Today, September 9, 2025, marks a huge milestone for one of Bollywood’s biggest filmmakers, Siddharth Anand. It’s been exactly 20 years since his directorial debut, the much-loved romantic comedy Salaam Namaste, was released. From fresh rom-coms to record-breaking action spectacles, Anand has had an incredible journey. On this special occasion, the director exclusively revealed the story of how he got his start, giving full credit to one man: Aditya Chopra.
In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Hungama, Anand, who is currently busy shooting abroad, shared that he never even saw himself as a director until the Yash Raj Films head pushed him into it.
The Push From Aditya Chopra
Before becoming a director, Siddharth Anand was working as an Executive Producer (EP), co-writer, and associate director on the 2004 film Hum Tum. He admitted that he had become quite happy in his role handling the production side of things.
“I was very comfortable being an executive producer,” Anand recalled. “But Adi was someone who said, ‘No. You are going to be a director. Go out there and write your film. Next, you’re going to direct’.” Anand emphasized that it was Aditya Chopra’s vision that launched his career. “He saw the director in me before I could see it. For that, I give full credit to him,” he stated.
An Incredible 20-Year Journey
Siddharth Anand expressed his immense gratitude, saying, “I’ll always be grateful to him for giving me that opportunity and allowing me to be who I am today.” After Salaam Namaste, he directed a series of popular light-hearted films like Ta Ra Rum Pum, Bachna Ae Haseeno, and Anjaana Anjaani.
In 2014, he completely reinvented himself as an action director with Bang Bang. He followed this up with massive blockbusters like War and the all-time record-breaker Pathaan. After the aerial action film Fighter, he is now working on his most ambitious project yet, King, starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
About Siddharth Anand
Siddharth Anand is one of India’s leading film directors, known for his large-scale action entertainers. He made his debut in 2005 with Salaam Namaste and initially directed several successful romantic comedies. He transitioned to the action genre with Bang Bang (2014) and has since directed some of the highest-grossing Indian films, including War (2019) and Pathaan (2023).
(Also read: Gadar 2 Duo To Reunite? Sunny Deol And Anil Sharma Discuss New Action Film Coal King; Gadar 3 Also In Pipeline )
Stay tuned with us for latest news, Hindi box office news, Hollywood news, OTT news, latest Bollywood news, and latest box office news.
Related