Having broken many a box-office record with 2023’s Pathaan, director Siddharth Anand delivered Bollywood’s first blockbuster of 2024 with the Hrithik Roshan-led action thriller Fighter. But Anand’s career can be traced back to the 2000s and we’ve got you covered with a definitive ranking of all his movies along with a handy guide to stream them.
Salaam Namaste and Bachna Ae Haseeno: Anand’s Rom-Com Origins
The grandson of screenwriter Inder Raj Anand (who wrote some of the best Raj Kapoor movies like Aag and Sangam), Anand was also drawn to the industry having made his writing debut with the Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji-led comedy Hum Tum. He would join forces with Khan once again for his own directorial debut, the hit rom-com Salaam Namaste which offered a memorable performance by Preity Zinta.
You can watch Khan and Anand collaborating again in Ta Ra Rum Pum, a family drama focusing on the ups and downs of a racecard driver. The movie reunited Khan with Mukerji and notably featured an animated musical sequence produced by Walt Disney Studios.
With the decade coming to an end, Anand found his next muse in then-rising star Ranbir Kapoor, directing Kapoor’s sophomore film Bachna Ae Haseeno, a romantic comedy-drama following a casanova and the three women he falls for. While Bachna Ae Haseeno performed decently, Anand’s follow-up Anjaana Anjaani failed to make a mark even if it makes for an interesting watch. Starring Kapoor alongside a pre-Hollywood Priyanka Chopra, the drama marked a tonal shift for Anand as he focused more on the emotionally daunting aspects of modern relationships.
Bang Bang and the Spy Universe: Anand’s rise as an Action Man
In what marked an amusing genre shift for a mainstream Bollywood director, Anand tried his hand at high-octane action with Bang Bang. Featuring Hrithik Roshan as a man on the run and Katrina Kaif as his spontaneous love interest, this Hindi remake of Tom Cruise’s Knight and Day lived up to its title with adrenaline-fueled combat, sharply edited chase sequences, and an over-the-top scope with shooting locations from all across the globe. Bang Bang’s narrative didn’t fare the best among critics but its action was enough to raise eyebrows.
Anand’s fascination with the genre only increased in the years to come, as is evident from War. An Indian spin on espionage tropes established by franchises like Jason Bourne and Mission: Impossible, War pitted Hrithik Roshan against Tiger Shroff with both action stars indulging in some of the finest hand-to-hand combat in their career. War was eventually incorporated in Yash Raj Films’ money-minting Spy Universe.
With the aviation military thriller Fighter, Anand aims to start another franchise in the same vein as the pilot movie benchmark Top Gun. Anand shows no signs of stopping as one of the country’s prominent action genre voices as he will also helm the ambitious Spy Universe crossover Tiger vs. Pathaan. Quite a lot of “bang bang” for a man who just started with romances.
Why is Pathaan Siddharth Anand’s best movie?
Anand's biggest career hit was his sophomore Spy Universe project, Pathaan. Marking industry megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s comeback after several years, Pathaan emerged as an instant crowd-puller for theatres in India as well as overseas territories. Often venerated as the king of romance, Khan got to prove his heroic charm as an action star too even if he was already in his 50s in Pathaan. Despite a somewhat formulaic action plot, the movie was only improved further with supporting performers like Deepika Padukone who plays a Pakistani spy and John Abraham as a rogue Indian soldier.
Where can you stream Siddharth Anand’s filmography?
Prime Video has most of Anand’s movies while some can be found on ZEE5 and Jio Cinema
