Aanand L Rai on failure of Shah Rukh Khan’s Zero: Not disappointed, this is the story I wanted to tell

Director Aanand L rai opened up on the failure of Zero that starred Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma in the lead roles.

Aanand L Rai’s ambitious Zero, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, may have crashed at the box office but the director is not disheartened with the response. Instead, the filmmaker views the experience as a lesson learnt.

Billed as one of the biggest films of 2018 in which SRK played a dwarf, the director said, “I won’t say I am disappointed. I will need to understand (what went wrong). This is the story I wanted to say and I made it. After making Ranjhaanaa and Tanu Weds Manu and the second one, this film (Zero) was due for me to make... To take a certain flight and I have not landed on it properly. It is a learning and it will help me grow as a director. I am not afraid to take risks and experiment,” Rai said.

Zero had Shah Rukh as a middle aged man looking for a bride, Katrina featured as a troubled star while Anushka portrayed a scientist with cerebral palsy. The film released on December 21 and did not receive favourable response, either from audience or critics.

Rai was talking on the sidelines of the inauguration of National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC), by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday, developed in the premises of Films Division in South Mumbai. “It feels good when cinema gets this kind of attention and focus. And also when the higher authorities are taking care and giving the due which was always needed. It strengthens us,” he said of the museum.