Why, after 38 years-gap, did 'showman' Pahlajj Nihalani work again with mega-star Mithun Chakaborty in family entertainer  ‘Anari is Backk'  --- releasing this Friday by  Chaitanya Padukone

Veteran Bollywood ‘showman’ producer Pahlajj Nihalani’s ( and former Censor Board chief) seemed super-excited that his latest Hindi movie 'Anari is Backk' is generating tremendous excited expectations. Thanks to its awesome trailer, posters and awesome picturization of super-hit melodies composed by genius Ishwar Kumar! The movie is now finally releasing this Friday ( Nov 24^th).  The family entertainer movie ' Anari is Backk' which is directed by Munesh Rawat comprises a fantastic star-cast comprising handsome newcomer talented hero Nawab Khan (a terrific TikTok talent discovery ) opposite stunningly pretty Mishikka Chaurasia and supported by famous senior celeb-actors Mithun Chakraborty, Anita Raj and lucky-mascot Shakti Kapoor and many others.

Pahlaj Nihalani with Shakti Kapoor and Mishika Chourasia(1)

The frank-natured Pahlajj ( whom I know very well for more than 30 years)  shared that his latest movie ‘Anari Is Backk’ was cleared by the Censor Board (CBFC) with a ‘U’ certificate. It may be recalled that the release of his previous Govinda-starrer movie ‘Rangeela Raja’ (2019) was stalled-delayed and entangled in legal-battle controversy as the Censor Board had recommended multiple cuts. Eventually, the same ‘Rangeela…’ movie was cleared by the (FCAT) Film Certification Appellate Tribunal with just ‘three cuts’.

Curiously enough Pahlaj considers the movie-title ‘Anari’ as very catchy and very lucky at the box-office.  Explains the  outspoken producer, “Already four hit Hindi movies with ‘Anari’ title have released in the past, right from Raj Kapoor-saab to Shashi Kapoor, and Venkatesh to Govinda ( Anari No:1) as the lead heroes. Since the name Anari perfectly matches my lead screen-character, I decided to keep this catchy title   . Must share with you that I cast newcomer Nawab Khan as ‘Anari’ without any formal auditions. But I  was impressed with Nawab’s facial innocence and macho body and  handsome look and now  his on-screen-chemistry with heroine Mishikka is being highly appreciated by everyone,” discloses the daring maverick producer Nihalani.

Interesting to note that Pahlaj who shares his birthday (January 10^th) with that of superstar Hrithik Roshan, also informed me that he has specially cast  legendary actor Mithun Chakraborty in his movie after a long gap of 38 years !  “ Recalled Pahlajj, “ Way back in 1985, as a producer  I had worked with Mithun-da in ‘Aandhi Toofan’. Now after almost 40 years, he is back in ‘Anari is Backk’ in a powerful yet positive role of a helpful secular Muslim character ‘Abu Jaan’ . With a heart-of-gold, Abu Jaan believes mainly in insaaniyat and not in religion. It’s a pleasure to work with versatile superstar Mithun-da,  who despite being quite senior is still active, fit, sincere, enthusiastic and very punctual on the sets. I was highly impressed with Mithun-da’s performance in Mani Ratnam's movie 'Guru' ( 2007).  Audiences will surely love his character and authentic screen performance,” insists ‘star-maker’ Nihalani who in the past has either launched giving debut-breaks or given a bigger-break to several top Bollywood stars including Govinda, Chunky Pandey, Neelam Kothari, Divya Bharti, Mishikka and many more..

Pahlaj Nihalani (right) with sr journalist Chaitanya Padukone