Actor, producer, doctor, and MD of Elder Healthcare, Anuj Saxena is truly multi-faceted, finds Shuchi Bansal.
Anuj Saxena, the dapper managing director of Elder Healthcare (part of the Rs 600-crore Elder Pharmaceuticals), doesn’t know how to react when he’s told that the profile created by his public relations agency describes him as a “multi-layered flaky pastry”.
“Flaky?” he exclaims. “Flaky is negative. But multi-layered is good,” he says with a laugh, attempting to endorse the portrayal. To be sure, as a qualified doctor, who studied medicine at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, an actor (in TV soaps and films) and producer (through Maverick Productions that makes films and TV commercials), and restaurateur, Saxena is, indeed, multi-layered and constantly multi-tasking.
The younger son of Jagdish Saxena, the founder of Elder Pharma famous for its prescription calcium, Shelcal, Anuj Saxena has an amazing knack of switching roles. Until a few days ago, he was the perfect Bollywood hero shooting for his film Chase in Kashmir. Now that the shooting is over, he has skillfully slipped into the role of MD, Elder Healthcare, working on an aggressive product extension strategy.
Currently, Elder Healthcare has a mix of homegrown and licensed brands in its portfolio. While it markets Tiger Balm in the region, five years ago it inked a deal with Shahnaz Hussain to market her fairness cream Fair One on a royalty basis. “It is already a Rs 35 crore brand,” says Saxena, who claims that he is a “simple but very ambitious guy.”
His ambition is reflected in his plans for the company — he wants Elder Healthcare to be a significant player in the FMCG category with a range including soaps, skincare products, colour cosmetics and processed food and beverages.
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The company is already in the colour cosmetics space through the premium German brand BE-YU that it launched at stores in Mumbai recently. On the anvil is a homegrown skincare brand for women — moisturisers, anti-aging cream et al. To tap the men’s grooming market, it licensed Fuel from VLCC and launched a deodorant under the brand.
“Deodorants is a good category to be in — a Rs 300-crore market, growing at 40 per cent a year,” he says. “The tie-ups with Shahnaz Hussain and VLCC give me good brands while they get the advantage of our huge distribution reach (roughly 4.5 lakh outlets),” he claims, adding, “ Inshallah, we’ll be a Rs 100-crore company this year.”
For Saxena, invoking the gods is a habit. And a handcuff-sized diamond and gold Jai mata di bracelet is testimony to his spiritual proclivity. “I believe in god and not particularly in a specific religion. I’ve been to Ajmer Sharif though I fast every Thursday for Sai Baba,” says the 41-year-old who fasted thrice a week even as a child. About the charms around his neck, he says, “These are for nazar (to ward off evil). I am very accident prone.”
Just last month, he ended up with 16 stitches at the back of his head due to an injury during shooting. Earlier, he says, he found it impossible to sit still. But acting has taught him to be patient. “You have to sit in one place — the make-up room or van — while you wait for the shot to get ready. You can’t walk out like you can from, say, a board meeting,” he says with a chuckle.
Even though he modelled for brands like Proline, ICICI, Prudent mouthwash and Rajdoot Yamaha while in college, it was his role in Kkusum, a serial on Sony television, which catapulted him into the limelight. Ekta Kapoor offered him the role when Saxena was already director marketing at Elder Pharma, and, in all, he’s acted in 11 television serials, but is focussing on films now.
His company made the low-budget Aloo Chat earlier this year, and the suspense-thriller Chase has gone into post-production phase. Is he nervous about the film that features him in the lead role? “Whatever has to happen, will happen, there is no need to fret,” he notes philosophically.
Jagdish Saxena accepted his son’s passion for acting reluctantly, but indulged another interest by investing in Blue Waters, a Chinese and Indian restaurant in Andheri. Now Saxena wants to open more restaurants but only in Mumbai — as a self-avowed control freak, he would not be able to personally supervise eateries outside the city.
A strong believer in numerology, Saxena’s cars (a BMW 5 series, Pajero 2.8, Merc E class and a Safari, all black) sport plates which are numbered either 9 or 99. “I don’t buy a car unless I get that number,” he admits. Does the “multi-layered flaky pastry” know that his suit collection (Zegna and Armani), “eclectic pen and watch collection” and his Bayliner 245 (this is used by his parents to visit Ali Baug) is part of his exhaustive profile prepared by the public relations agency? “Is it?” he shrieks. “You mean, all this is mentioned?”
But reasons, “Since one works so hard, one likes to spend on oneself, that’s all. A divorcee who is “sort of seeing someone”, says his dream is to own a house by the sea that is surrounded by mountains. “In every which way, I’m just starting out, I have a long way to go,” he says. Luckily, his dreams are not declared on his CV.