Siddharth Anand
Siddharth Anand (born 16 March 1983) is an Indian film writer, producer and director who works in Hindi cinema. He started his career as an assistant director on the 2001 film "Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi" and then wrote "Hum Tum" (2004) before making his directorial debut with the romantic comedy "Salaam Namaste" (2005), the highest earning Indian film of the year abroad, in which he also had a special appearance. After directing "Ta Ra Rum Pum" (2007), "Bachna Ae Haseeno" (2008) and "Anjaana Anjaani" (2010), he gained recognition helming the action films "Bang Bang!" (2014) and "War" (2019 ), both of which rank among the highest-grossing Indian films. His work in the latter resulted in him being nominated for a Filmfare Award for Best Director. Career. Initial days (2001–2010). After assisting Rahul Rawail on his 2001 directorial "Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi", Anand co-wrote the 2004 hit "Hum Tum" where he also worked as executive producer and associate director. His first directorial was the 2005 romantic comedy "Salaam Namaste" featuring Saif Ali Khan & Preity Zinta, which was the year's biggest hit internationally. Anand's next two ventures "Ta Ra Rum Pum" and "Bachna Ae Haseeno" were also  commercially successful. These three films were part of his contract with Yash Raj Films. This was followed by his first directorial produced by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, the Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra 2010 starrer "Anjaana Anjaani" which was an hit at the box office. Comeback and establishment (2014–present). Anand came back to direction in 2014 after a gap of 4 years with Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif starrer "Bang Bang!", an official adaptation of a Hollywood film "Knight and Day", that was highly successful at the box office and became Anand's first film to enter 100 Crore Club . In 2017, Anand announced that he will direct and co-produce (with Yash Raj Films) the remakes of the five films of Sylvester Stallone's Hollywood film franchise "Rambo", that will star Tiger Shroff but it was getting delayed again & again due to major multiple reasons. And after three years, in 2020, he stepped down from direction whose command was finally given to director Rohit Dhawan, who is also his friend, but still, he is co-producer. The first reason for delaying "Rambo" remake was Anand's fifth film with Yash Raj Films, the 2019 action thriller "War" starring Roshan  and Shroff, which banged at the box office and surpassed many records upon its release, entering the 300 Crore Club and establishing Anand as a major film director. Since November 2020, Anand is the director for his currently shot film "Pathaan", produced again by YRF and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in prominent characters. The film was officially announced on 2 March 2022 and is set to hit the theatres on 25 January 2023. In January 2021, Anand started his own production house named Marflix, a banner dedicated to action filmmaking in India. On 10 January  2021, Roshan and Padukone announced that they will be working in Anand's directorial "Fighter" under the banner Marflix. "Fighter" is also Anand and his wife Mamta's first project as producers, which is to be released on 28 September 2023. After fighter Anand will begin to work on the sequel of "War", also starring Roshan. Personal life. Anand's father, Bittu, is a film producer who is known for producing Amitabh Bachchan-starrer action drama "Shahenshah". His uncle, Tinnu Anand, is a prominent Hindi film actor who has appeared in films such as "Anjaam", "Dabangg" (2010), "Hasee Toh Phasee  (2014) and Saaho" (2019). Anand is also the grandson of screenwriter Inder Raj Anand, a writer of more than 120 films including "Safar" and "Ek Duuje Ke Liye". Anand is married to Mamta Bhatia and they have a son named Ranveer (RV), whose name was inspired by Saif Ali Khan's character in "Ta Ra Rum Pum".