Bollywood action cinema has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past few decades. In the old days, a fight sequence was often signaled by the classic “dishoom dishoom” sound, an onomatopoeic punch effect ingrained in the Hindi film culture. Heroes traded loud, exaggerated blows with villains in sequences that, while entertaining, defied physics and logic. Fast-forward to today, and the action looks very different: choreographed close-combat techniques, authentic military tactics, slick weapon handling, and high-end visual effects have become the norm. This journey from the dishoom era to an age of tactical combat is a fascinating story of changing styles, technologies, and audience expectations in Bollywood.
From Dishoom Dishoom to Desi Daredevils: Old-School Action
There was a time when Bollywood’s idea of action was synonymous with one man taking on dozens, powered by raw strength and righteous fury. In classic 1970s–1990s masala films, action scenes were larger-than-life and melodramatic. The hero, often a symbol of justice or family honor, would single-handedly vanquish thugs in street brawls or warehouse showdowns. Punches and kicks were accompanied by that famous “dishoom” sound effect, and villains conveniently flew into the air or smashed through breakaway furniture with each hit. These fights weren’t about realism, they were about spectacle and emotion. The hero’s anger and courage made anything possible, and audiences cheered even the most implausible feats if they were packaged with stirring music and drama.
Exaggerated feats became a trademark of this era. Think of Sunny Deol ripping a handpump out of the earth with his bare hands in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), an iconic scene that defied all physics but became folklore. The filmmakers knew it was over-the-top; in fact, crew members initially questioned the idea, fearing it would look too fake. But directors like Anil Sharma defended such moments by rooting them in emotion and mythology. In Gadar, Tara Singh’s superhuman strength was a symbolic roar of justice, much like mythical heroes lifting mountains in folklore. This logic of “believe it because it’s heroic” defined old Bollywood action. The fights often mirrored mythological showdowns between good and evil, with the hero displaying almost godlike prowess when enraged or provoked.
The choreography of those days was simple and raw. It wasn’t about martial arts technique; it was more like a street fight with dramatic flairs. A typical sequence had the hero throw punches and the stuntmen reacting in broad, theatrical ways, a punch could send a henchman flying over a car, or a roundhouse kick might break a wooden table. Multiple attackers? No problem, they would obligingly attack one by one, surrounding the hero who dispatched them in series. Weapons, when used, followed no real-world rules. Guns hardly ever ran out of bullets on screen, and there was little concern for tactics or cover, after all, our hero was bulletproof by virtue of stardom. Car chases and explosions did occur (like in 1980s classics such as Sholay or later Tridev), but they were executed with practical effects and daredevil stuntmen, often with minimal safety measures by today’s standards. The focus was on making the hero look invincible, not on realism.
It’s important to remember that audiences of the time embraced this stylization. The term “dishoom dishoom” itself became part of pop culture, affectionately referencing any filmy fight. Viewers were less exposed to international action films, so they weren’t comparing Bollywood’s fisticuffs to Hollywood’s precision. They wanted high drama and whistle-worthy moments, and filmmakers delivered. Stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, and Mithun Chakraborty became action icons not because of polished martial arts, but because they could sell a fight with their persona and intensity.
Bachchan in the 70s could throw a punch on screen that made you believe the lanky young man was truly “the Angry Young Man” capable of thrashing villains twice his size. Sunny Deol’s legendary “dhai kilo ka haath” (two-and-a-half kilogram hand) dialogue from the 90s typified the era, it signaled that one swing of the hero’s mighty arm could knock out evil. This brand of action was loud, bombastic, and crowd-pleasing in its own way.
However, by the early 2000s, cracks began to appear in this template. Indian audiences were getting savvier, satellite TV and DVDs brought Hollywood action closer, and younger filmmakers aspired to try new techniques. The stage was set for evolution.
Shifting Gears in the 2000s: The Winds of Change
Around the mid-2000s, Bollywood action started to noticeably shift. A new generation of filmmakers and stars emerged, influenced not only by the Indian masala ethos but also by Hollywood blockbusters and global cinema. The change didn’t happen overnight, but you can spot key films that signaled Bollywood was ready to upgrade its action game.
One breakthrough was Yash Raj Films’ Dhoom (2004), which introduced sleek, high-speed chases on Indian screens like never before. Centered on biker thieves and daring cops, Dhoom brought a distinctly Hollywood-like action vibe, superbike chases, highway stunts, and gadgets, areas where Bollywood had limited experience. Suddenly, the action was as much about style as machismo. The success of Dhoom (and its sequel Dhoom 2 in 2006, featuring daring sequences like a standout rollerblading chase and skydiving stunts) proved that Indian audiences had an appetite for polished, Western-inspired action when done right. It wasn’t just about fists and fury anymore; production quality and finesse were now part of the appeal.
At the same time, Bollywood was also looking south for inspiration. South Indian cinema (Telugu, Tamil, etc.) had long been dishing out its own brand of high-voltage action, sometimes even more outrageously exaggerated than Bollywood’s, but with innovative choreography and technology. The cross-pollination intensified in the late 2000s as many South action hits were remade in Hindi. Movies like Ghajini (2008), originally Tamil, combined a strong emotional revenge story with bone-crunching, gritty action. Aamir Khan’s portrayal of an amnesiac man on a vendetta not only had him sporting a muscular look (the actor’s physical transformation made headlines) but also engaging in fights that felt more visceral than the old dishoom fare.
Yes, he still single-handedly took down rooms full of goons, but there was a new level of intensity and realistic brutality, the punches felt like they hurt. The violence was stylized with fancy slow-motion shots, yet the combat had a raw edge (smashing heads with helmets, using mixed martial arts-esque takedowns) that set it apart from 90s cheesiness.
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Perhaps the most pivotal push came from Bollywood’s renewed love affair with the “action hero” archetype around 2008-2012. This was the era when actors like Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and Salman Khan reinvented themselves (or reaffirmed themselves) in hardcore action roles after a period of romantic or comic diversions. Akshay, who actually has a martial arts background, started showcasing more of those skills in films. In Khakee (2004) and Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) he had small action bits, but it was with films like Rowdy Rathore (2012, a remake of a Telugu hit) and Holiday (2014, a remake of a Tamil action-thriller) that the South-style stunts (gravity-defying flips, slow-mo “hero entries”, parkour chases) became a staple of his movies.
Salman Khan found huge success with Wanted (2009) – a Hindi remake of a Telugu actioner – which was chock-full of slow-motion roundhouse kicks and stylized shootouts. The film’s success kicked off a trend of over-the-top action masalas in Bollywood’s 2010s (Salman’s own Dabangg and Singham series by director Rohit Shetty, for instance) where directors tried to make fights look ultra-cool and impactful, even if not entirely realistic. These movies reintroduced the wild physics of old masala but packaged it with modern camera work, editing, and VFX sparks to keep it fun. So, while one part of Bollywood was drifting towards realistic combat, another part doubled down on fantasy action with a facelift.
Audiences at the time essentially split into two camps (with overlap, of course): those who enjoyed the new slick, brain-off mass entertainers, and those who yearned for Hollywood-like sophistication in action. Bollywood had to juggle both, and this actually propelled the evolution forward. Filmmakers realized that action choreography needed to improve across the board. Even the most masala of films benefitted from hiring better stunt coordinators to design the action more imaginatively. Meanwhile, more grounded action-thrillers also started to appear, catering to viewers who wanted some realism.
A good example of the latter is Baby (2015), an espionage thriller directed by Neeraj Pandey. Baby featured commandos and secret agents in a plot against terrorists, and its action scenes were notably taut and realistic for Bollywood standards. No flamboyant flips here, instead we see quick, efficient Krav Maga style hand-to-hand fights and tactical gunfire. One much-praised sequence has Akshay Kumar’s agent character swiftly disarming and subduing an assassin in a hallway in a manner that wouldn’t look out of place in a Bourne movie. It signaled that with the right approach, Bollywood could pull off convincing tactical combat in a realistic setting. That same year, Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), although largely a drama, showed Salman Khan in a climactic fight that was far more grounded and gritty than his earlier cartoonish brawls, proving even mass superstars were toning things down when the story demanded sincerity.
By the late 2010s, the pieces were set: Bollywood was ready to truly embrace a more realistic, internationally flavored action style, without completely losing its desi soul. The perfect storm of bigger budgets, global collaboration, advancing technology, and a demanding audience led to the next big leap in action choreography.
The New Age of Tactical Combat (2015–2025)
Entering the late 2010s and the 2020s, Bollywood action films leveled up to meet global standards in many ways. We saw the rise of movies that could stand toe-to-toe with Hollywood in terms of slick choreography and technical execution, even as they kept the trademark Bollywood flair. The phrase “tactical combat” aptly describes the new style: fights and action sequences started to incorporate real-world combat techniques, military tactics, and careful planning that were rarely seen in earlier Hindi films. Let’s break down what changed in this era, through some key examples and trends.
Big Budgets, Global Crews, and Stylized Realism
One of the game-changers was the willingness of Bollywood producers to invest heavily in action and to bring in international expertise. A landmark film here is War (2019), starring Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. The film was an all-out action spectacle with jaw-dropping set pieces across the globe. To execute this, the studio Yash Raj Films hired multiple renowned stunt choreographers from different parts of the world, each an expert in a specific domain (one for high-speed car chases, another for complex hand-to-hand combat, etc.). This kind of specialization was unheard of in earlier decades. The result? War delivered gravity-defying motorbike duels, parkour sequences across rooftops, and intense one-on-one fights that felt polished and adrenaline-pumping.
It was still larger-than-life, make no mistake, the film’s scenarios (like leaping off a snow cliff on a motorcycle to land inside an airplane!) are not exactly realistic, but the presentation was slick and modern. The punches and kicks weren’t the old-school wide swings; they were tight, MMA-inspired moves. Tiger Shroff, a trained martial artist, brought in agile kicks and flips reminiscent of a Jackie Chan or Jet Li movie, which was something fresh for Hindi audiences. War essentially married Bollywood’s love for big, loud action with the technical finesse of Hollywood stunt teams, and audiences loved it.
Building on that, Yash Raj Films launched what they call the “Spy Universe”, where films like War and the recent Pathaan (2023) coexist. Pathaan is another great showcase of the new Bollywood action ethos. With Shah Rukh Khan leading as a slick secret agent, the movie is packed with high-concept action sequences: a fight on top of a moving train, a frantic chase across ice floes with motorcycles and a hovercraft, and even an aerial combat scene using jetpacks and wing-suits. These are scenarios one would expect in a Bond or Mission: Impossible film, and indeed Pathaan unapologetically takes inspiration from those Hollywood franchises. The difference in Bollywood now is that the industry has the means to actually film these ideas convincingly.
The production roped in international stunt coordinators (for example, consultants who worked on Marvel and other big films) to design the set pieces. There’s heavy use of CGI and VFX to pull off the impossible safely, something earlier Bollywood action directors didn’t have access to. In Pathaan, when you see the heroes leaping between exploding helicopters or engaging in mid-air fistfights as they free-fall, you know a lot of green screen and computer graphics are involved. But crucially, the CGI quality has improved drastically, so these wild scenes look exciting rather than laughably fake.
Yet, even as Bollywood began to deliver Hollywood-style spectacle, many filmmakers kept one foot in realism to avoid alienating the audience. Siddharth Anand, the director of War and Pathaan, described his approach as mixing “Hollywood-inspired stunts with an Indian heart.” In practice, this means that while the action is cutting-edge, it’s often grounded by stakes or emotions the local audience can connect with (for example, a patriotic motive, or a revenge subplot). The fights are shot stylishly, but they still cheerfully ignore a few laws of physics here and there, because a little fantasy element is part of the fun. Essentially, Bollywood found a sweet spot between realism and entertainment: make the techniques and visuals world-class, but keep the scenarios and drama just a bit larger-than-life to give viewers that thrill and escapism.
Real Military Tactics and Authenticity
Parallel to the flashy spy thrillers, another breed of action film found success in India: the authentic war drama or military action film. These films leaned much more heavily into realism, treating action sequences as re-creations of true events or believable combat missions. A standout example is Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019). Based on a real Indian Army operation, Uri won acclaim for depicting commando raids with a degree of authenticity never before seen in Bollywood. The soldiers moved like actual special forces, they used proper room-clearing tactics, hand signals, and realistic firearm handling. For once, guns had recoil and limited ammunition; the sound design of gunfire was closer to reality than the old dishkyaoon sound effects; and the missions showed planning rather than gung-ho charge alone.
The production team achieved this by conducting military bootcamps for the cast. Lead actor Vicky Kaushal underwent weeks of training with army personnel, learning how to handle modern rifles, how to communicate in a squad, and even doing drills for breaching rooms and combat techniques. This level of preparation paid off on screen, Indian audiences, including defense enthusiasts and veterans, appreciated that the actors actually looked and behaved like soldiers, a far cry from past war movies where an actor might hold a gun all wrong or engage in absurd heroics.
Following this, Shershaah (2021) took realism in action up another notch. A biographical film about Captain Vikram Batra and the Kargil War, Shershaah made a point to not glorify violence but to show it as it is. The battle sequences were shot on rough mountain terrain similar to the actual locations of combat. The team even involved real army advisors and included some serving jawans (soldiers) as extras for authenticity. Actors, including Sidharth Malhotra who portrayed Batra, trained in everything from handling actual (de-activated) weapons to getting familiar with the weight of army gear, to using correct radio lingo.
When you watch the firefights in Shershaah, there’s a noted absence of filmi exaggeration: magazines run empty and have to be reloaded; soldiers take cover and move strategically; the chaos and uncertainty of close combat are felt, rather than it being a neatly choreographed dance. This doesn’t mean the action isn’t thrilling, it is edge-of-seat, but in a immersive, you-are-there way instead of a hero fantasy way. The Indian Army itself praised Shershaah for capturing the reality of military combat and the spirit of soldiers. That kind of endorsement was unheard of in earlier Bollywood war films.
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What’s notable is that even mainstream entertainers started adopting a touch of this tactical authenticity. Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), a high-budget spy thriller starring Salman Khan (which is part of the same universe as War and Pathaan), based its climax on a hostage-rescue mission. Instead of just Salman storming in guns blazing solo (which is what a 90s version might have looked like), the film shows him leading a team, coordinating an assault with night-vision gear, silencers, and real military hardware. The director hired Hollywood action director Tom Struthers (known for films like The Dark Knight Rises) to choreograph these sequences, ensuring that everything from the breach formations to the explosion effects looked plausible. It was a great example of how Bollywood was merging its star-driven formula (audiences still got Salman heroically mowing down terrorists, of course) with a veneer of real-world combat tactics to keep up with times.
Actor Training: From Bodybuilding to Mixed Martial Arts
Another significant shift in Bollywood’s approach to action is the intense physical preparation of actors for action roles. In earlier decades, an actor would rarely transform their body or learn specialized combat skills for a film, the fights were simple enough to be picked up on set, and having a naturally strong screen presence was more important. That changed drastically post-2000s. Now, when a major star signs an action film, it often comes with a regimen of months of training in various disciplines.
For instance, when Aamir Khan took on Ghajini, he spent a year in the gym to get a chiseled, muscular look, setting off a trend of actors sporting six-pack abs for action roles. Hrithik Roshan, known for his physique, nonetheless undergoes targeted martial training for films like War (where he and co-star Tiger Shroff practiced complex fight choreography for weeks before shooting). Tiger Shroff and Vidyut Jammwal, two younger generation action stars, have effectively brought marital arts to the forefront of Bollywood action. Tiger, a gymnast and Kung Fu practitioner, performs gravity-defying kicks, flips, and parkour moves as part of his on-screen fights (see the Baaghi film series for examples of him channeling Bruce Lee-like agility). Vidyut, trained in the Indian martial art Kalaripayattu, showcases real combat techniques in the Commando series and other films, joint locks, pressure point strikes, etc., often executed in longer takes to prove he’s doing it without camera cheats.
These actors have raised the bar: they do many of their stunts themselves, reducing the need for body doubles and making fights look more convincing. Vidyut Jammwal often says with pride that before him, “no one in Bollywood did real combat without harnesses or doubles,” which is a bit of an exaggeration but does highlight that now at least a few stars are capable of pulling off authentic action choreography. Their influence is evident, even actors not known for action are doing more training. For Pathaan, Shah Rukh Khan, then in his late 50s, built an impressive lean muscular build and trained in hand-to-hand combat techniques to convincingly play a field agent. For Shershaah, Sidharth Malhotra went through military fitness drills, including running with heavy gear at high altitudes to build endurance, so that he wouldn’t be acting tired, he would genuinely be winded in scenes requiring climbing a mountain under fire.
It’s not just male actors either. Bollywood’s leading ladies are also joining the action in the modern era. Actresses like Deepika Padukone in Pathaan, Katrina Kaif in Tiger Zinda Hai, and Priyanka Chopra (who played an FBI agent in the Hollywood show Quantico and did Bollywood action in Don 2) have trained in combat choreography and performed fights or stunts on their own. This indicates a broader shift in mindset: action is now a respected, integral part of performance, and actors are expected to be physically adept and convincing in those scenes, just as they would prepare for a dance or dramatic role.
Cinematography, VFX, and the New Action Aesthetic
One cannot talk about modern Bollywood action without mentioning the technological leap. How a fight is shot and edited makes a world of difference in how it’s perceived. In older films, action was usually covered in wide shots or basic cuts, often to ensure the audience clearly saw their hero’s face delivering the blow. There wasn’t much variety in angles or any concept of “immersive” camerawork. Now, inspired by global trends, Bollywood uses every trick in the book: rapid-fire editing for intensity (as popularized by the Bourne films), slick slow-motion for dramatic effect (a Zack Snyder influence, perhaps), first-person shooter-style shots, drone cameras capturing aerial views of chases, and elaborate one-take fight sequences to flaunt choreography.
A striking example of new cinematography is the single-take action sequence. Bollywood tried this in films like Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota (2019), a quirky homage to martial arts movies, where the camera follows the protagonist through a hallway as he battles multiple attackers in one continuous shot, a nod to the famous corridor fight from Oldboy. Even mainstream films have begun to experiment with longer takes to make the audience feel the continuous rush. Baaghi 3 (2020) has Tiger Shroff doing a long rampage shot designed to look uninterrupted, echoing techniques seen in Hollywood’s Extraction (which interestingly was a Hollywood action movie set in Bangladesh, showing cross-influence). These techniques were unheard of in 90s Bollywood but are becoming common vocabulary for today’s action directors.
Visual Effects (VFX) have arguably had the biggest impact on evolving action scenes. In the dishoom era, limited effects meant certain grand ideas were impossible or extremely risky. Today, if a director can imagine it, VFX can help realize it. Whether it’s extending sets, augmenting explosions, or entirely CGI creations like a digital train or aircraft for a stunt, computer graphics have blown open the possibilities. Movies like War and Pathaan rely on a healthy dose of VFX to create set-pieces that would be too dangerous or costly to film purely in real life. For example, Pathaan’s high-speed ice chase with missiles and collapsing helicopters, much of that is green-screen work combined with stunt driving on controlled environments.
Crucially, VFX also allow clean-up of practical stunts to enhance safety. Actors can be wired up for a flip or a high jump, and then the wires are erased digitally, giving the illusion of a superhuman leap without actually defying gravity unassisted. This technique lets filmmakers design far more dynamic action without endangering talent as much. In older times, if a hero had to jump from a third-story window, either a risk-taking stuntman did it for real (with crash mats or boxes below, hoping for the best), or it looked evidently fake using editing cuts or dummies. Now the actor can hang by a cable and simulate the jump, and VFX makes it look real and seamless, reducing risk while upping spectacle.
Interestingly, some stunt professionals note that while VFX has enabled bolder scenes, it’s a “balancing act” to not overdo it. Purely CGI action can become weightless and unimpressive if not grounded in reality. Thus, the best modern Bollywood action tends to use a hybrid approach: do as much as possible with real stunts and real elements, then enhance with VFX. We still see real car flips, real fight choreography and real explosions augmented, not replaced, by digital effects. This combination often delivers the most satisfying result – the audience subconsciously senses the realism but enjoys the amplified scale that VFX provides.
The table below summarizes how Bollywood action has evolved across different eras, highlighting changes in style and complexity:
| Era & Examples | Action Style Characteristics | Stunt Complexity & Techniques |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s–1990s Sholay (1975), Deewaar (1975), Ghayal (1990) | – Masala action, with one-man-army heroes. – Exaggerated fights with dishoom sound effects; high melodrama. – Larger-than-life feats (hero shrugging off bullets, lifting objects). | – Choreography was straightforward brawling and stage combat. – Stunts done practically without modern safety (real explosions, fistfights). – Minimal wire work or tech; occasional risky jumps by stuntmen. |
| Early 2000s Dhoom (2004), Ghajini (2008), Wanted (2009) | – Transition to stylized action influenced by Hollywood and South Indian cinema. – Emphasis on cool factor: bike chases, slow-motion kicks, more blood in fights. – Heroes still largely invincible but fights feel more hard-hitting. | – Introduction of wire harnesses for stunts (for higher jumps, flips). – Use of CGI in limited form (CG explosions, removing safety rigs). – Actors start training for specific roles (muscle building, basic fight choreography). |
| 2010s Ek Tha Tiger (2012), Baaghi (2016), Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), War (2019) | – Blend of realism and extravaganza. – Spy and military themes bring tactical gun-fights and team operations on screen. – Martial arts and acrobatics integrated (thanks to actors like Tiger Shroff, Vidyut). – High production values make action glossy and fast-paced. | – International stunt coordinators frequently hired; multi-team action design (e.g. car chase experts, combat experts). – Extensive pre-visualization (storyboarding and even CGI previz) before shooting complex scenes. – Heavy use of safety rigs, airbags, and CGI touch-ups to allow daring stunts (e.g. real car flips enhanced with VFX debris). |
| 2020s Uri (2019), Shershaah (2021), Pathaan (2023) | – Two parallel trends: hyper-realism in war/true-story films, and mega-scale fantasy in franchise blockbusters. – Realism trend: meticulous attention to authentic combat tactics and military protocols (audience applauds accuracy). – Mega-scale trend: Anything goes, as long as visuals are spectacular (audience enjoys the ride). – In both, there’s a commitment to higher quality and detail than before. | – Actor Bootcamps: cast undergoes military training, weapons handling workshops, or martial arts training for months. – VFX is fully embraced: from creating digital environments (cities, aircraft) to de-aging actors or face-replacing stunt doubles. – Hybrid stunts: combining practical effects (fire, squibs for bullet hits) with CGI enhancements (blood spurts, destruction) to maintain realism. Many sequences now require coordination between stunt teams and VFX teams from the planning stage. |
As shown above, the evolution has been multi-dimensional. Bollywood action today is not one monolith, it spans the ultra-real to the ultra-fantastical, but across the board, the execution is far more sophisticated than the old days.
Influence of South Cinema and Hollywood
To fully understand why Bollywood’s action evolved the way it did, we should acknowledge the external influences that nudged it along.
Hollywood’s impact is perhaps the most apparent. As Indian audiences gained exposure to Hollywood action, whether through theatre releases, cable TV, or now streaming platforms, their expectations went up. Once you’ve watched the likes of The Matrix, Die Hard, or Fast & Furious, you start desiring similar adrenaline rushes from local films. Bollywood filmmakers, many of whom grew up on a diet of Hollywood themselves, were eager to experiment with those styles. We saw direct homages: remember the slow-motion bullet dodge moves from The Matrix being imitated in some early 2000s Hindi movies? (Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) even did a full spoof of Matrix’s bullet-time in a comedic action scene.)
While those imitations were gimmicky at first, over time Bollywood started genuinely incorporating Hollywood techniques in meaningful ways, whether it’s the Bourne-style frenetic handheld camerawork for fights, the Marvel-style epic scale for final battles, or the Bond-style globetrotting espionage set-pieces.
Moreover, Bollywood started hiring Hollywood talent behind the scenes. We discussed stunt coordinators like those on Tiger Zinda Hai and War. Even on the technical front, Bollywood began working with top global VFX studios for CGI-heavy movies (for example, the visual effects for Brahmāstra (2022), a fantasy film, involved several international companies; action films have similarly sought outside expertise to ensure quality). This cross-pollination meant a lot of knowledge transfer, Indian crews learned the art of pre-planning and safety from veteran Western crews, and in turn added their own creativity to the mix.
On the other side, South Indian cinema’s influence on Bollywood action is a story of both competition and collaboration. In the 2010s and beyond, South Indian industries (Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam) produced some of the most talked-about action films in India. Movies like Baahubali (2015), KGF (2018), and RRR (2022) showed that Indian filmmakers outside Bollywood were pushing action to new heights of spectacle, massive war scenes, outlandish heroics, and slick choreography that sometimes outshone Bollywood’s offerings. The pan-Indian success of these films put pressure on Hindi cinema to not fall behind.
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You can see Bollywood responding by upping budgets and technical game for its own big action tentpoles. At the same time, there’s admiration and exchange of talent. Bollywood has borrowed many top South action choreographers (for instance, Peter Hein, who choreographed Baahubali, also did action for Hindi films like Ghajini and Force). Directors like Prabhu Deva and S. Shankar brought their brand of flamboyant action when they made Hindi versions of their films or originals.
Bollywood also remade several South hits (as mentioned, Wanted, Rowdy Rathore, Singham were all remakes) which directly implanted South-style fight scenes into Hindi films. These usually feature physics-defying stunts, cars flipping with one kick, heroes knocking enemies into the stratosphere, yet audiences accepted them in the masala context because they were executed with conviction and modern editing. The flamboyance of South action, which often carries a comic-book logic, taught Bollywood that “unrealistic” can be fun if done with style.
At the same time, South industries learned from Bollywood’s scale and budgets, creating a healthy two-way influence. Today, the line between a “Bollywood action film” and a “South action film” is blurring as pan-Indian releases become common. A film like RRR, while made in Telugu, was loved by Hindi audiences too, indicating that everyone is sharing the same evolving taste for high-quality action.
Changing Audience Expectations and the Road Ahead
Behind all these changes in filmmaking is the ultimate catalyst: the audience. The modern audience in India, especially the younger generation, simply expects more bang for their buck. They are less forgiving of shoddy effects or lazy choreography because they’ve seen better, whether in Hollywood films, South Indian films, or even high-end video games and web series. Social media and global pop culture trends mean a cool action scene from anywhere in the world becomes reference material. Viewers now notice the little things, “Did the hero reload his gun? Does that fight move actually make sense or was it clearly fake?”, and they discuss these details online. This pushes filmmakers to do their homework and not insult the intelligence of a more savvy public.
Realism, intensity, and originality have become buzzwords in discussions about action films. That doesn’t mean every film has to be realistic (clearly not, given how successful wild rides like Pathaan or Simmba are), but it means that even the escapist films need to have internally consistent logic and high production quality. You can’t get away with the rubber knives and ketchup blood of 80s films anymore; even a leave-your-brain-at-home action flick today will try to show muzzle flashes and recoil when guns fire, and choreograph fighters with some technique, because the audience notices authenticity. Conversely, in serious films based on true events or grim narratives, audiences demand a level of respect and realism. A film about commandos or a biopic of a soldier can no longer have the hero performing absurd stunts, that would break trust. So, filmmakers have adapted, giving raw and believable action in those contexts.
It’s also worth noting that audiences now have a variety of tastes within action. Some love the “no logic, only magic” type of mass action scenes for the sheer thrill, as long as the sequence is creative and well-executed, they’ll suspend disbelief and enjoy the hero blowing up a car with a punch. Others prefer the gritty and realistic; and many appreciate both ends of the spectrum as long as the movies are honest about what they are. Bollywood has expanded its action sub-genres to cater to this diversity. We have the patriotic military films (Uri, Shershaah), the stylish spy sagas (War, Pathaan), the martial arts revenge dramas (Baaghi, Commando), the superhero/sci-fi ventures (Krrish, Ra.One, which brought in their own style of action VFX), and even experimental action-comedies (Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota with its retro flair). This diversification is a big change from the past when nearly all action scenes looked the same across films. Now, context matters and action is tailored to fit the story’s tone.
Another interesting development is the focus on stunt choreography as a respected art. Back in the day, fight directors (action directors) were unsung, and their work was often campy due to limitations. Today, top action directors are getting recognition. Indian names like Sham Kaushal, Parvez Shaikh, and Anbu-Arivu (the latter a duo from Tamil cinema) are known for elevating fight scenes. They and others often mention how they storyboard stunts extensively, rehearse for weeks, and coordinate with cinematographers and VFX teams to get the desired output. The industry has begun to acknowledge that crafting a great action scene is as important as a great song or great dialogue. Fans too dissect fight scenes, a well-shot action set-piece can generate as much buzz as a hit song or trailer.
What does this mean for the future of Bollywood action? We’re likely to see even bigger collaborations (perhaps more Hollywood stars doing cameos in Indian films or vice versa, more international filming, etc.), and an ongoing one-upmanship in stunt creativity. With each major action release, audiences up their benchmark. For example, after seeing a film like RRR (where two heroes take on an entire army in an extravagantly choreographed sequence), the expectation for spectacle has risen. Bollywood’s upcoming projects like Fighter (2024) – which promises high-flying aerial action with jets – or the next installments of the spy universe will surely try to outdo previous efforts.
At the same time, there’s a recognition of not losing the emotional connect. Filmmakers often stress that no matter how slick the action is, it works best when the audience cares about the stakes. This was true in the old days (where the emotion was overt and melodramatic) and remains true now (even a realistic film like Shershaah made many viewers tear up amidst the gunfire, because they were invested in the characters). The ideal modern Bollywood action scene, therefore, is one that combines technical excellence, global style, and local heart.
In summary, Bollywood’s journey from the playful dishoom brawls of yore to the tactical, high-tech combat of today has been a story of learning and growth. It reflects India’s own engagement with the world, as the audience opened up to international media and as technology advanced, Hindi cinema shed some of its old skin and embraced new techniques. Yet, uniquely, it didn’t simply copy; it fused these influences with its own traditions. That’s why you still get a rousing background score and a heroic pose even in a military realism film, or a patriotic one-liner in a spy thriller just after a very Hollywood-like stunt, it’s the Bollywood stamp on the action genre.
As viewers, we now enjoy a rich spectrum: from heartfelt realistic fights that make us feel the pain, to bombastic showdowns that make us clap in delight. Bollywood action has truly evolved, and it continues to do so. The next time you watch a Hindi film fight scene, whether it’s a bare-knuckle duel in a dingy alley or an explosive set-piece on top of a skyscraper, you’ll know just how much has changed behind the scenes to make that moment thrilling. And if you listen closely amid the modern sound effects and Dolby booms, you might still hear a tiny echo of “dishoom”, a charming reminder of Bollywood’s action-packed legacy, now reborn for a new age.