Nikkhil desires to work with SRK again

Over the past one year

Nikkhil Advani

,

Monisha

Advani and

Madhu

Bhojwani have delivered a string of success be it on OTT or in the theaters with productions like

Rocket Boys

, Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, Adhura and Mumbai Diaries. Let’s take a look at how they operate.

While Nikkhil has been part of the movie business for nearly three decades, it is the first decade for Monisha and Madhu. How has it been?
Madhu:

I feel very old, a decade is a long time. But it feels good to look back and see how far we have come.

Monisha:

A lot has changed and a lot has not changed because three of us still walk into the office hoping that the lights will come on and when we leave, we think will people return or have we scared them (laughs) These 10 years have been very hectic, very grueling.

Having worked in other business, I can say that I have never worked this hard in another business

Nikhil:

Full credit to both of them. It has been 10 years to them, 30 for me. I hope people will forget all the mishaps of the first 20 and remember only the last 10 years of my career. I remember Monisha telling me after the disaster of Katti Batti, that you have to stop worrying about Friday and start thinking about Monday and that is something I took very seriously.

You three have known each other for years, so when it comes to deciding on a project, does it happen that way or does it go in the zone where ‘I know better than you’ etc?
Monisha:

At times we forget that we are related or we have grown up together. We become so professional that at times Nikkhil has to say guys let’s go for a drink and Madhu and I would be like, forget about the drink. And then Madhu would go ‘I don’t want to pay for the drink’.

Nikhil:

It’s very frustrating when Madhu sits and watches something like she will ask… Why are the characters speaking in this language? And I have to explain to her that it is so cool, they are Maharashtrians, they are speaking in Marathi. And she goes no one will understand. And when you are watching with the audience you realise that Madhu was right. She comes with lots of logic. Things are simple for her. If I don’t get it, no one will get it. I was just thinking about our filmography for the last 10 years, we not only fought amongst each other but also fought with the world for the cast, the budget, location or ambition… Out of 30 productions that we’ve done, there have been a few which we were unanimous about and those have been incredible – D-Day, Airlift, Mumbai Diaries, Bazaar, Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, Rocket Boys…

Mrs Chatterjee vs.Norway was the surprise packet of the year, it came at a time when small films were not working at the box office and you all delivered…

Madhu:

If we go back the journey of where the film started, it came as an idea to Nikkhil and bounced it to Monisha and then it came to me and in unison we said we had to do it. 24 months later you had a studio that backed you, we had an actor in

Rani Mukerji

who stepped out of her comfort zone and a team that worked so hard against all odds during Covid and the universe simply conspired as there was no better time than releasing the film when we did. And none of us were nervous that the film is not going to work, we dug in our heels and said this is going to be a theatrical when releasing OTT was the lowest hanging fruit.

Monisha:

Aditya Chopra complimented all three of us. I was at his studio for a meeting and he came down the steps and told me that what a movie you guys have made! He was genuinely moved and we were delighted to have his eyes on it. But full credit to Ashima Chibber for birthing the film, Rani Mukerji whom NIkhil called after 20 years and asked her to read a script and she read it and immediately called back.

Madhu:

She already has won two awards for the film and I messaged her recently that I hope you have made room on your shelf for more awards.

Rocket Boys 2 dropped this year and many called it better than Oppenheimer…
Monisha:

I must have started that rumour, I was in the cinema halls watching Oppenheimer and I kept on screaming watch Rocket Boys and people started giggling. Christopher Nolan is a master and we are happy to be in a time where we can appreciate the cinema he generates. Having said that, I’m so proud of Rocket Boys that it told the story of men that we chose to forget for a 100th of the budget of Oppenheimer. We told the story that India needs to be proud of.

Nikkhil:

Madhu is a tough nut to crack but when she sees what you are trying to do, she backs you completely. I truly believe that if a director can create even one frame of Oppenheimer, they should stop directing but I don’t think even Nolan can make Rocket Boys at the budget Madhu made.

Nikhil’s next project is Vedaa with John Abraham in the lead. It is being reported that it is also based on a real life incident. Does it make the life of the director easy, when he makes a film based on a real life incident?
Nikkhil:

Not really! Actually, yes and no! It makes my life simpler because I already have a precedent that is already there. I’m going to turn 53 next year, I want to make a love story. Everywhere I go people ask me, it has been so many years to Kal Ho Naa Ho, make part 2… But I think if I now say 6 din ladki in, all the girls will be protesting against me. And if I now have Preity Zinta standing in a corner and looking through the glass and I show two men, one of whom is on death bed (Shah Rukh Khan) saying, ‘

Is janam mein woh teri hai and agle 6 ke liye meri’

(She’s yours for this birth, in the next 6 births she will be mine), women will burn the house down. Back then love was simple, romance was simple… we’ve complicated things. I want to make a love story… I want to make The Bridges of Madison County with Shah Rukh Khan, but I haven’t found it yet . My favourite director nowadays is Clint Eastwood, he’s almost 90 and what beautiful stories he keeps on telling.