Aanand L Rai: Was advised to consider bigger star for Tanu Weds Manu

Aanand L RaiAfter 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 adviceA 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 thats 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 wont 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 addedThe 2011 romantic comedy not only changed Kanganas career and cemented Madhavans position in Bollywood but it also helped Rais become a popular director in BollywoodIn retrospect his previous two attempts at direction dont have an Aanand L Rai feel to them and the director says that is because even he was searching for his voice back thenI was also searching for Aanand Rai I thought I was there to prove a point Then you learn with time that you dont have to prove a point to anybody As a maker you have to tell a story he said My initial attempts were purely Will I be accepted as a director May be thats why I failed There are failures which are the best teachersThe 46yearold director turned producer with Tanu Weds Manu under the banner Colour Yellow Productions which has backed movies like Nil Battey Sannata Happy Bhag JayegiHe is elated with how his last production Shubh Mangal Saavdhan was received by the audience The film will have its TV premiere on ampPictures on February 24 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 middleclass family is changing 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 its great Talk it out what is the big deal Rai addedCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever