Anil Kapoor celebrates 20 years of 'Nayak: The Real Hero'
Bollywood star Anil Kapoor on Tuesday marked 20 years of his political action-drama Nayak: The Real Hero and the actor revealed that he did the film despite many people expressing their reservations about the project. Directed by S Shankar, the film was an official remake of the filmmaker's 1999 Tamil hit Mudhalvan, starring Arjun, Manisha Koirala, and Raghuvaran.
He takes over as CM for a day in movie
Nayak: The Real Hero featured Kapoor as journalist Shivaji Rao Gaekwad who is challenged by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Balraj Chauhan (Amrish Puri) to take over his job for a day after the former exposes him during an interview. Apart from Kapoor and Puri, the Hindi remake also starred Rani Mukerji, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, and Pooja Batra.
I knew I had to do this film: Kapoor
He posted a still from the film on Instagram. Kapoor wrote, "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 and believed in its message! And now here we are celebrating #20yearsofNayak."
Here is what Kapoor posted on Instagram
'Nayak' has attained cult status over the years
While the film wasn't a box office wonder, Nayak has attained cult status over the years and found more relevance, with memes from the movie frequently referenced on social media. The movie is often remembered particularly for the scene in which Kapoor's role as Shivaji Rao Gaekwad courageously grills Balraj Chauhan (Puri) during an interview.
'Nayak' marked Hindi directorial debut of Shankar
AR Rahman's music score was also one of the highlights of the movie. Nayak marked the Hindi directorial debut of Shankar, who earlier helmed Tamil films such as Kamal Haasan-starrer Indian and Jeans, featuring Prashanth, Nassar, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
