How Dinesh Vijan became a hit machine

Filmmakers tell Rajiv Vijayakar about the incredible box office success of the producer who made ‘Stree 2’, ‘Chhavva’, and other blockbusters

A historical biopic, a whodunit, a horror comedy, a folk legend, a romance between man and robot, a biopic of India’s youngest war hero and a retelling of a real-life multiple murder story. Dinesh Vijan’s cinematic journey has been truly extraordinary.

In 13 calendar months, Vijan has made two Rs 500 crore-plus grossers (‘Stree 2’, ‘Chhaava’). The biggest hit of 2024 in ROI is ‘Munjya’. ‘Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya’ and ‘Sky Force’ have been successful and ‘Murder Mubarak’ and ‘Sector 36’ have been critically-appreciated OTT releases. His next? The comedy ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’.

The budget and scale ranges from modest (‘Munjya’) to whopping (‘Chhava’). 

Vijan’s cast ranges from super-star Akshay Kumar to newcomers (Veer Pahariya / ‘Sky Force’, Abhay Verma / ‘Munjya’) and an ensemble in ‘Murder Mubarak’.

Four films of his recent six films have at least one chartbuster each. The directors include either first-timers or those Vijan himself discovered over 35 productions in 20 years — Homi Adajania, Amar Kaushik, Laxman Utekar and Aditya Sarpotdar. ‘Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video’, ‘Teri Baton Mein…’ and ‘Sky Force’ are helmed by new director duos. 

Sriram Raghavan, among the few established directors Vijan has worked with (‘Agent Vinod’, ‘Badlapur’ and the forthcoming ‘Ikkis’) says, “Dinesh took on a risky subject like ‘Badlapur’ with full conviction. He suggested I take Varun Dhawan when I had a senior star in mind. Again, when I wanted Varun to play a 21-year-old in ‘Ikkis’, he suggested Agastya Nanda instead. I had full freedom in shaping and making the film. Dinesh is hands-on during the scripting and music (he made me add three songs in ‘Badlapur’) but never comes for the shoots. His conviction in theatrical content, that others feel will work only on OTT, is terrific.”

Distributor-exhibitor Raj Bansal agrees, “What works for Dinesh is his sheer belief in what he is making, and his sense of music, budgets and casting.”

Protégé Amar Kaushik (director, ‘Stree’ franchise, ‘Bala’, ‘Bhediya’) says, “The incredible record Dinoo (as Dinesh is fondly called) has is simply thanks to his honesty towards his craft and his complete trust in his filmmakers, story and script. The cast and everything else come later. His biggest strength is that he backs us as if he is directing the film. He will not waste a penny on what is not useful. Stars are welcome but not a compulsion.”

He adds, “We have to look at how Dinoo started off to understand his self-belief — with ‘Being Cyrus’. Budgets are controlled. Real and remote locations are preferred over expensive sets. Films are wrapped up in 35 to 40 days. The cast and crew works for more than twelve hours. It’s tough to do a Maddock film.”

Vijan’s films score high in music, and Kaushik stresses, “I sometimes think he makes films only because of music. He loves music — it is meditation for him. He enjoys music sittings in that way.” Music composer Jigar (of Sachin-Jigar duo) agrees. “He is like family. The best thing about him is that he does not want to follow trends and is never in a hurry to make a song,” he adds. 

What explains Vijan’s uncanny knack for introducing new directorial talent? “I think only a jeweller can reveal how he evaluates a gem,” says Kaushik. Vijan’s biggest flop has been ‘Raabta’ that he himself directed. How did that happen? “A director needs a good producer with an outside perspective. When he was being both, that did not happen,” Kaushik adds. “And Dinoo admits that the film was his best learning.”

Kriti Sanon, who has done eight films (including a cameo) with Vijan as producer, looks on him as a brother who supported her all along. When she won her National Award for ‘Mimi’, she stated , “Dinoo, I can’t thank you enough for believing in me and my potential, for standing by me always and for giving me a film I’ll treasure all my life.”

The other memorable films from this ‘Vijan-ary’ filmmaker include ‘Being Cyrus’, ‘Love Aaj Kal’, ‘Cocktail’, ‘Go Goa Gone’, ‘Finding Fanny’, ‘Hindi Medium’, ‘Luka Chhupi’ and ‘Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga. ‘Ikkis’, ‘Thama’, ‘Sarvgun Sampann’, ‘Tehran’, ‘Shaktishaali’, ‘Param Sundari’ and ‘Mahavtar’ among others are in the pipeline. And each announcement is great news for the trade.

Vision does matter.