Tanu Weds Manu director Aanand L. Rai’s association with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s film Nil Battey Sannata may come as a surprise to some, but Aanand, who has produced the film says that the project was something that was meant to happen. “Ashwiny and Swara approached me to be a part of the film a long time back when I was about to start the shoot of Tanu Weds Manu Returns. But at that time, I was genuinely focussing only on my film, so I told them I won’t be able to contribute much and that they should go to a bigger production house or studio. My films are entertaining films and films like Nil Battey... are a different kind altogether. But even by the time I had finished my film, they had still not been able to find a producer. So I thought okay, let me jump in.”
Aanand says that he could identify with the script. “It deals with a mother-daughter relationship, it’s a very real film, one which is also entertaining. You feel positive after watching it. A maker should have a reflection of himself or herself in the films they make. I could identify with this story as I too come from a middle-class family and both my parents were teachers. My upbringing reflects in my work and choice of scripts as well,” he added.
He has only good things to say about director Ashwiny. “She is a promising director and I am moving ahead and making Manmarziyan with her as well. I enjoy supporting original content. I always feel that there so many stories lying untouched in our literature. Our audiences are evolving and there are directors who are doing really great work. I would love to support more brilliant directors like Ashwiny,” he says.
Ask him one genre he’d like to try out and he says, “I really want to do an action film before I call it quits. I would love to work with Akshay Kumar on an emotional-action film.”
