After a series of directorial failures, D-Day director NIKHIl ADVANI, who started off promisingly, says that though he is no pujari of the box-office dynamics, he can do with a hit. DEEBASHREE MOHANTY talked to him at length about his journey so far, his latest offering and his future plans
Grandeur and the Indian family system intrigues him. Karan Johar inspires him and his audience drives him. Nikhil Advani says he has never been this nervous before the release of any of his previous films. But with D-Day, he feels his pulse is creating havoc. “I don’t understand why people keep asking me whether I have broken free from my comfort zone. For those who don’t know me, rom coms might seem to be my cup of tea but I have always had a penchant for thrillers and action oriented films. Karan Johar had once told me that I should stop making romantic films and should stick to making thrillers instead. He feels I was born to innovate. But I still have butterflies in my stomach — it’s important, very important that D-Day gets its due,” Advani says, adding that Imtiaz Ali and Anurag Basu are his all time favoruite directors.
“They are intelligent and very keen observers. The cinema they make is unparalleled in the real sense,” he tells you. Ask him what he thinks of his best friend and guru, KJo and the 47-year-old director laughs out loud. “He is the best mentor that anyone can have. Because Karan doesn’t preach. He tells you what you should do and he helps you to achieve that goal. I don’t think I would have ever reached where I have if he had not allowed me to assist in the making of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,” Advani says.
His previous outing at the box office might have been a total failure but this director is a fighter. You throw a challenge at him and Advani will give eet ka jawab pathar se. “That has been my attitude towards life ever since meine hosh sambhala hai. I have never been afraid of facing my failures. I was very disappointed when Patiala House didn’t do too well. I thought I had all the ingredients for a blockbuster. But the film didn't click with the audience. I was down in the dumps when my friends reminded me about my philosophy in life. Then there was no looking back,” he says. At present Advani wants to take animation projects to another level. He feels that is the one part in the film industry that needs immediate attention. “The animation industry has a lot of potential. Give it another couple of years and all our hit projects will be animated movies. I am working on my second animation film and I am very excited about it,” he tells you over the phone from Mumbai.
Not known to be the experimental types, Advani says he wanted to break this misconception with a bang. “My peers, Anurag Kashyap and Sujoy Ghosh have all taken that leap of faith. And their films have done exceedingly well. I felt the time is right for me to take that jump as well. My inner self was telling me — if they can get it right so can you,” the filmmaker says. He had been toying with the script of D-Day for over three years but the casting was decided only days before the film went on the floors. “I was sure I wanted Irfan. I have been dying to work with him. I had liked Arjuna Rampal in a couple of films I had seen. I was scared whether Rishi Kapoor will subscribe to my theory or will he refuse,” the filmmaker says, adding that it took him a year to convince the veteran to come aboard.