franchise
Even though Rohit Shetty marked his directorial debut with the 2004 hostage thriller Zameen, it’s the 2006 comedy Golmaal: Fun Unlimited that put him on the map. Starring his Zameen hero Ajay Devgn alongside actors like Sharman Joshi, Arshad Warsi, and a hilariously memorable Tushar Kapoor, the comedy of errors was an instant hit and spawned equally successful sequels like Golmaal Returns, Golmaal 3, and Golmaal Again. All of these movies featured his recurring collaborator and friend Ajay Devgn along with Shetty’s trusted troupe of character actors with goofy comedic timing like Johnny Lever, Sanjay Mishra, and many more.
The Golmaal franchise also proved how Bollywood franchises can be built around spiritual sequels. Despite sharing common character names throughout each movie, none of the installments are directly connected. Golmaal Again, in fact, took an entirely different route by also throwing supernatural comedy in the mix. This similar formula of spiritual sequels under the same brand name was later utilised by other Bollywood comedy franchises like the Housefull movies.
Rohit Shetty’s Cop Universe
While the Golmaal movies also had their fair share of high-octane stuntwork, Shetty transitioned towards serious action with Singham, a Hindi remake of the Tamil cop drama of the same name. Starring his regular muse Ajay Devgn as the law-abiding police officer Inspector Bajirao Singham, the 2011 movie was an instant blockbuster. Critics and audiences were all in awe of Devgn’s committed lead performance as a righteous lawman who wages his personal war against a corrupt politician played with exceptional wit and villainy by Prakash Raj.
Singham soon gave way to a direct sequel Singham Returns and other police vigilante spin-offs like Sooryavanshi and Simmba, starring Akshay Kumar and Ranveer Singh in the titular roles respectively. The brakes on this cop universe haven’t stopped yet as Shetty plans on expanding it further with the 2024 Prime Video series Indian Police Force starring Siddharth Malhotra, Shilpa Shetty, and Vivek Oberoi as officials of the eponymous collective. The Singham lore also continues with Singham Again which apart from Devgn will also feature Deepika Padukone as a new khaki uniform-wearing protagonist.
Why the first Golmaal is still Rohit Shetty’s best movie?
Rohit Shetty’s contribution to Bollywood action is unmatched but it’s Golmaal that continues to endure as a cult favourite. From outlandish pranks to a frenzied third act, the first Golmaal movie also offered unforgettable side-characters like the bumbling gangster Babli Bhai and the snake tattoo-covered martial artist Pandu Ranga, The premise of four friends trying to dupe a blind couple might seem straightforward but the abundance of individual moments of both choreographed and improvised hilarity make Golmaal: Fun Unlimited an iconic 2000s-era comedy.
Where can you stream Rohit Shetty’s filmography?
Rohit Shetty’s movies can be streamed on Prime Video, Lionsgate Play, Eros Now and more.
