Anil
Kapoor's
political
thriller
Nayak
co-starring
Amrish
Puri
and
Rani
Mukerji
clocks
20
years
today
(September
7,
2021).
Upon
its
release
back
then,
the
film
wasn't
a
commercial
success
at
the
box
office
but
over
the
years,
its
has
achieved
cult
status
owing
to
its
take
on
corruption
and
a
pro-active
Chief
Minister.
As
Nayak
completes
20
years
today,
Anil
took
to
his
Instagram
page
to
pen
a
heartfelt
post
that
read,
"20
years
ago
I
was
the
Reel
life
CM
for
a
day
and
the
rest
is
history!
A
lot
of
people
had
their
views
about
me
doing
#Nayak
but
I
knew
I
had
to
do
this
film
&
believed
in
its
message!
And
now
here
we
are
celebrating
#20yearsofNayak!!"
Nayak
marked
Shankar's
directorial
debut
in
Bollywood.
The
film
was
a
remake
of
his
own
Tamil
film
Mudhalvan
which
starred
Arjun
Sarja
and
Manisha
Koirala
in
leading
roles.
Interestingly,
Anil
Kapoor
was
not
even
the
first
choice
for
this
movie.
The
actor
had
to
pursue
Shankar
to
cast
after
Aamir
Khan
and
Shah
Rukh
Khan
turned
down
Nayak.
Similarly,
Rani
Mukerji
came
on
board
after
things
didn't
work
out
with
Manisha
Koirala,
Karisma
Kapoor,
Raveena
Tandon,
Preity
Zinta
and
Tabu.
One
of
the
iconic
scenes
in
Nayak
has
a
mud-smeared
Anil
Kapoor
fighting
goons
at
a
car
junkyard.
Interestingly,
the
actor
was
initially
suppose
to
go
shirtless
in
this
scene.
However
he
was
uncomfortable
with
the
idea
and
even
refused
to
shave
off
his
body
hair
for
the
shot.
That's
when
Shankar
decided
to
cover
him
in
mud.
Nayak
revolves
around
a
common
man
who
accepts
a
challenge
by
the
Chief
Minister
of
Maharashtra
to
run
the
state
for
one
day
and
makes
such
a
success
of
it,
only
to
get
embroiled
in
political
intrigue.