On Friday the 13th, there’s an unusual love story and survival drama that’s on release. In Tu Yaa Main, the Hindi remake of Thai thriller The Pool, the main attraction is a crocodile. But, apart from the creature that’s the centrepiece, producer Aanand L Rai has also brought together a curious cast.
In the male lead is self-made ‘outsider’ Adarsh Gourav who established himself as a versatile actor in the international Netflix film The White Tiger (2021) on which Priyanka Chopra served as executive producer, in the Netflix film Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (2023) costarring Ananya Panday and Siddhant Chaturvedi and in the web series Guns & Gulaab (2023).
Cast opposite Adarsh is Sanjay Kapoor’s daughter Shanaya Kapoor who made her debut in last year’s Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan. With Boney and Anil Kapoor as her chachas, and Arjun Kapoor, Sonam, Jahnvi and Khushi as cousins, Shanaya is what’s famously called a ‘nepo kid’, born and raised in a film family.
When Aanand Rai asked individualistic director Bejoy Nambiar to step in and helm Tu Yaa Main, Adarsh was already on board as the hero from suburban Mumbai. Bejoy signed on as director after he got a narration from writers Abhishek Bandekar and Himanshu Sharma who had Indianised The Pool and written the screenplay.
“I was happy that Adarsh was already in the project,” recalled Bejoy who walked into Tu Yaa Main towards the end of 2024. As for Shanaya, she had been practically finalised by the producers after they were impressed with her audition.
But Bejoy had his reservations about her. “One had heard about nepo kids,” he chuckled, “so I wanted to audition her again and asked for a second test.”
Somewhere at the back of his mind was the troubling “nepo kid” image. Bejoy had worked with Shanaya’s father in the Madhuri Dixit-led web show The Fame Game. “Sanjay Kapoor was a dream to work with,” said Bejoy. “So I thought to myself that if Shanaya was troublesome, I’d call him.”
When Bejoy asked Shanaya for a second test, she had one request. In her earlier audition, she had only prepared for the scenes that were narrated to her. “If I can read the whole script this time, it’ll help me prepare better,” she said to Bejoy.
She read it, she prepped and she was ready to audition for the part once again. What she delivered, took Bejoy by surprise.
“What Shanaya brought to the table this time bowled me over,” exclaimed the director who was more than relieved. “What she did in that test went beyond what was in the writing.” In fact, Shanaya brought so much more to the role of a social media influencer that the director and the writing team, “Actually went back and rewrote some parts to bring in the extra that she had brought to the role.”
But Bejoy did make a call to her father Sanjay Kapoor. “He thought I was calling to complain,” laughed Bejoy. “And he was relieved that I was calling to tell him how much honesty his daughter brought to her work.”
By the way, Bejoy also had initial concerns about working with a producer like Aanand Rai who is himself an established director with hits like Tanu Weds Manu and Raanjhanaa behind him. “I had my insecurities,” admitted Bejoy. “But Aanand Rai and his team were such phenomenal collaborators that the sheer democracy was empowering.”
After the encounter with the “nepo kid” and the experience with Aanand Rai’s production house, it remains to be seen if the audience also hands a happy ending to Bejoy this Friday.
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