Tanu Weds Manu
has won a spot in the cult classics of Bollywood. In an exclusive chat with ETimes, producer
Shailesh R Singh
speaks about the iconic film and reveals how no one wanted to invest in the story. He also shared that director
Anand L Rai
wanted to cast Konkana Sen Sharma in the lead role and it was he who suggested Kangana’s name.
On producing Tanu Weds Manu
Aanand L Rai has been my friend since my television days.
He made Strangers which did not run at the Box Office. I produced his next film, Tanu Weds Manu. When I produced Dil Kabaddi, Anay Goswami was the DOP. Aanand was trying to make Tanu Weds Manu for one year but no producer was interested in it. Anay asked me to listen to the story of Tanu Weds Manu. I was not interested initially because Dil Kabaddi was going on and another film with Irrfan and Akshaye Khanna was supposed to go on floors. But it was not working out because of dates and all. But Anay kept insisting on me meeting Aanand once. I told him that I didn’t want to make a film like that.
Finally, reluctantly, I met Aanand. Aanand asked me to listen to the story for 20-25 minutes. Himanshu Sharma (writer) narrated the story to me. I liked the story but I was reluctant to produce it. I told them that I’d help them set up the film, not produce it. I tried getting producers on board but everyone told me that they had heard the story already and none of them was interested in producing it. They didn’t understand the story set in the heartland. They couldn’t identify with the characters.
On getting Kangana Ranaut to play the lead
I met Aanand after 2-3 months. He had already signed R. Madhavan and had Konkona Sen Sharma in mind at that time. I told Aanand, “Konkona is a brilliant actor. I have just done Dil Kabaddi with her. But I don’t think she’s the one to play Tanu. Meet Kangana once.”
Kangana had met me before this. She watched Dil Kabaddi and called me saying she liked the film and would like to work with me. At that time, Kangana used to reach out to makers she wanted to work with.
Kangana had just started shooting for Once Upon A Time In Mumbai. I told her manager to make her meet Aanand. She heard the story and liked it and wanted to do the film. By that time, many actresses had turned down the film. Kangana was never interested in knowing who was the film’s hero. She had that attitude even back then. Other actresses refused to do the film because of the hero. Some asked to change the hero and then they would do the film. When Kangana said yes, we started the film.
On shoot delays
Mumbai Mantra was involved in the film but they backed out when we reached Lucknow for the shooting. We came back to Mumbai after shooting for 17 days because we didn’t have any more money. The film was stalled for four months. We edited the 70-minute film and showed it to almost everyone in the city. At that time, Vinod Bachchan also demanded his money back. Somehow, we convinced someone to fund the film.
We went back to shoot in Punjab. After 4-5 days Kangana met with a deadly accident. The shooting had to be stopped and the entire unit came back to Mumbai. The doctors said that Kangana wouldn’t be able to work for six months. But hats off to Kangana, she was ready to shoot in one month. Her leg had a bandage on. So, we went back to shoot and managed to complete it. But there was no buyer.
I liked the story so much and had great faith in it. I used to always tell Aanand, “Complete the film anyhow, and then we will show it to the world.” We edited the film. I had gone to Viacom 18 to pitch another film. When I was leaving, Vikram Malhotra asked me about Tanu Weds Manu, “What happened to that film?” I told him that the film was ready and he asked me to show the film to them. Vikram’s entire team came to watch the film and they loved it. That was Vikram’s first project at Viacom 18.
The film would have been made on a budget of 8.5-9 crores. But because of delays, it went up to 11.5 crores. The film earned the business of 40 crores. Kangana had disowned the film earlier. But after watching it after the edit, she said, “I would do anything for this film.” The film has gone through its ups and downs.
On facing roadblocks
Kangana and I had a huge fight during the edit of Tanu Weds Manu. Once Upon A Time in Mumbai became a huge hit so she wanted me to give the film to Ekta Kapoor. I had earlier shown the film to Ekta but she didn’t understand it because it was without music and all. Kangana asked me, “Who do you think you are, Yash Chopra?” In the heat of the moment, I also said, “I’ll show the film to a dog but not to Ekta.” Then she stopped talking to me until she saw the film. I never showed the film to Ekta.
I didn’t want people who didn’t respect the film earlier to suddenly show up and own the film. The film had gone to Balaji at every stage, script, and 20-day shoot edit, then Aanand and I went and begged to give us 2.5-3 crores to complete the film. But they felt that it was a useless film. But once the film’s trailer was out, everyone wanted it.
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