"Anubhav Sinha Lauds Shah Rukh Khan's Star Power, Rejects Ra.One Sequel Plans: Reveals To Journalist Faridoon Shahryar"

Anubhav Sinha is a rare filmmaker who successfully switched genres from commercial entertainers to socially-relevant and thought-provoking films. Starting his career with music videos, he made commercial musicals like Tum Bin (2001), action entertainers like Dus (2005) and Cash (2007) and the VFX-heavy film, Ra.One (2011). In 2018, he unleashed his 2.0 avatar as he made films such as Mulk (2018), Article 15 (2019), Thappad (2020), Anek (2022) and Bheed (2023). Anubhav Sinha spoke about it and a lot more with renowned journalist Faridoon Shahryar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as part of the ‘Jashn-e-Tehzeeb’ celebration during Sir Syed Day. The memorable event took place on Sunday, October 15.

Anubhav Sinha explained, “For me, it is not as dramatic. But the pursuit has changed. The man hasn’t. ‘Dus Bahane’ (the popular title track of Dus) was intended to be a super-hit song. When I was making Dus, I was trying a big, hit film. When I was making Mulk, my heart was feeling out for something. Hence, that was a different pursuit. I won’t say that one is better than the other. It’s a part of my journey.”

Further talking about the need to make social films, he reasoned, “I got influenced by what was going around in my country. I became more socially aware, conscious and responsible. I was angry. I still am and I felt I needed to react.”

The conversation veered towards Ra.One, starring Shah Rukh Khan. Anubhav praised the superstar as he said, “It was such a privilege and honour working with him. He is the most hard-working man I know. He and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series. These two men are obsessed about work.”

He’s also glad that Ra.One is finally getting its due. It’s common to see its VFX especially being talked about on social media. On this, Anubhav Sinha said, “I think it should have been lauded for its achievements. It’s happening now though I don’t care anymore. But I’d like to see more appreciation for the things that it achieved.”

When a listener from the audience asked if it was ahead of its time, Anubhav replied, “I don’t think anything like that exists. But it is strange that I see Ra.One trending for days. It barely received appreciation back then.”

This is the age of sequels and would Anubhav Sinha have liked to make Ra.One – 2 with Shah Rukh Khan? Anubhav stated, “You know, you can give your right hand to Shah Rukh. But this is not the time for the sequel. He’s in a different league. I feel so proud of him.”

When Faridoon Shahryar asked him about the process of collaboration, the filmmaker elaborated, “Collaboration is another name for filmmaking. I have the veto as a director. I have a vision for the film and I hire a lyricist, costume designer, production designer etc. If the production person, for instance, doesn’t get the vision right, I won’t get the output that I desire.”

To explain his point, he gave an example, “The character of the maid played by Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in Thappad was originally going to be a Bihari. I was looking at the auditions. Suddenly, I found this actor who doesn’t know how to speak Bihari. But she did a fabulous job. And she was Haryanvi. I asked the casting person to translate my dialogue into Haryanvi and audition her in Haryanvi. This is how I tweaked the script a bit. In short, I changed the way I had written the part

completely. And look at her performance!”

The conversation on Sir Syed Day is incomplete without mentioning the founder of AMU (Aligarh Muslim University). Anubhav Sinha proudly said, “Sir Syed knew that all the answers lie in one word – education! The more I have lived after graduating, I have realized that AMU continues to give me more and more. It’s still giving to me.”

He raised laughs as he said, “For the first 3 years, I felt like mera admission canteen mein hua hai! I used to get ready and leave for the hostel. Uss waqt nahane ka koi concept nahin tha! The moment we would enter the college gate, I would automatically get drawn to the canteen!”

Faridoon Shahryar raised laughs as he talked about the director, who was his senior at AMU, “The juniors in Aligarh have the advantage that the seniors will take care of you, no matter what. It’s a beautiful tradition.” He regaled audiences with several couplets that kept the interest going. To quote one, “Kitni maasom si tamanna hai; Naam apna teri zubaan se sunu.” Each and every time he mouthed a couplet, the audience couldn’t stop clapping and appreciating.

The guests at the event also couldn’t stop gushing about Anubhav Sinha. Mr Syed Ali Rizvi, President and Founder of REsolv Education and Training Programs, exulted, “There was not a single dull moment thanks to Faridoon Shahryar’s questions and Anubhav Sinha’s replies. We all had a good time.”

Dr Arshad Siddiqui, President and CEO of Paraza Pharma, said, “Anubhav Sinha not just made thought-provoking remarks, he also infused humour. A Sunday well-spent!”

The event ended with Anubhav Sinha being honoured with a lifetime achievement for his contribution to arts, movies and culture.