Siddharth Anand

Siddharth Anand
Siddharth Anand
Occupations	Film director; screenwriter; producer;
Years active	2001–present
Spouse	Mamta Bhatia
Children	1
Parent	Bittu Anand (father);
Relatives	Tinnu Anand (uncle); Inder Raj Anand (grandfather);

Siddharth Raj Anand is an Indian filmmaker. He is the grandson of screenwriter Inder Raj Anand and is primarily known for his work with Yash Raj Films. He first became known for directing the successful romantic comedies Salaam Namaste (2005), Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007), Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008) and Anjaana Anjaani (2010). He then established himself as a leading action filmmaker with Bang Bang! (2014) and the YRF Spy Universe films: War (2019) and Pathaan (2023). These films rank among the highest-grossing Hindi films.^[2]

In 2021, Anand launched his own production company called Marflix. Its first release was the aerial action film Fighter (2024).

Early and personal life

Anand's father is Bittu Anand, the producer of the vigilante action film Shahenshah (1988). His paternal grandfather is writer Inder Raj Anand.^[3] He is married to Mamta Anand (née Bhatia) and has a son, Ranveer.^[4] Along with his wife, he owns and runs a production house called Marflix Pictures.^[5]

Career

Initial work (2001–2004)

After working as an assistant director on the comedy Kuch Khatti Kuch Meethi (2001) and the coming-of-age romantic comedy Mujhse Dosti Karoge! (2002), Anand began his film career as the screenplay co-writer, executive producer, and associate director for the romantic comedy Hum Tum (2004).

Directorial debut and rise to prominence with romantic comedies (2005–2010)

Anand made his directorial debut with Yash Raj Films' romantic comedy-drama Salaam Namaste (2005), starring Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta. The film tells the story of a cohabitating couple and their subsequent struggle with an unexpected pregnancy. It received positive reviews from critics upon release with major praise directed towards its bold storyline. That year, the film ranked as the third highest-grossing Indian film domestically as well as the highest-grossing Indian film in overseas markets.

Anand then wrote and directed the sports family drama Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007), again starring Khan alongside Rani Mukerji. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics but emerged as a moderate commercial success. It ranked as the tenth highest-grossing Indian film of the year.

Around this time, he also directed the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008), starring Ranbir Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics and emerged as a commercial success at the box-office. It ranked as the eighth-highest grossing Indian film of the year.

His fourth directorial venture was the romantic comedy-drama Anjaana Anjaani (2010), again starring Kapoor opposite Priyanka Chopra. The film received positive reviews for its novel concept, soundtrack and cast performances and emerged as a commercial success at the box-office. It ranked as the ninth highest-grossing Indian film of the year.

Foray into action films (2014–present)

In 2014, Anand forayed into directing action films. His first venture was the action comedy Bang Bang (2014), starring Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif. The film was a remake of the American film Knight and Day (2010) and opened to mixed reviews from critics but later emerged as a major commercial success at the box-office. It ranked as the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of the year and was Anand's first film to enter the coveted Rs. 100 Crore (1,000,000,000) Club.

He followed Bang Bang with the action film War (2019), again starring Roshan alongside Tiger Shroff and Vaani Kapoor. The film is part of the YRF Spy Universe and was the first film to be shot in the Arctic Circle.^[6] It received positive reviews upon release and emerged as the highest-grossing Indian film of the year and the 17th highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

Continuing in the YRF Spy Universe, Anand's seventh film was the action thriller Pathaan (2023), starring Shah Rukh Khan, Padukone and John Abraham. This film marked Khan's comeback after a four-year hiatus.^[7] The film received positive reviews from critics upon release.

Anand is the only director with two films in the YRF Spy Universe. With Pathaan, Anand set multiples records including:

all-time highest grossing Bollywood film net domestically
second worldwide highest grossing Bollywood film (excluding China)^[8]
highest grossing Hindi film domestically
highest grossing YRF's Spy Universe film
fastest Hindi movie to gross 500+ crore^[9]
highest single-day collection for any Indian film^[10]

Anand is the only Hindi film director with five 50+ crore net box office days and five 100+ crore worldwide gross box office days. Pathaan established a Bollywood opening day record of over 57 crores net domestically and over 106 crores worldwide. The film earned over 543 crores net domestically and over 1058 Crores worldwide and thus respectively entered the 500 Crore Club in India/Bollywood and the 1000 Crore Club Worldwide.^[10]^[11]

Anand then started his own production house, Marflix, and directed its debut film Fighter (2024), an aerial action film, starring Padukone, Roshan and Anil Kapoor. The film serves as the first in a planned aerial action franchise.^[12]^[13] He is set to take his production venture ahead with King, which will reportedly feature Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan and Suhana Khan and be directed by Sujoy Ghosh.^[14]

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes	Producers
2004	Hum Tum	No	Yes	Executive	Co-wrote screenplay with Kunal Kohli	Yash Raj Films
2005	Salaam Namaste	Yes	Yes	No
2007	Ta Ra Rum Pum	Yes	Story	No
2008	Bachna Ae Haseeno	Yes	No	No
2010	Anjaana Anjaani	Yes	Yes	No	Co-wrote screenplay with Advaita Kala^[15]	Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment
2014	Bang Bang!	Yes	Story Adaptation	No	Official remake of Knight and Day^[16]	Fox Star Studios
2019	War	Yes	Yes	No	Co-wrote story with Aditya Chopra. Co-wrote screenplay with Shridhar Raghavan. Third installment in the YRF Spy Universe.^[17]	Yash Raj Films
2023	Pathaan	Yes	Story	No	Fourth installment in the YRF Spy Universe^[18]	Yash Raj Films
2024	Fighter	Yes	Story	Yes	Co-wrote story with Ramon Chibb. First installment in the Fighter franchise.^[19]	Viacom18 Studios Marflix Pictures
—	King	No	Yes	Yes	Directed by Sujoy Ghosh	Red Chillies Entertainment Marflix Pictures
—	The Jewel Thief - The Red Sun Chapter	No	No	Yes	Directed by Robbie Grewal	Netflix Marflix Pictures
—	Calling Karan	No	No	Yes	Directed by Milan Luthria	Marflix Pictures