Showing posts with label Siddharth Anand interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Siddharth Anand interview. Show all posts
With Pathaan, we intend to make it the biggest event film of India-Siddharth Anand
8:34 AM
Having completed Spain schedule of Pathaan, director says SRK-Deepika’s spy thriller mounted on lavish scale
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 29, 2022)
Director Siddharth Anand is a relieved man today. The director has finally wrapped up the Spain schedule of Pathaan, his espionage thriller starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. The foreign schedule was in the pipeline since last October, but had to be deferred due to several unforeseen reasons — from Aryan Khan’s drugs-on-cruise case to the third wave of the pandemic.
“The Spain schedule has turned out beyond what we had envisaged. This film commands a massive scale, and I’m happy with what we have achieved. The fact that we could finally pull off such a schedule without any hassle is a huge feat for the production,” says the director.
As reported by mid-day last week (When in Spain, do the flamenco, March 25), the team shot a song in Mallorca, followed by a dance number in Jerez de la Frontera. Considering that the 2023 release marks Khan’s return to the big screen after over four years, the director is leaving no stone unturned to make it worth the wait.
“We intend to make it the biggest event film of India. I strive to make every film a bigger experience for the audience than my last film. It’s my personal ambition to make Pathaan on par with any film made in the world,” he adds.
We will hopefully start War sequel by next year-Siddharth Anand
8:14 AM
While he is setting the stage for Hrithik-Deepika’s Fighter that will roll in early 2022, director confirms initial discussions on War’s second edition have begun
Upala KBR (MID-DAY; October 2, 2021)
War (2019) is the kind of tentpole movie that Bollywood needs more of — larger-than-life, visually stunning and shouldered by two stars adept at action. It’s not surprising then that fans are eager to see a sequel to the Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff-starrer. As the blockbuster completes two years today, director Siddharth Anand confirms that a second instalment is in the pipeline. “We knew that if War works, we will make a sequel. [Aditya Chopra, producer] and I have shared some thoughts on how to take it forward. We will hopefully start it by next year. War 2 is a big responsibility, and we need normalcy [to be restored] before we can dive into it,” he says.
You can’t blame fans for speculating about the possible cast of the sequel. The director is unwilling to reveal whether Roshan and Shroff will reprise their roles of RAW agents. “We have not yet thought whether Hrithik and Tiger will come back, or whether we’ll rope in a different cast.”
But his admiration for the duo is evident as he says, “Hrithik has such a sharp mind that he will give you the correct perspective on the script, even if he doesn’t do the film. Tiger is tremendously focused.” Recent reports also suggested that South superstar Prabhas is in talks to play the villain. “I am curious [to know whether he is on board], but I don’t know whom to ask about it,” teases Anand.
Before he can develop the next chapter of War, Anand has two biggies on his plate — Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathan, and Fighter that is touted as India’s first aerial action franchise. That he has managed a casting coup with Fighter — it sees Roshan sharing screen space with Deepika Padukone for the first time — is not lost on him. “The script, Hrithik and I played a crucial role in Deepika saying yes to the project. It is a director’s dream to have these two actors in a film. She will be seen doing action too. The film is centred on the Indian Air Force, and we have tried to stay as authentic as possible.”
The director plans to roll the project in India early next year.
Now, I am like a kid in a candy store-Siddharth Anand
7:56 AM
Prashant Singh (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 27, 2019)
Remember the beach sequence — featuring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif — from Bang Bang (2014) wherein they are ensconced in a beach house, but still get attacked, leading to an elaborate action sequence? Until that point, director Siddharth Anand hadn’t shot “any action scenes in his life”. “I had done only romantic films that didn’t even feature a slap. So, I didn’t even know how to shoot a slap,” he says with a laugh.
But in an interesting turn of events, an out-and-out action flick has landed Siddharth his biggest blockbuster ever, War (that has made close to ₹320 crore in India). “From that point to now, when War has set a benchmark of sorts, the journey has been great. Now, I am so much at home with action. I am glad I shifted genres five years ago. Generally, a filmmaker doesn’t get his/her biggest hit so late [in career] so I am grateful that I have seen a success like War in my lifetime. I know I have to handle it cautiously now,” says the director, who has rom-coms such as Salaam Namaste (2005), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) and Anjaana Anjaani (2010), among others, to his credit.
“If you see the arc of my journey, I feel I somewhere plateaued with Anjaana Anjaani, but then challenged myself with Bang Bang. And now with War, I have finally found my voice and calling,” says Siddharth, while readily admitting that he “loves making romantic films because they are about real emotions”. He says: “Post-Bang Bang I have not been able to think of a romantic story. The day I find that, or if somebody approaches me with it, I will straightaway get into it. But right now, how much I am enjoying myself in action is unbelievable. Now, I am like a kid in a candy store. I have the world in front of me, but I need to be so careful about what I choose to do and how I choose to do it,” says Siddharth, as he readies to complete five years as a filmmaker next year.
In the next five years, Siddharth hopes to do five films. “Fingers crossed (laughs). I want to be more efficient in putting things together. I hope I have one release every year but I never know what plans God has for me. I have certain plans though,” says the director, adding he has “waited a long time for this (such a big hit) to happen.” Now, he hopes to keep giving successful films. “These (his upcoming work) are big and expensive films and they can only be made with big stars. And these stars will only work with you if you are successful,” he concludes.
War 2 and Rambo in the pipeline!
As War hits the bullseye at the box office, Siddharth confirms that a franchise is on the cards. “Yes, War 2 will happen but it’s too early to talk about it as it’s not on the agenda right now,” says the director, who is most likely to pick up the Rambo remake as his next. “I am busy with Rambo and another idea. But at the moment, Rambo is what I am working on. I am due to start that next year, but there is another idea — another action film — that I am working on. So, you never know,” he says.
The camaraderie is a facade. Nobody is a friend-Siddharth Anand
8:45 AM
The director of the top worldwide grosser of the year, Siddharth Anand comes from a family steeped in Bollywood, and yet, he says, every Friday is a fresh start
Aastha Atray Banan (MID-DAY; November 3, 2019)
In 20 days, War entered the 300-crore club, a first for a Hrithik Roshan-starrer. It's only fair that its director Siddharth Anand is excited when he meets us at a hole-in-the-wall Khar cafe. His tongue is firmly in cheek despite nursing his wife who is down with dengue and being cared for in a hospital that's a stone's throw from the eatery. "It was expected that I became an actor. And now that I see the lifestyle stars lead, I am wondering why I didn't!"
Anand comes from a family that's long associated with Hindi cinema. His father Bittu Anand was the producer of Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Shahenshah. His grandfather Inder Raj Anand, wrote over 100 films including the cult romance, Ek Duje Ke Liye, introducing Kamal Hasan to Bollywood. Uncle Tinnu Anand is best remembered as the character actor who lit up films like Ghajini. The other uncle, Mukul Anand, directed Khuda Gawah and Agneepath, both seminal Bachchan films. "My earliest memories were of going to the Shahenshah set in Ooty and watching a hot air balloon with Mr Bachchan and Meenakshi Seshadri take off."
The sight must have left a mark because instead of pursuing chartered accountancy as planned, Anand took up a job as an assistant director. The line to acquire a form to enrol for a CA degree, was too long. "I am not saying that it was a short cut to being director. In fact, being an assistant to the director is like being a slave. You run errands, and are made to do random tasks."
After co-writing Hum Tum, in 2005, at 25, he directed his first movie, Salaam Namaste, a take on modern-day relationships starring Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan. Since then he has made Anjaana Anjaani, Bachna Ae Haseeno and Bang Bang. Ask him what growing up around films taught him, and he says, "My father taught me that you have no friends in the business. Everything changes every Friday."
But social media is all about Bollywood camaraderie. "It's all a facade," he rebutts. "Nobody is a friend here. You can't take anything for granted. Today, you have success, tomorrow, you'll have to start working at it all over again."
Right now though, he is in the "today", on top of the food chain. Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff-starrer War, an action thriller about an Indian soldier assigned to eliminate his former mentor who has gone rogue, was a film he hoped the audience would think "nice". "But it's done so well! I think I was fearless with my first few movies, until Anjaana Anjaani. Now, I have a certain fear, a responsibility. There are people who have invested in the movie, stars who are putting in their hard work... you need for it to be a success." What about creative freedom that comes with being fearless? "I think the pressure has made me better at my work."
Interestingly, one of this year's top grossers, was in conversation recently, because of the chemistry Roshan and Shroff's characters share. Anand laughs good naturedly, "I expected that. They [reports] have said I have made the movie as if I am in love with Hrithik. But then, we do look at him like that, both Tiger and I. You are in awe. It's like being around someone you admire, like a young director might admire another. Even in the movie, their characters, Khalid and Kabir, share a mutual admiration. So, it's all good."
He speaks like a successful man, who knows how to take everything in his stride. But because he must work to stay relevant, Anand is already writing the screenplay for Rambo, a film based on the Sylvester Stallone original, starring Shroff again. He says, "There is a germ of a story goading me to write, and I am trying to stretch that into a screenplay."
Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff never competed with each other-Siddharth Anand
8:10 AM
War director Siddharth Anand says mutual respect between his lead actors made it easier to mount a two-hero film, War
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; September 12, 2019)
"Mounting the film was the least of my challenges. The script is always the [cause of] worry. I am a sharp critic of my own work and I constantly assess what can be improved," starts off Siddharth Anand. All eyes are on the director who has managed a casting coup of sorts with his next, War, which features two of the country's biggest action heroes — Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff.Not too long ago, director Rohit Shetty had mentioned that stars today are wary of doing two-hero films. In an industry that has witnessed more than its fair share of an ego tussle between stars, it is refreshing to see Roshan and Shroff stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the October 2 release.
"To rope in one actor for your movie is difficult, to get two is impossible. That's why directors don't write two-hero films. Actors don't agree to do them owing to insecurities over screen space," reveals Anand, counting himself blessed to have managed the feat.
"Both, Hrithik and Tiger, are at the peak of their careers. They were never competing with each other. The minute I would say cut, they went back to being normal. If they were two actors in the same age bracket vying for the same spot, there might have been issues. Fortunately, they are a generation apart. So, they have different target audiences."
Having previously worked with Roshan in Bang Bang (2014), the filmmaker couldn't envision anyone but the actor for this project. "We were waiting to do the right film together," he says, before adding that the superstar encouraged him to cast Shroff for the parallel lead. "Hrithik and I could see only Tiger in this part. Thankfully, he said yes to the film in a day. Had Tiger not agreed, we would have had tremendous difficulty finding a perfect match for the part. They are both passionate about their films."
I didn't hear anything from Hrithik Roshan for a month-and-a-half after surgery-Siddharth Anand
8:48 AM
Priya Gupta (BOMBAY TIMES; October 12, 2014)
Siddharth Anand, 36,
believes that nothing in the industry matters like success. If you are
successful, you can be rude and get away, but if you are nice but
down, no one will give you work. He has the ability to make his
actresses his buddies and actors, his brothers, but also has the ability
to make enemies in a flash. In an hour-long conversation over a cup of
coffee, just ahead of the release of Bang Bang, he spoke to Bombay Times
about his stubborn nature, his actual better half and wife Mamta and
the prediction that took the daylights out of him. Excerpts:
How did you become a filmmaker?
My grandfather Inder Raj Anand was a prolific film writer, who wrote 125 films, including many for Mr Raj Kapoor and V Shantaram's films. Naturally, his children got into films. My uncle Tinnu Anand who is an actor-director and my father, Bittu Anand, was a producer. So I was always inclined to films. My father made two films with his childhood friend Rishi Kapoor, both of which made losses, post which he made Shahenshah in 1988. That was the point he left the film industry and got into the garment business. I was exactly 10 then. My father did not have an education to fall back on and thus, always encouraged me to study. It was instilled in me to become a C.A. So after class XII, I went to the C.A. institute to pick a form to apply and saw a really long line outside for the form. I took a bus back home and in the evening I went to my college NM, where there was a really short queue for taking up the CS course (Company Secretary). It was also convenient as it was an evening course and I took that up. I did that for a year and half. At that time, Rahul Rawail uncle who was again my father's best friend from childhood, was starting a film Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi. I was aimless and did not know what to do. At that time, when you were aimless, you would become an assistant director. You needed no qualification for it and you just needed to learn to be a slave with zero self-respect. At that time, I had all these qualities. I was in a space where I was ready to do anything. I was really bored in the CS course anyway. I was one of the only two assistants Rahul uncle took on his London schedule, so I did everything and got exposed to how films are made. I didn't know how to give a clap. The first time I gave a clap, it was a nightmare as I had to give it in front of Rishi Kapoor. I gave it too loudly right in front of his nose and he fired me. I was even more nervous giving it the next day. It's an art to give a clap as you need to know how far you need to be from the camera and how far from the actor, how soft or loud it should it be. Rahul uncle is responsible for whatever I am doing today. While I was working with him, I was close to Shanoo Sharma, who at that time was family friends with Adi Chopra and would often go to play cricket in his house. So I would tell her, 'Wow, you are going to Adi's. Talk to him about me na.' So one day, she calls me to say, 'Come, Adi wants to meet you.' I gave a formal interview to Adi, who then hired me as an assistant and I started assisting and rose to become an executive producer on Hum Tum. I thought I had arrived, given my own family background on production. I had made the film in budget for which I got a bonus of Rs 1 lakh. So, I went to tell him how I was so happy being a producer and to my shock he says, 'You will be a director.' I was very disappointed as director was a very hardworking job and I was very cushy being an EP . I had also met my wife Mamta by now, who had also been an assistant and we got married. She propelled me to take up direction and I directed my first film Salaam Namaste that became a hit. I then made Ta Ra Rum Pum, Bachana Ae Haseeno and then Anjaana Anjani and now, Bang Bang.
Talk about your relationship with your father?
My father died of a heart attack in 2001. I went back to work after his chautha. I was not close to him, though I am extremely close to my mother, who always protected me. I was always a rebel and stubborn to the point of being badtameez. Obviously, he did not like that, and today, since I have a son, I realise how he would have felt. My father and I had no relationship. His relationship with me was a reflection of his relationship with his father. He hugely respected his father, was scared of him and would never raise his voice in front of him and he had the same expectations from me. I didn't respect him the way I should have or in the way he would have liked me to.
Who do you love the most in the world?
My wife Mamta, who is rightfully my better half. It's not that we don't have fights, but that is the time you realise how much she matters to me in my life. My sense of being comes from her. I only seek her approval in whatever I do, more than anybody else's. If she doesn't like something, it puts me in a tizzy. I would be nothing without her. She controls me, shows me the right side of things and teaches me to become a people's person. I truly feel low only when I have fought with my wife. That way, I am a needy person and I always make up. I say sorry even if it is not my fault. I really depend on her and she is my anchor. No one will like me when they meet me for the first time, as I will come across as arrogant and snobbish. And I am all that. I have self-respect bordering on arrogance. I crave for understanding as I am a complicated person. I was like that right from the time I was an assistant. I would not take crap shit from anyone, whoever you may be. When I was shooting with Rahul uncle in Scotland, he once fired me for something. I left the hotel and walked away. Rishi Kapoor called up my father and panicked. Rahul uncle sent men to look for me. I could not handle someone talking to me badly. Suniel Shetty found me and got me to his room very kindly, talked me down and told me, 'You have to respect your director and be there for him.' He calmed me down and that is the work my wife does today. She is really grounded and the opposite of me. I am really hot-tempered and create a bad name for myself wherever I go. So she has to go and repair it after that. The strange thing is when we fight, she gets really upset and I tell her, 'Man, you tell everybody that he is not like that. Don't take him for every word he speaks and you yourself hold me responsible for every word of mine.' She is balanced. I do things on an impulse. I make both, friends and enemies, in a flash. And I don't care about repairing that and need to work on it.
What is Hrithik Roshan like?
Hrithik is a very strong person. His strength comes from positivity, as he sees the positive in the most adverse situations. He is warm and respectful to everybody. I have seen other actors, who just don't treat normal people as people, whereas I have seen Hrithik getting up, offering seats, wishing hello and goodbye, wishing good morning and goodnight to the crew.
Did you ever feel insecure about Bang Bang getting shelved at any point, given all that Hrithik was going through personally?
This film started against all odds. Hrithik Roshan is approached for every film that is written I would assume. And that the fact that he chose my film over everyone else's film and that too, after I had delivered a flop film Anjaana Anjaani. I wasn't sure that he would do my film, as he had not signed anything after Krrish 3. Everyone was shocked in disbelief, hoping that it would not be made. That started playing on my mind. We did the first schedule in Thailand and Greece. And then he went into his brain surgery. I was in Prague waiting for him, but had to come back, obviously, as he could not shoot. I came back three days after his surgery. The last message I got from him said how his brain surgery would propel Bang Bang into being a film even bigger and better than before, and he invited me home for lunch with my wife. That was really motivating. Next day, I came back, but didn't hear from him. His mobile was switched off and I didn't hear anything from him for a month-and-a-half. I knew nothing that was happening. By nature, I will never push and will not make a call. Nobody had access to him other than me. After a month-and-a-half, he surfaced and said, 'Forgive me for the absence from your life. Just give me 10-12 more days and we will get back full throttle.' He got into post production and promotions of Krrish 3 and we had decided to shoot immediately post that. We were to start shooting in 8 days, when we had to pull the set down as he wanted to go to US to recover. And that is the first time I had a doubt. I didn't tell him that, though. I knew that he is too strong a person, but that's when the crew lost motivation and the word started coming out that he may not do the film and I heard that he was starting Shuddhi. I knew now that something was wrong and it is at this time that I read the predictions made about Hrithik in one of the newspapers. It said, 'He will back out of a project that he is currently doing. And the next film that he will start will be in November 2015.' That was a low. I still didn't confront it. I am both sensitive and egoistic. He then called me one day and told me, 'I am not doing Shuddhi any more.' I was shocked. And suddenly that newspaper prediction made sense to me that it was correct and that he would back out of Shuddhi and not Bang Bang, as I assumed and that he would start his next film in November 2014 and he is starting Mohenjo-daro. I told Hrithik about this incident just recently, a few days before the release.
How did you become a filmmaker?
My grandfather Inder Raj Anand was a prolific film writer, who wrote 125 films, including many for Mr Raj Kapoor and V Shantaram's films. Naturally, his children got into films. My uncle Tinnu Anand who is an actor-director and my father, Bittu Anand, was a producer. So I was always inclined to films. My father made two films with his childhood friend Rishi Kapoor, both of which made losses, post which he made Shahenshah in 1988. That was the point he left the film industry and got into the garment business. I was exactly 10 then. My father did not have an education to fall back on and thus, always encouraged me to study. It was instilled in me to become a C.A. So after class XII, I went to the C.A. institute to pick a form to apply and saw a really long line outside for the form. I took a bus back home and in the evening I went to my college NM, where there was a really short queue for taking up the CS course (Company Secretary). It was also convenient as it was an evening course and I took that up. I did that for a year and half. At that time, Rahul Rawail uncle who was again my father's best friend from childhood, was starting a film Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi. I was aimless and did not know what to do. At that time, when you were aimless, you would become an assistant director. You needed no qualification for it and you just needed to learn to be a slave with zero self-respect. At that time, I had all these qualities. I was in a space where I was ready to do anything. I was really bored in the CS course anyway. I was one of the only two assistants Rahul uncle took on his London schedule, so I did everything and got exposed to how films are made. I didn't know how to give a clap. The first time I gave a clap, it was a nightmare as I had to give it in front of Rishi Kapoor. I gave it too loudly right in front of his nose and he fired me. I was even more nervous giving it the next day. It's an art to give a clap as you need to know how far you need to be from the camera and how far from the actor, how soft or loud it should it be. Rahul uncle is responsible for whatever I am doing today. While I was working with him, I was close to Shanoo Sharma, who at that time was family friends with Adi Chopra and would often go to play cricket in his house. So I would tell her, 'Wow, you are going to Adi's. Talk to him about me na.' So one day, she calls me to say, 'Come, Adi wants to meet you.' I gave a formal interview to Adi, who then hired me as an assistant and I started assisting and rose to become an executive producer on Hum Tum. I thought I had arrived, given my own family background on production. I had made the film in budget for which I got a bonus of Rs 1 lakh. So, I went to tell him how I was so happy being a producer and to my shock he says, 'You will be a director.' I was very disappointed as director was a very hardworking job and I was very cushy being an EP . I had also met my wife Mamta by now, who had also been an assistant and we got married. She propelled me to take up direction and I directed my first film Salaam Namaste that became a hit. I then made Ta Ra Rum Pum, Bachana Ae Haseeno and then Anjaana Anjani and now, Bang Bang.
Talk about your relationship with your father?
My father died of a heart attack in 2001. I went back to work after his chautha. I was not close to him, though I am extremely close to my mother, who always protected me. I was always a rebel and stubborn to the point of being badtameez. Obviously, he did not like that, and today, since I have a son, I realise how he would have felt. My father and I had no relationship. His relationship with me was a reflection of his relationship with his father. He hugely respected his father, was scared of him and would never raise his voice in front of him and he had the same expectations from me. I didn't respect him the way I should have or in the way he would have liked me to.
Who do you love the most in the world?
My wife Mamta, who is rightfully my better half. It's not that we don't have fights, but that is the time you realise how much she matters to me in my life. My sense of being comes from her. I only seek her approval in whatever I do, more than anybody else's. If she doesn't like something, it puts me in a tizzy. I would be nothing without her. She controls me, shows me the right side of things and teaches me to become a people's person. I truly feel low only when I have fought with my wife. That way, I am a needy person and I always make up. I say sorry even if it is not my fault. I really depend on her and she is my anchor. No one will like me when they meet me for the first time, as I will come across as arrogant and snobbish. And I am all that. I have self-respect bordering on arrogance. I crave for understanding as I am a complicated person. I was like that right from the time I was an assistant. I would not take crap shit from anyone, whoever you may be. When I was shooting with Rahul uncle in Scotland, he once fired me for something. I left the hotel and walked away. Rishi Kapoor called up my father and panicked. Rahul uncle sent men to look for me. I could not handle someone talking to me badly. Suniel Shetty found me and got me to his room very kindly, talked me down and told me, 'You have to respect your director and be there for him.' He calmed me down and that is the work my wife does today. She is really grounded and the opposite of me. I am really hot-tempered and create a bad name for myself wherever I go. So she has to go and repair it after that. The strange thing is when we fight, she gets really upset and I tell her, 'Man, you tell everybody that he is not like that. Don't take him for every word he speaks and you yourself hold me responsible for every word of mine.' She is balanced. I do things on an impulse. I make both, friends and enemies, in a flash. And I don't care about repairing that and need to work on it.
What is Hrithik Roshan like?
Hrithik is a very strong person. His strength comes from positivity, as he sees the positive in the most adverse situations. He is warm and respectful to everybody. I have seen other actors, who just don't treat normal people as people, whereas I have seen Hrithik getting up, offering seats, wishing hello and goodbye, wishing good morning and goodnight to the crew.
Did you ever feel insecure about Bang Bang getting shelved at any point, given all that Hrithik was going through personally?
This film started against all odds. Hrithik Roshan is approached for every film that is written I would assume. And that the fact that he chose my film over everyone else's film and that too, after I had delivered a flop film Anjaana Anjaani. I wasn't sure that he would do my film, as he had not signed anything after Krrish 3. Everyone was shocked in disbelief, hoping that it would not be made. That started playing on my mind. We did the first schedule in Thailand and Greece. And then he went into his brain surgery. I was in Prague waiting for him, but had to come back, obviously, as he could not shoot. I came back three days after his surgery. The last message I got from him said how his brain surgery would propel Bang Bang into being a film even bigger and better than before, and he invited me home for lunch with my wife. That was really motivating. Next day, I came back, but didn't hear from him. His mobile was switched off and I didn't hear anything from him for a month-and-a-half. I knew nothing that was happening. By nature, I will never push and will not make a call. Nobody had access to him other than me. After a month-and-a-half, he surfaced and said, 'Forgive me for the absence from your life. Just give me 10-12 more days and we will get back full throttle.' He got into post production and promotions of Krrish 3 and we had decided to shoot immediately post that. We were to start shooting in 8 days, when we had to pull the set down as he wanted to go to US to recover. And that is the first time I had a doubt. I didn't tell him that, though. I knew that he is too strong a person, but that's when the crew lost motivation and the word started coming out that he may not do the film and I heard that he was starting Shuddhi. I knew now that something was wrong and it is at this time that I read the predictions made about Hrithik in one of the newspapers. It said, 'He will back out of a project that he is currently doing. And the next film that he will start will be in November 2015.' That was a low. I still didn't confront it. I am both sensitive and egoistic. He then called me one day and told me, 'I am not doing Shuddhi any more.' I was shocked. And suddenly that newspaper prediction made sense to me that it was correct and that he would back out of Shuddhi and not Bang Bang, as I assumed and that he would start his next film in November 2014 and he is starting Mohenjo-daro. I told Hrithik about this incident just recently, a few days before the release.
Hrithik Roshan is still going through a lot. But he never let it show-Siddharth Anand
8:50 AM
An accident, a surgery and a separation, Bang Bang director Siddharth Anand talks about Hrithik Roshan's troubles.
Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 23, 2014)
How did the accident happen?
It was not an accident or Hrithik would have been hospitalised immediately. But we continued shooting, moving from Thailand to Greece. He had to be launched 30 metres into the air on a jet spray and land in water. We don't know if it was the impact of water which caused the injury. The doctors told him that it cannot be attributed to a specific cause. He himself told me that he had banged his head against a wall while shooting Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai. It could even have been something he had since birth but which got aggravated now.
Did you visit him while he was in the hospital?
I was not in India then. But he sent me a text: Don't worry, everything is going to be better than what it is now.
Shouldn't body doubles be used for dangerous stunts?
Isn't a duplicate's life equally important? I know many stuntmen who've died while working on a film. I'm pained by our pathetic infrastructure. In other countries, a chopper arrives in 10 minutes to fly the injured to a hospital but a life is not valued in India.
What was the mood like when Hrithik returned to the sets?
Most of the film was yet to be shot when he returned. We were so nervous we kept asking him if he was sure he wanted to go full-throttle. Any other actor would have asked for a double. But this man will do anything for a film. He has done jaw-dropping stunts. We've gone beyond Knight And Day. If the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz film had a sequel, it would try to match up to Bang Bang.
Was he distracted? His personal life too had run into stormy weather...
He has gone through a lot of pain, I'm sure he is still going through a lot. But he never let it show, he knew it would affect the team's morale. No actor has suffered as much while shooting for a film. Bang Bang is easily Hrithik's toughest film.
How did he come on board?
I bumped into him at Karan Johar's 40th birthday party and told him I had something for him. He said "Call me tomorrow." That's a common line you hear, so I did not call him. I messaged him after eight months. The next minute, his number was flashing on my phone.
Tongues are wagging that your buddy Bipasha Basu formalised her relationship with Harman Baweja.
I'm in the US but if this is true, I'm happy for them.
Back to Hrithik. Rumours were rife that Katrina Kaif and he got close on your set...
During Anjaana Anjaani, Ranbir (Kapoor) was linked with Priyanka (Chopra), during Salaam Namaste Saif (Ali Khan) with Preity Zinta. Such stories are usual for my stars.
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