Anil Kapoor celebrates 20 years of 'Nayak', remembers being 'reel life CM for a day'

Bollywood star Anil Kapoor on Tuesday marked 20 years of his political action-drama "Nayak" and the actor revealed that he did the film despite many people expressing their reservations about the project.

Directed by S Shankar, the film was an official remake of the filmmaker's 1999 Tamil hit "Mudhalvan", starring Arjun, Manisha Koirala and Raghuvaran.

"Nayak: The Real Hero" featured Kapoor as journalist Shivaji Rao Gaekwad who is challenged by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Balraj Chauhan (Amrish Puri) to take over his job for a day after the former exposes him during an interview.

Apart from Kapoor and Puri, the Hindi remake also starred Rani Mukerji, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever and Pooja Batra.

Posting a still from the film on Instagram, Kapoor wrote that he always believed in the message the movie was trying to give the audiences.

"20 years ago I was the Reel life CM for a day and the rest is history!

"A lot of people had their views about me doing #Nayak but I knew I had to do this film and believed in its message! And now here we are celebrating #20yearsofNayak," the 64-year-old actor wrote.

While the film wasn't a box office wonder, "Nayak" has attained cult status over the years and found more relevance, with memes from the movie frequently referenced on social media.

The movie is often remembered particularly for the scene in which Kapoor's Shivaji Rao Gaekwad courageously grills Puri's Balraj Chauhan during an interview.

A R Rahman's music score was also one of the highlights of the movie.

"Nayak" marked the Hindi directorial debut of Shankar, who earlier helmed Tamil films such as Kamal Haasan-starrer "Indian" and "Jeans", featuring Prashanth, Nassar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

In 2016, production house Eros International announced that the film would have a sequel, penned by “Baahubali” and “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” fame writer KV Vijayendra Prasad.

However, there is no clarity on the film's status.

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