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Maverick ROLE

Photo:Thulasi Kakkat

Southbound Anuj Saxena, businessman-actor

Anuj Saxena confesses to being something of a maverick, and for that very same reason he calls his production house Maverick. An actor, doctor, head of a pharmaceutical company, entrepreneur, producer…are some of the roles for this man who lives the concept of multitasking.

He looks more actor than producer; he is a head turner all right. “Acting is a passion, production is about power and money, so why not?” he asks. Maverick produces Hindi films, has produced a Kannada film (‘Housefull’) and is co-presenting (as in “pumping in money”) the V. K. Prakash directed ‘Gulumaal’. Anuj, a trained doctor who “never practised,” tasted success on television with the hugely popular ‘Kkusum’ (Sony TV) and ‘Kumkum’, being some of them. “I wanted to be a doctor so I got myself an MBBS and since acting is a passion I did that. And then came production because anyway the film industry is divided into various camps. So if I have the money, then, why not give it a shot, I thought? Besides it is an extension of what I do,” says Anuj.

He has sure come a long way from the ‘Fountainhead’ inspired tele-serial ‘Aasmaan se Aagey’ all those years ago, but he says he has quit television for the time being because he has neither the time, nor the inclination and energy to work non-stop for 25 days a month for a serial.

It has been almost three years since he has quit television. He joined the family business, Elder Pharmaceuticals and threw himself into the business, and now he heads Elder Healthcare, which is the FMCG division of the parent company, another thing which he says he loves doing. This is the company which has brought out Tiger Balm, Just for Men (hair dye), Fuel (the deodorant) among a whole lot of other products.

In between he has a restaurant ‘Blue Waters’ in Mumbai. So isn’t it a case of an overflowing plate? Not to him. To him it is all about being a go-getter, and just doing things because it is all in the mind. “I am on a constant lookout for more things to do. I am very ambitious too so that too is an impetus for me to do more,” he says.

The timing of the foray into the Malayalam film industry, he feels, is perfect, recession or no recession. He or rather his “team” has logically thought out reasons for stepping into the Malayalam film industry. “The industry is smaller, unorganised and does not need huge amounts of money to make films as, say the Telugu or the Tamil film industry. We feel that now the time is ripe for us to step in and consolidate,” he says. India has not been as badly hit by the recession as have been other countries, and therefore things are not very bad, he feels. It is all about taking calculated risks, and making intelligent choices in terms of where to invest money.

Anuj’s mantra for playing safe in these cautious times is driven by simple logic. Rather than have several projects happening simultaneously and blocking a lot of money, space out the projects and only when one project is done move onto the next one. On his wrist is a huge bracelet with ‘Jai Mata Di’ emblazoned on it, so is he that religious to wear his faith on his wrist? “I believe in two thingsGod and myself!”

As if all the action is not enough, he has some more lined up for the big screen. He is acting in the Jagmohan Mundra film ‘Chase’ opposite Udita Goswami. It is a thriller and he is all excited about the film which he is producing too.

Since he is testing waters in regional cinema, and since he is an actor too, shouldn’t he give acting in them a shot? “Yeah! Sure, why not? The one thing I have learnt in life is, never say never. Maybe I am the next Malayalam superstar,” he jokes.

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