After having made Ranjhana and Tanu Weds Manu, Aanand L Rai is now producing Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's film Nil Battey Sannata, which releases this week. While this association may come as a surprise to some, Aanand reveals that his association with the project was something that was meant to happen.
Telling us about what made him take up Nil Battey... Aanand says, “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 section altogether. But by the time I had finished they were still trying at all the other places and nothing was really working out for them. So I said ok let me join in and produce the film along with the rest of the team.”
“It deals with a mother-daughter relationship, it’s a very real film that’s also entertaining. You feel positive after watching it. A maker should have a reflection of himself or herself in the films they make. So for me, having been brought up in a middle class family where both my parents were teachers it reflects in my work and choice of scripts as well,” he added.
Talking about the kind of content he wishes to produce, Aanand says, “I enjoy supporting original content. I always feel that there so many stories lying untouched in our literature. There are directors who are doing really great work and even going forward, I would love to support directors like Ashwiny. She is a promising director and I am moving ahead and making Manmarziyan with her as well. They are very strong with what they want to say and at times these directors find it difficult to penetrate into studios because of that.”
