Sunil Shetty & Anees Bazmee Movies Together List — 3 Films

The shape of the work

The 1990s belonged to Hulchul; the 2010s to Thank You. Sunil Shetty acted in every film; Anees Bazmee directed all of them. Strictly Hindi cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Anees Bazmee cast Sunil Shetty in 'Hulchul' (1995) after seeing his raw energy in 'Balwaan' — but the role was originally written for a softer hero. Shetty had to convince Bazmee he could do comedy by improvising a goofy walk on the spot during their first meeting.
• On the sets of 'No Problem' (2010), Bazmee realized Shetty’s deadpan delivery was his secret weapon. He started writing punchlines specifically for Shetty to say with a straight face — while everyone else around him overacted. That contrast became the film’s funniest bits.
• Bazmee and Shetty share a superstition: before every film together, they’d have chai at the same Irani café in Andheri. They kept this up even for 'Thank You' (2011), which was shot mostly in London — Bazmee flew back to Mumbai just for that one cup.
• Anees Bazmee once said in an interview: 'Sunil is the only actor who can make a line like "Mujhe kya pata" sound like a philosophical statement. I wrote three films just to hear him say that.'
• The success of 'Hulchul' (1995) directly led to Bazmee getting his first solo directorial debut. Shetty’s comic timing in that film convinced producers that Bazmee could handle a full comedy — without that, Bazmee might never have made 'Welcome' or 'Singh Is Kinng'.