Anil Naidu of Hope Productions has passed away and important personalities of the industry are in mourning. Hope Productions is a popular film production company owned by acclaimed filmmaker R Balki and his wife Gauri Shinde. Hope Productions has bankrolled notable Hindi projects like English Vinglish (Sridevi), Shamitabh (Amitabh Bachchan - Dhanush), Dear Zindagi (Shah Rukh Khan - Alia Bhatt), Ki & Ka (Arjun Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor), Padman (Akshay Kumar), and Mission Mangal (Akshay Kumar). Gauri Shinde and Balki, along with Anil Naidu have managed Hope Productions.

Anil Naidu is an important person in the management of Hope Productions and he has been associated with many big projects. Anil Naidu started his career as an editor and went on to edit hundreds of iconic commercials for some of the best directors in the country. He then opened his own advertising production house and directed hundreds of commercials and major Television shows. Naidu made his feature film debut as an editor with Paa. After heading the films division of Lowe Lintas, Naidu joined Hope to partner Gauri and Balki.

Being an editor and director himself, Naidu’s approach to production has set new benchmarks in the industry in efficiency, transparency, creativity and relationship management. It’s this talent that has ensured that films like Ki&Ka, Shamitabh, Padman and most recently Mission Mangal have been produced the way they have been, at the budgets they have been.

Legendary cinematographer PC Sreeram who regularly works with director R Balki took to his Twitter page to mourn the demise of Anil Naidu. Sharing Anil's picture, PC Sreeram wrote, "#RestInPeace Gone from our sight , but never from our hearts. May your soul rest in peace. #Hopeproductions #RBalki #Gowrishinde". Let us pray for the departed soul to rest in peace. Check out PC Sreeram's tweet below: