Nikhil Advani, 44, has already had an exhausting day when we meet around 5 pm at Yashraj Studios in Mumbaiâs Andheri (West), where he is completing the mix for his upcoming film Katti Batti, an âedgy, Dharma Production vibeâ rom-com starring Kangana Ranaut and Imran Khan. Before that film releases on September 18, he has Hero, a remake of Subhash Ghaiâs 1983 action drama starring newcomers Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty, releasing on Friday.
This is a rare occurrence, given that itâs uncommon for filmmakers to have more than one release per year anywhere in the world, much less over two consecutive Fridays.
Hero has been delivered, seal and all, and Advani doesnât find the prospect of back-to-back releases all that overwhelming. âHero was supposed to release in July,â he says, taking a sip of black coffee. âBut then Arbaaz, Sohail, and Salim [Khan] saw the film and really liked how the film had been mounted and how well Sooraj and Athiya had done. So it was Arbaaz who suggested that it should piggyback on the success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan and release it soon after. Meanwhile, Katti Batti was always scheduled for a September 18 release. It was just a coincidence that Hero ended up coming one week before.â Salman Khan Films, the actor's home banner that made Bajrangi Bhaijaan, has also produced Hero.
Advaniâs last release was the well-received spy thriller D-Day (2013), which he says was the film he made when he realised, after the critical and commercial failure of Chandni Chowk To China (2009), that he was going about things the wrong way. âWhen people asked me about that film, I would say, âI was trying to make an Akshay Kumar film.â And they would reply, âBut why? We came to watch your film.ââ
Before D-Day, heâd made the ambitious, bilingual animated film Delhi Safari (2012), which was rejected by critics and audiences everywhere but went on to win a National Award for Best Animated Film the following year nevertheless. âI spent seven years on that film, whilst making two other films on the side,â he says. âSo I didnât really have the time to ghusao my insecurities into it, which is why I think it turned out to be the most honest film Iâve ever made.â
At the same time, he has this firm belief that Indian audiences are generally only aware of the names of perhaps five directors at any given point of time. âOnly Bandra-to-Andheri crowd knows the names of filmmakers,â he says, with a grin. âFor the rest of the country, itâs âSalman ki filmâ, or âKangana ki nayi film aa rahi haiâ.â
(From left) Athiya Shetty, Nikhil Advani, and Sooraj Pancholi at a promotional event for 'Hero'
These parallel convictions are evident in the differences between his two upcoming films. Hero features two newbie star kids (Sooraj is actor Aditya Pancholiâs son; Athiya is Suniel Shettyâs daughter) who âdidnât know how to stand in front of a cameraâ when they began shooting the film. Katti Batti, on the other hand, features two-time National Award winner Kangana Ranaut, on whose performance(s) Tanu Weds Manu Returns banked upon to become one of the biggest hits of this year, as well as Imran Khan.
He did Hero for two reasons, he says: one, because Salman Khan asked him to (âI cannot say no to him,â he says); and two, because it was a remake of a film he loves. âWill it match up to the original? Of course not. You canât reinvent the wheel,â he says. âBut yes, weâve tried to make it look glossy and cool⊠basically, weâve updated it for a whole new generation whoâve never seen the original. For them, Jackie [Shroff, who debuted with the â83 film] is Tiger Shroffâs dad.â
Katti Batti, on the other hand, is more of a directorâs piece. âItâs a very honest film and we've tried to keep it as real as possible,â he says. âItâs also a very Bombay film and Iâm a South Bombay guy myself. So I really didnât have to do much preparation for it. All the situations shown in the film⊠I have been part of them, Iâve seen them.â
(From left) Kangana Ranaut, Imran Khan, Siddharth Roy Kapur, and Nikhil Advani at the trailer launch of 'Katti Batti'
Despite Hero having all the elements of a typical âstar kid launch filmâ, Advani says that theyâve tried to break the template at places. âI believe that if you have the resources, as a filmmaker and an artiste, you must try and do something, even if itâs just one scene, that pushes existing boundaries,â he says. âIf you arenât doing that much and just sticking to the formula, youâre being lazy.â
Heâs trying to do the same and more with Katti Batti as well his other upcoming films: Airlift, which he is producing; Bazaar, a film centered on the world of stock markets, and an as-yet-untitled murder mystery.
But for now, after two years, heâs looking forward to having not one but two releases and is eager to see how the audience reacts. âI think the line Iâll be looking for in the reviews for Hero is that it doesnât look like itâs their [Pancholiâs and Shettyâs] first film,â he says. âFor Katti Batti, Iâm hoping that Imran Khanâs performance gets noticed. I think heâs done a fabulous job.â
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