Anurag Kashyap steps in to complete Hrithik Roshan's Super 30: Not a Bollywood first

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Joginder Tuteja

It is official -- Anurag Kashyap has stepped in to complete Hrithik Roshan's next, Super 30. This is, after the original director Vikas Bahl’s association with the project ended.

The makers have clarified that neither Bahl nor Kashyap would be credited as the director and that the latter had consented to step in primarily to ensure editing and post production of the film completes smoothly.

The film's principle shoot had reportedly completed before Bahl moved out. Kashyap stepping in would ensure that all is eventually well for the biopic on mathematician Anand Kumar.

This is however not the first instance of a director completing work of the original director.

The most recent example is that of Kangana Ranaut picking up from director Krish in order to complete Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi. However, both filmmakers have different versions of the tale.

According to Ranaut, she had to step in because neither her producers nor she was happy with what they saw as the film’s rough cut. Hence, she had to reshoot a major part of the film. On the other hand, Krish maintains that most of the narrative that unfolds on screen is basically what was shot by him and there were just a few new or updated scenes.

Nonetheless, both Ranaut and Krish received joint credits as the film’s directors, though her name is placed first. For the audience though, the film worked, as evident from the box office.

A not-so-known fall out was also reportedly between producer Ekta Kapoor and director Anurag Basu during the making of Kucch To Hai. The slasher thriller was started by Basu but it was director Anil V Kumar who later took over the Tusshar Kapoor and Esha Deol starrer. The film however failed at the box office.

There was a major controversy many years ago when director Shekhar Kapoor chose to walk out of the violent romantic action drama Dushmani. The film with Sunny Deol, Jackie Shroff and Manisha Koirala in main roles was a big budget affair and was proceeding smoothly before things went kaput.

Though more than half of the film was already shot, producer Bunty Soorma had to eventually step in to take it to conclusion. Further delay in the production did not help the cause and the film ultimately flopped at the box office.

When Soorma decided to make his full-fledged debut as a director with Bobby Deol, Ameesha Patel and Arjun Rampal starrer Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai, the story repeated itself. He died during the film’s making. Vikram Bhatt stepped in to complete it so that it could make its way into theatres. However, Bhatt did not take credit for the film. The film saw a delayed release and did not do well at the all the box office.

There have been a couple of other unfortunate cases of different filmmakers stepping in to complete a film due to the untimely demise of the original director. Vinod Mehra had shot for a major part of his pet project Gurudev with Rishi Kapoor, Anil Kapoor and Sridevi. However, after his death, veteran filmmaker Raj N Sippy took over the film for completion.

On the other hand, Shamim Desai was supposed to debut as a director with Emraan Hashmi starrer Raftaar 24X7. After his death, his wife Priyanka Desai took over the mantle and film was renamed Rush. Neither Gurudev nor Rush were successful.

However, there have been stories too. Aamir Khan stepped in for Amol Gupte to take Taare Zameen Par (2007) to closure. Apparently, Khan had a different thoughts about how he wanted the film to shape up. Gupte had however maintained that he was the one who actually shot the film from start to end and what audiences saw on screen hardly had any scenes directed by Khan.

While the matters have been laid to rest since, the fact remains that ultimately audiences saw a brilliant film which captivated everyone's attention and has gained a classic status ever since.

There are some different kind of stories as well in different kind of circumstances.

Legend has it that when Manmohan Desai's name was attached to a film even though he had not directed it, just in order to better the commercial prospects. The director at the helm of affairs was popular writer Prayag Raj.

The actor and film in question was none other than Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Coolie!

(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)