Nil Battey Sannata Director Ashwiny Tiwari on Films, Life & More

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari on her Nil Battey Sannata experience and her next film with Ayushmann Khurrana & Bhumi Pednekar.

Swara Bhaskar and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari at a promotional event for Nil Battey Sannata (Photo: Yogen Shah)

Right after Nil Battey Sannata hit the bull’s eye, director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari has been offered Manmarziyan, starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar. Aanand L Rai is the producer of the upcoming drama and a big fan of Ashwiny’s latest achievement.

We caught up with Ashwiny, new reigns in her hands already, she tells The Quint all about her recent success and what lies ahead.

How different is the approach of an ad agency’s Creative Director as compared to that of a Film Director?

Being a Creative Director is very different from being a Director because when you’re a CD working in an agency, you are more responsible for the client. Many times you get into the marketing aspect of things et al. But when you’re a film director, you don’t need to take care of the head of it, but just the tail of it. I would say that it is a by-product. Something like when an architect is building a house, the interiors are done by a different professional.

Swara Bhaskar and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari pose together ( Photo: Twitter/@ReallySwara)

Telling a story in a couple of minutes and a showcasing it in a couple of hours requires a different set of perspective. Do you agree?

The one thing that I have learnt from advertising is the you don’t even get minutes, but just a few seconds to tell your story. Objectivity in whatever you are doing is something which is very important. When you are making an ad film of 45 seconds, you are supposed to tell about the brand, and show the emotional content in those few seconds, which is very limited. For me, in a feature an added advantage is that I have the time to talk about the emotion and the story. Having said that, there is also scope to get carried away. 

What I have learnt is how to be objective about whether we need something in the film or not, and how much time we need it for.

I feel, if your screenplay is not right, it is not going to work. The mentality of baad mein dekha jayega is absolutely wrong. If you are not sure on paper, then you are not allowed to implement whatever you want to on the floor.

Speaking of the way you treat your characters, have you ever had to fight for them with the studios?

No, but we all are very clear right from the beginning what our story exactly is. We did not have any problems with Ajay Rai and even Aanand ( L. Rai) sir who came on board later. They knew that this is the language of the script, so in such a scenario, which is so real, it cannot be hampered with just anything that I want to do. If I go ahead and do any gibberish, then you can never connect with it, as you can’t make it anything which it’s not. It was much later after the film had released and people started talking to me about it, I realised that those people exist in some capacity in everyone’s life.

People have had their own relationship like the one we showed but why it has never been showcased is because there is a standard of how a mother daughter or a father son relationship should be. We have defined those preconceived notions. But now new age writers and directors are exploring different shades in the way things have been perceived for all these years.

A still from Nil Battey Sannata

There seems to be a paradigm shift taking place in audiences and filmmakers as more stories are being told in the real space now than before. Isn’t it?

I agree. I feel there is a complete paradigm shift in the way writers, directors, producers are thinking. They are ready to explore a lot more stories which talk about new age India. But more importantly, viewers are changing as they are watching all kinds of films from all across, not just Hollywood but many foreign language films are available to us instantly too. It is so exciting to see these talks and debates about cinema happening at many places now.

You’ve been offered Manmarziyan, which was previously directed by Sameer Sharma. Is it challenging to direct a story that someone else had their hands set in, in terms of the vision at least, if not anything else?

I have no idea of what has happened in the past. I have the script right now and all I want to do is be true to it. Let me just say that I am going to look at it from my eyes. I have a certain style which was showcased with Nil Battey Sannata and I would stick to what my forte is.

Art is subjective right? What you would see, I wouldn’t. It is as simple as that. Even in my advertising days, many times the client would like an idea and I wouldn’t and vice versa.

Bhumi Pednekar and Ayushmann Khurrana in the upcoming Manmarziyan ( Photo: Twitter)

Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar would be a part of Manmarziyan after their last super hit Dum Laga Ke Haisha. Have you discovered any nuances in them as actors that you’re excited about?

Yes! I am extremely excited about both of them being a part of the film. I think they are very pure actors and honestly, very pure people too. Many times, the person you are reflects in the kind of cinema you take up. All I want to say right now is that they are very very talented. I see a lot of it coming on screen as well. They are very team oriented people and when you think like that, a lot of things work positively. I loved Dum Lagake Haisha. I don’t know how many times I have told Sharat (Kataria) that I love his film. I think we need more Sharat Katarias and films like these in our lives.

I feel that working as a team is very important. Yes, the director is the captain of the ship but if everyone works together, it reflects in the film.

You’re writing a book as well these days….

Yes! I have always loved writing, and it is about a father and a daughter. I had this story idea really long back and I have started writing it right now. Let’s see where it goes from here.

Any plans of turning the book in a film?

Yes, of course! If I write well then I will quickly ask Nitesh and my set of writers to do something with it.