The Hero: Love Story of a Spy

The Hero: Love Story of a Spy
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Anil Sharma
Screenplay by	Shaktimaan Talwar
Produced by	Dhirajlal Shah Hasmukh Shah Pravin Shah
Starring	Sunny Deol Preity Zinta Priyanka Chopra Amrish Puri
Narrated by	Sunny Deol
Cinematography	Kabir Lal
Edited by	Suresh Urs
Music by	Uttam Singh
Distributed by	Time Magnetics (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Release date	11 April 2003 (2003-04-11)
Running time	183 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹35 crore[2]
Box office	₹45.13 crore[2]

The Hero: Love Story of a Spy is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language spy thriller film directed by Anil Sharma and produced by Time Magnetics. It stars Sunny Deol, Preity Zinta and Priyanka Chopra in her Bollywood film debut. Written by Shaktimaan, the film tells the story of an undercover Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent who must gather intelligence about cross-border terrorism and stop the terrorist responsible for it and his separation from his fiancé.

Sharma had long contemplated making a spy film but felt this was not economically viable for the Indian market because Indian films did not have sufficient budgets. He first planned a film about India's spy network set in the early 2000s but made the 2001 film Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, which became one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time. Following the record-breaking success of that film, Sharma decided to make The Hero: Love Story of a Spy. The Shah Brothers were engaged to produce the film, which was touted to have a huge budget and scale, unlike previous Bollywood films. Aiming for high production values, a sizeable amount of money was spent on the film. Several large sets were created to give the film a feeling of grandeur, and international stunt experts were hired to coordinate action sequences new to Bollywood. Principal photography was done at Indian locations, including Kullu and Manali, and in locations in Canada and Switzerland. Uttam Singh composed the soundtrack with lyrics written by Anand Bakshi and Javed Akhtar.

The film's production cost was very high, with trades suggesting that it was the most expensive Indian film ever made at that point; this was the most talked-about aspect of the film. The Hero: Love Story of a Spy was released on 11 April 2003 to mixed to positive reviews from critics. It grossed over ₹451 million at the box office against a production and marketing budget of ₹350 million, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of the year. Chopra won the Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.