Anand L. Rai

Anand L. Rai Biography

Anand L. Rai is a successful film director of Bollywood, best known for the movies – Tanu weds Manu and Raanjhanaa, which were box office hits. He has also directed unsuccessful movies like Thoda Life Thoda Magic and Strangers. He has been associated with his elder brother cum film director Ravi Rai and has worked with him during 1990s for movies like Anjaane which had a delayed release in 2000. With Raanjhanaa in 2013, he successfully launched south Indian heart throb of Kolaveri fame – Dhanush.

Rai was born in Delhi in 1971. His family originally belonged to Sindh, which shifted to Delhi during India Partition in 1947. He completed an engineering degree in IT from Aurengabad. Though he started his career in IT field, very soon his interest shifted to film field and his elder brother Ravi Rai was already associated with Bollywood as a film director, though not successful. He was an associate director for his elder brother’s movie Anjaane, starring Raveena Tandon and Vivek Mushran. The movie remembered for its melodious songs was completed in 1993, but got released in 2000 only.

In 2007 he made his directorial debut through Strangers, based on 1951 Hitchcock film Strangers on a Train. The movie starred Kay Kay Menon and Jimmy Shergill in pivot roles. This flop was followed by another unsuccessful movie – Thoda pyar thoda magic which casted the successful pair of Hum Tum, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. The movie also included an item song of Ameesha Patel. He returned back in a bang with the successful romantic comedy – Tanu weds Manu which starred Madhavan and Kangana Ranaut in lead roles. His biggest hit up-to-date is Raanjhanaa.

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Updated: August 20, 2014