The meteoric rise of Aanand, the producer

Aanand L. Rai, who is directing directing Shah Rukh Khan in Zero, is confident of bringing a new twist to the superstar’s career. “This will be a Shah Rukh Khan the audiences haven’t seen yet,” he says confidently.

And well, the director-producer has reason for this confidence. The films that he produced in the past couple of years have all turned into sleeper hits with Mukkabaaz being the latest one to join the group. After a disastrous start, Anurag Kashyap’s film has finally picked up pace at the box office. The story of a small town boxer’s love and life is said to do “another Newton” at the box office.

Indeed, movie critics and trade experts believe the Rs 3 crore movie will do at least Rs 20 crore worth of business.

Anand started his career as producer with another out-of-the-box, small budget movie Nil Battey Sannatta in 2016, that also did good business at the box office. But question Aanand about his success and he modestly shrugs it off. “I guess, somewhere, the filmmaker’s neeyat, his intention is bound to make an impression on the audience. I sincerely believe that if a filmmaker does his job well, he will be rewarded with success. As a director, when I tried something different within with commercial framework in Tanu Weds Manu and Raanjhana, I was warned against taking a risk by signing Madhavan and Dhanush in the lead roles — big names in the South, but more importantly, fabulous actors. To me, it didn’t matter which language they worked in. It was their talent, not their cultural identity, that carried them forward,” he shrugs.