Tanu Weds Manu Director Aanand L Rai Reveals He Was Advised To Take A Bigger Star Than Madhavan!
Aanand L Rai revealed he was advised to cast a bigger star than Madhavan in Tanu Weds Manu and was also advised to make Manu's character a little bit macho.
After
two
failures,
his
turnaround
as
a
filmmaker
happened
with
"Tanu
Weds
Manu" but
Aanand
L
Rai
was
initially
told
to
rope
in
a
bigger
star
to
grab
more
eyeballs.
He
made
his
directional
debut
with
"Strangers"
in
2007
and
followed
it
up
with
"Thodi
Life
Thoda
Magic"
the
next
year
but
both
the
films
failed
at
the
box
office.
Rai
says
when
he
was
working
on
"Tanu
Weds
Manu",
which
featured
Kangana
Ranaut
and
R
Madhavan,
he
was
advised
to
make
the
character
of
Manu
more
"macho"
to
fit
in
a
bigger
star.
The
director
is
happy
that
he
did
not
consider
the
advice.
"A
big
producer
told
me
if
I
change
the
storyline
a
bit
and
make
Manu
a
little
macho,
he
can
get
me
a
bigger
star.
I
said,
'But
that's
not
the
story
I
am
looking
at!'
After
those
two
failures
behind
me,
it
was
a
great
temptation
to
get
a
bigger
star," Rai
told
PTI.
"But
there
was
a
little
bit
of
confidence
in
my
story
and
myself.
I
thought
if
I
change
Manu,
then
the
story
won't
be
the
one
which
I
want
to
narrate.
If
it
is
not
that
story,
I
will
be
doing
the
same
mistake.
My
story
was
asking
for
the
right
cast
and
luckily
that
paid
off,"
he
added.
Tanu
Weds
Manu
The
2011
romantic
comedy
not
only
changed
Kangana's
career
and
cemented
Madhavan's
position
in
Bollywood
but
it
also
helped
Rai's
become
a
popular
director
in
Bollywood.
In
retrospect,
his
previous
two
attempts
at
direction
don't
have
an
‘Aanand
L
Rai
feel'
to
them
and
the
director
says
that
is
because
even
he
was
searching
for
his
voice
back
then."
Proving
A
Point
"I
was
also
searching
for
Aanand
Rai.
(I
thought)
I
was
there
to
prove
a
point.
Then
you
learn
with
time
that
you
don't
have
to
prove
a
point
to
anybody.
As
a
maker
you
have
to
tell
a
story," he
said.
Success
Vs
Failure
"My
initial
attempts
were
purely
‘Will
I
be
accepted
as
a
director?'
May
be
that's
why
I
failed.
There
are
failures
which
are
the
best
teachers." The
46-year-old
director
turned
producer
with
"Tanu
Weds
Manu"
under
the
banner
‘Colour
Yellow
Productions'
which
has
backed
movies
like
"Nil
Battey
Sannata",
"Happy
Bhag
Jayegi"."
On
Television
"He
is
elated
with
how
his
last
production
"Shubh
Mangal
Saavdhan" was
received
by
the
audience.
The
film
will
have
its
TV
premiere
on
&
Pictures
on
February
24."
Family
Man
"Directed
by
R
S
Prasanna,
the
movie
featured
Ayushmann
Khurrana
and
Bhumi
Pednekar
in
lead
roles
and
chronicled
the
story
of
a
man
suffering
from
erectile
dysfunction.
"As
a
family
man
of
the
Indian
society,
I
felt
it
was
the
right
time
to
change
the
gear
and
understand
how
a
middle-class
family
is
changing."
Thought
Process
"I
can
show
that
only
through
films.
I
want
my
films
to
contribute
to
a
certain
thought
process.
If
I
can
take
the
bedroom
talks
between
two
generations
or
a
husband
and
wife
and
bring
it
to
the
drawing
room,
it's
great.
Talk
it
out,
what
is
the
big
deal!"
Rai
added.