Hero) is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language political action film co-written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by A. M. Rathnam under the Sri Surya Movies banner.

The film stars Anil Kapoor, with Rani Mukerji, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal, and Johnny Lever playing supporting roles.

It was opened to mixed reviews from critics, some of whom applauded the storyline, the performances (particularly Kapoor, Puri and Rawal), Shankar's direction and the themes and social message but criticised its lengthy duration, editing, pace and special effects.

He is reluctant at first, but when Chauhan's henchmen vandalise QTV premises to intimidate him, and the people show their support by thronging to his place in huge numbers, he agrees to do so.

Nayak: The Real Hero serves as a remake of S. Shankar's 1999 Tamil-language film Mudhalvan, and was the director's first venture in Bollywood.

The debut, announced in June 2000, was produced by A. M. Rathnam under the banner of Sri Surya Movies (his second Hindi film after that of Tejasvini, released in 1994),[8][9] and addressed the issue of corruption in India.

[6] The role of Shivaji was originally going to be played by Aamir Khan, but Shankar did not cast him, explaining, "... the two of us faced a huge communication gap.

However, he did not want to play the role after portraying a television presenter in his home production, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000).

Shankar's final choice was Anil Kapoor, although he was initially reluctant to choose him for the part but changed his mind after finding him more suitable than the previous actors, noting his discipline.

[10] When asked by the Deccan Herald about his character as well as his experience during the production of the film, Kapoor said that it was one of his career's finest roles and called it an honour to work with Shankar.

[11][12] To prepare for the role, Kapoor underwent physical training for six or seven months,[13] and watched many talk shows hosted by Larry King, Prannoy Roy, Rajat Sharma, and Karan Thapar—later adopting their way of speaking.

[15] Shankar chose Rani Mukerji to fulfill the part of Manjari, a village girl who becomes the love interest of Kapoor's character.

[10] Playing the type of role for the first time, the actress admitted that she saw resemblances between Manjari and herself, noting their vibrant along with uninhibited character, and described her collaboration with Kapoor as a "growing-up experience".

[16] Talking to a journalist from Rediff.com, Mukerji revealed that she immediately agreed to star in the film after hearing the story from Kapoor, which she felt was "mindblowing".

[19] To shoot the song "Shakalaka Baby", Anand travelled to the United States to meet the filmmaker Spike Lee and asked for his help.

It was simultaneously shot with 34 cameras bought from the German manufacturer Arri with a speed of 100 FPS, instead of 24, and made the film over-budgeted; consequently, Anand spoke of his regret to do the idea.

[20] The soundtrack album was released at a special ceremony at the Hotel Regent in Mumbai under the label of T-Series, which bought the rights for ₹60 million (US$690,000).

[29][30] Critics gave mixed reviews to Nayak, praising the performances of Kapoor and Puri from the first-half but panning the special effects, which they attributed to the film's commercial failure.

[24] Rediff.com's Sarita Tanwar wrote, "A fairly interesting plot, a commendable performance from the leading artiste, lavish production values and terrific pieces of action, Nayak: The Real Hero has all the ingredients that make a commercially viable film.

"[31] Taran Adarsh from the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama gave the film one star, calling its second-half "weak".

However, he took note of the "superb" dialogue of the film, mostly that are said by Paresh Rawal's character, while deemed Johnny Lever's comedic scenes were "flat".

[34] The critic and trade analyst Komal Nahta opined that it did not "have enough entertainment value", suggesting that the film's lengthy duration could be cut for ten minutes.

[41] The sequel was officially announced later by Eros International in January 2017, with V. Vijayendra Prasad chosen to write the screenplay and the principal photography starting the same year.