Subhash K Jha (DNA; July 28, 2017)

Anees Bazmee first got to know Anil Kapoor when the former served as an assistant on Raj Kapoor’s Prem Rog. Recalls Anees fondly, “Anil was as enthusiastic, exuberant and endearing back then as he is now. He was a regular visitor on Raj saab’s sets — they were rishtedaars — and I think, we hit it off since then. Subsequently, I got to work with Anil in nine to 10 films, first as a writer and then as a director. I wrote Anil-starrers like Laadla and Deewana Mastana.”

The first brush
The first time that Anees got to direct Anil is another story. He remembers, “It was a film (Mr Azaad) where the director was unable to shoot for some time. I was asked to help out, and I gladly did. This was the first time I got to work as a director with Anil. I think he enjoyed the experience. He made me promise we’d work together whenever I turned a full-fledged director.”

Creative camaraderie
The moment came with No Entry in 2005. Says Anees, “Since we already knew each other well, working in No Entry was a party. Anil helped me a lot in getting familiar with all the actors in the film, who were all his friends. We decided we’d work together as frequently as possible. And we worked together in Welcome, No Problem, Welcome Back and now Mubarakan. In fact, it was Anil, who got me into Mubarakan. When he heard the idea for the plot, he said only Anees can direct something so zany.”

Playing the spirited sardar
Anees confesses Mubarakan was optimum fun to make. He tells an interesting story on how Anil’s character became a turban-wearing sardar in the movie. “We knew Anil was going to play a guy from Chandigarh, who is settled in London. So my writers and I decided, why not make Anil a sardar? And it was the right decision. Anil makes for an amazing sardar. He is innocent and charming, dil ka bahot saaf hai, just like Akshay Kumar’s sardar character in Singh Is Kiing.”