What were your career options?
I was completing my Computer Engineering from Nanded, Maharashtra, but didn’t want to do a job. Storytelling was beckoning me. My brother Ravi Rai was already assisting Mahesh Bhatt saab in Mumbai. So, I assisted my brother in TV shows. Then, we started our own production house. Later, I shifted to films. If I had got the opportunity of telling good stories on TV, I wouldn’t have moved to directing films in the Raanjhanaa or Tanu Weds Manu space.
What was your bank balance?
I had an account with Bombay Mercantile Bank. My bank balance was ₹8,000-9,000. It never touched five figures.
Were you staying with your family?
We were a close-knit middle-class family. My dad, Leela Ram Raisinghani, was a teacher. He was fond of writing, painting and music. My mother, Sushila Raisinghani, was a Fine Arts teacher in a girls’ school in Delhi. I was named Anand because of the Hrishikesh Mukherji classic that was released in the year of my birth.
What was your frame of mind?
Happy and calm. I had no self doubt. My belief is: If I’m sleeping peacefully at night, I am a successful man.
What was your relationship status?
I was in love with a girl. Today, she’s my wife, Yogeeta Rai, and we have a daughter.
Your most prized possession?
My bicycle on which I used to go to college after picking up breakfast—two bananas and a half-litre milk packet with Rooh Afza.
Who were your idols?
My room was full of Sunil Gavaskar’s posters. But I have never seen him hit a century on TV. Once he would score 90, I would start praying at the mandir in my house.
From HT Brunch, November 12, 2022
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