Saif Ali Khan seems to have taken his advertising mantra a little too seriously and ended up making it really large with Agent Vinod. The film, according to industry insiders, is not just larger than life, but also longer than recent Hindi releases.
“At two hours, 30 minutes, the film is way longer than any of the recent releases, but Saif and director Sriram Raghavan are clear that there won’t be any negotiation on the running length,” says a senior crewmember. Some exhibitors were trying to convince Saif to crunch the length so that they could squeeze in more shows, but the actor-producer wouldn’t comply. And Sriram agrees. Says the director, “This kind of film requires extensive storytelling. Also, since the script is tight, I had to give in some breathers. Eventually, it’s not about how long or short your film is, it just shouldn’t seem long. Sometimes even a 90-minute film can be boring.”
Let’s hope the Agent has got it right.