Not easy to live with the tag of Dangal director: Nitesh Tiwari

He was hardly two films old when he directed Dangal, which turned out to be a game changer at the box office. Ever since, Nitesh Tiwari is addressed as the “Dangal director”.

The director agrees that it’s not easy to live with that tag. “It puts a lot of pressure on me, and it only keeps building up. I do try to take it as a compliment, but trust me it is not easy to live with that tag,” says Nitesh. He further adds, “Dangal is once in a blue moon kind of  film, where everything fell into place. I don’t know whether we will be able to write this gripping a script again. I feel the pressure because the question now is ‘what next?’ I feel the audience is mature enough not to have that kind of expectation.” Dangal has always been compared to Baahubali which made headlines in the recently. Ask him about the comparison, and he said, “What is important to us as team Dangal is how much love have we have received and that you can’t compare with money. People remember a film 20 years down the line because it made a difference in people’s lives. Today it is Dangal, and it will be Baahubali tomorrow. Good cinema has no end.”

We asked Nitesh if stars bring a lot of baggage along with them. “It’s a perception that’s been created that stars are not approachable, but I managed to meet Aamir when I was just two films old. They don’t have any tantrums. I have been fortunate to work with Mr Bachchan and Aamir Khan, and both them have immense respect for their directors. Once you understand that aspect, it gets easier,” he replied.

He was seen cheering his wife, Ashwiny Iyer during the trailer launch of her film Bareily Ki Barfi. He added, “I am her harshest critic. Similarly, she bluntly points out the flaws in my films.”

Post Dangal, Nitesh is working on Siddharth Roy Kapur and Ronnie Screwvala’s next film, an adaptation of Varun Agarwal’s 2012 bestseller How I Braved Anu Aunty and Started a Million Dollar Company. We questioned if Varun Dhawan had been approached for the same.  “We are thinking about him. But he is busy right now. We are looking for a  hero who has a terrific screen presence. I did speak to Varun about the film. He is more than happy about it, but only time will tell if he can do the movie or not. He has a hectic schedule, so I don’t know what the future holds,” he signed off.