Director Anirudh Iyer on starting anew after ‘An Action Hero’

Following a gruelling promotional run for his directorial debut ldquoAn Action Herordquo filmmaker Anirudh Iyer says he will spend the remaining days of the year with his familyThe Mumbaiborn director received rich reviews for the actioncomedy thriller but the film fell short at the box office something he is trying to wrap his mind around Starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Jaideep Ahlawat ldquoAn Action Herordquo released on December 2A crackling exploration of the toxic relationship of film stars with media and fans the movie follows superstar Maanav Khurrana who after getting caught up in an accident while filming tries to save his skin from the murderous municipal councillor Bhoora Jaideep AhlawatldquoI am going to take 1520 days off because I havenrsquot been spending time with my family I am going to take it easy January 1 onwards Irsquoll come back and start working again Hopefully next time we will do well in both aspects mdash reviews and box officerdquo Iyer told PTI in an interviewThe filmmaker who worked as an assistant on Aanand L Rairsquos ldquoZerordquo and ldquoTanu Weds Manu Returnsrdquo said like his first movie his next will also have topical undertonesldquoI have a few stories I have been working on So I want to open my books and pick something that makes sense to be told at this timerdquo he addedAs a firsttime director Iyer said he was a bundle of nerves before ldquoAn Action Herordquo went on floorsAlso ReadAn Action Hero movie review Retraction of a heroldquoIt isnrsquot just the firsttime directors Even when you are making your 10th film I am sure the feeling that goes through your mind is that you have seen the whole film in your head 10 times even before you start shootingrdquo Once the shoot begins things start changing he saidldquoIt starts becoming real so the whole perception that you have in your mind it starts changing Itrsquos a scary feeling But after you get past that first threefour hours it starts to settle You become more at easerdquo the 33yearold recalledAs he waited in the wings shadowing Rai who also backed ldquoAn Action Herordquo via his Colour Yellow Productions Iyer always dreamt of the day he would direct his first filmldquoYou always dream that one day you will make your own film In that process you end up writing a lot of stories I had created a bank of stories that I wanted to tell when I eventually got thererdquo he saidldquoAn Action Herordquo was also one of the many tales scribbled in his notebookThe director said he revisited the story of the film with writer Neeraj Yadav during the pandemicinduced lockdown in 2020 at a time when the Hindi film fraternity was making headlines for all the wrong reasons From allegations of having links with the drug mafia to the insider versus outsider debate Bollywood was and continues to be a soft targetldquoI took out that story again sat with Neeraj and started writing It just seemed like the most topical relevant story to be told at that pointldquoThere are a few more stories that I have Some are timeless some can be told little later But this felt like it has to be said now That is why we picked this filmrdquo he addedWhile the film mocks the current state of TRPhungry TV news channels and hatefuelled social media it also shines a light on the insecurities tantrums and vulnerabilities of a film starAlso ReadAyushmann Khurranas ode to the original action hero of BollywoodIyer is as clear as day about what his job entails entertainment but he wonrsquot shy away from contributing to society through his workldquoWe are artists not activists Our job is to somehow through entertainment and fun show a little bit of a mirror tooldquoArt is supposed to be ahead of its time I feel if enough of us are ahead of their timehellip that is how society evolves over the yearshellip We can contribute to that aspectrdquo What ldquoAn Action Herordquo also details is the complicated equation between celebrities and fans and how they complete each otherThe director who started his film career making corporate films for brands like Cinthol and Godrej said he ensured he didnrsquot pick any sides while crafting the narrativeldquoI made sure there werenrsquot any biases I didnrsquot tell you what is right what is wrong I just wanted to tell you a story Now it is up to you as an intelligent audience to pick what you want from itldquoMy job was to tell you that this is the story you have fun If you want to take something from it please do otherwise just have fun so the idea was to always keep it like thatrdquo Working with Khurrana and Ahlawat was a ldquofantastic experiencerdquo added Iyer who said characters played by the duo represented the celebrity and public respectivelyWatchlsquoAlways Wanted To Do An Action Filmrsquo Ayushmann Khurrana On His Upcoming Film lsquoAn Action HerorsquoldquoThe chemistry was important because that is the relationship that the stars have with people It is a lovehate relationshiphellip Itrsquos so complicated weird We just wanted to crack exactly that I told them to have fun with itrdquo But the underwhelming box office response is something the filmmaker is still trying to process Mounted on a reported budget of Rs 40 crore ldquoAn Action Herordquo was able to raise Rs 16 crore at the ticket window While the word of mouth publicity around the movie was positive it was unable to generate higher collectionsEvery filmmaking experience regardless of success or failure comes with a lesson believes IyerldquoWhat has happened in this film is I am not able to find closure Everyone who has watched the film the reviews and the comments have been so generous and overwhelmingldquoBut unfortunately itrsquos not shown in the numbers and technically you would call it a flop Now I donrsquot understand what to take from it I donrsquot know how to improve this I am at a loss for closurerdquoThis 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