Michael Bay joins Bollywood film backed by Bhanushali Studios with AR Rahman on music

Michael Bay is coming to India. Not for a holiday, not for yoga, but to make things explode — creatively, at least. The Bad Boys and Transformers director is officially collaborating on an Indian film backed by Bhanushali Studios, with A.R. Rahman handling the music. Bhanushali Studios, Vinod Bhanushali’s relatively young outfit has been aggressively courting scale, global ambition, and the kind of names that look good on Cannes brochures. Easy mistake. Big difference.

Hollywood director Michael Bay joins an Indian film as a creative collaborator, not director

Michael isn’t directing the film. He’s a ‘creative collaborator’, which is industry speak for hands on, but not liable. The actual director is Anthony D’Souza, a Bollywood filmmaker comfortable with gloss, masculinity, and the occasional logic-defying action sequence. Now let’s talk about the real flex here: A.R. Rahman. While Michael brings the boom, Rahman brings the gravitas. The man is currently juggling global projects, collaborating with Hans Zimmer, and generally behaving like someone who doesn’t say yes unless the pitch is interesting or the canvas is huge. 

What does Michael Bay bring to an Indian film in 2025? Not subtlety, so expect muscular visuals, fetishistic camera moves, and action staged like a luxury car commercial on Red Bull. This is Bollywood flirting openly with maximalism — not the song-and-dance kind, but the IMAX-ready, export-friendly spectacle that streams well across continents.

Of course, none of this guarantees a good film. Michael’s global reputation is divisive. For every Bad Boys high, there’s a Transformers fatigue spiral. The risk is obvious: style swallowing story, spectacle drowning emotion. Indian cinema has already struggled with that balance enough. But Bollywood is saying it wants to play louder, bigger, and more confidently on a global stage. 

If it works, it could reset how international collaborations with Indian cinema are approached — not as token cameos, but as genuine creative collisions. If it doesn’t, well, at least the explosions will look expensive and Rahman’s background score will still slap. Either way, Bollywood just invited Michael Bay into the room. Nothing subtle has ever followed that decision.

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