Guts and Glory

Struthers has worked on several prominent Hollywood films including Braveheart,Troy,Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,Blood Diamond and,most notably,Christopher Nolan’s celebrated The Dark Knight trilogy and Inception. However,his latest project is a Bollywood film,Nikhil Advani’s D-Day,with Rishi Kapoor,Arjun Rampal and Irrfan,set to release on July 19.

For someone who has worked with the best in business,it becomes imperative to understand just how vastly different the worlds of Hollywood and Bollywood are,and why he chose to do D-Day. “Nikhil is a persuasive,passionate and talented man. He also had an interesting script,so the answer was easy,” says Struther,“I didn’t know what to expect when I came to India — but what I found was an accomplished crew; knowledgeable and also willing to take on board new ideas. I was positively surprised by the technical support while working on D-Day.”

Although the film doesn’t fall in the category,Struthers has a sense of the distinct idiom of a Hindi action movie. During his stay in India,he managed to watch Rowdy Rathore,with Akshay Kumar as the leading man,and he claims to have enjoyed it. “When you have a story specific to cultural and social beliefs and ways of life,like the traditional heroic Bollywood action film,it has a well-deserved place as a genre of action films. But I also believe there is room for the kind of film which Nikhil wanted to make,with its ‘real’ and ‘gritty’ action,” says the 45-year old. “Irrfan,Rishi and Arjun are what you want every (action) ‘star’ to be,Bollywood or Hollywood: smart,tough and physically able,” he says.

As a stunt coordinator,also known as second unit director,Struthers’s job is to lead a team that is in charge of shooting and filming portions that doesn’t always involve the main actors,and is shot at various locations often involving action sequences. “However,” he says,“the primary vision is that of the director,so it is my job to support that vision to create great action in the director’s style.”

His most satisfying experience among his collaborations with Hollywood bigwigs is the gravity-defying action set-pieces of Inception. “We created some innovative action; I am very proud of the ‘anti-gravity’ scene. People still wonder how it was done; and no,I’m not going to tell you how,” he says in jest.

As for his illustrious collaborator,Nolan,Struthers says,“Chris works quickly and economically. He holds the edit in his head and therefore knows if a ‘take’ has captured what he needs. His vision extends to every facet of the film and the stunts are no exception.” Struthers is currently working on a Zac Efron film in Germany and preparing for his next,the new Star Wars installment,to be directed by JJ Abrams.