“Telling stories is the most important thing for me,” says actor, director and producer Anand Tiwari, who has helmed projects ranging from the musical drama Bandish Bandits to the socially relevant family drama, Maja Ma.
Even though the Love Per Square Foot director has covered a whole gamut — from being a theatre artist to acting in movies, to direction, for him “it’s not even the midpoint, from where I want to be.” Starring in some path-breaking movies including Udaan, Kites and Go Goa Gone, acting could only offer him a small part of the overall narrative, however, direction put him at the centre of it.
Tiwari in an interview with indianexpress.com reflects on his role as a storyteller, the churn in the Hindi film industry, the inspiration for his stories, working with Madhuri Dixit, and the opportunities for aspiring filmmakers in the Hindi film industry.
Edited Excerpts:
Do you identify yourself as an actor or a director first?
I identify myself as a storyteller. Depending on the role that is required of me in that particular story, I am very happy to lose myself within that role. So when I’m acting, I don’t even for once let the thought cross my mind that if I had written it I would have done it differently. Similarly, when I’m directing, I am never second guessing my actors in terms of how I would do it if I were in their place. My mind compartmentalises itself like that because I don’t have any conflict within me while I’m telling a story. And honestly, I love acting but I am not crazy about the life of an actor. It has just too much time of nothingness in between. You could be the busiest actor in the industry and still have a lot of time where not much is happening. That is because you’re not the creator of the story but just a mouthpiece. So, I’d rather have my mind churn out stories that are relevant.
Where does the inspiration for the stories you write and direct come from?
I feel stories come from a void. I had a very introverted childhood, so the way I was able to express myself was only through art forms. Art cannot exist without a void; it’s very important for you to have something to fill that with. And that’s where entertainment, conversation and storytelling come.
What do you think has led to a slump in Hindi cinema post pandemic in terms of the number of films working? Are we in the middle of a churn?
You’re always in the middle of a churn as far as entertainment goes. Whenever the entertainment industry has taken itself too lightly and thought that it has cracked a formula, the laws of averages hit, and there is a churn again. I don’t remember a time where I haven’t felt this certain amount of churn. We could think of certain kinds of films doing well but there is a ‘Zara Hatke Zara Bachke’ doing so well at the box office as mostly these films are now made for OTT. I don’t think anybody I have met can tell you that they know exactly what will work, because even the best of them are actually absolutely nervous about every content piece they create.
Talking about good content, we loved watching ‘Maja Ma’. How did you come up with the idea of casting Madhuri Dixit for the role of Pallavi, a lesbian? Please share your experience of working with her?
I wanted the story to reach households that wouldn’t talk about sexuality or gender politics as gender conversation. I was looking for a quintessential Indian woman to play this. I couldn’t have thought of anybody but Madhuri Dixit for this. I’m just lucky that she said yes, and was extremely sensitive, empathetic, and collaborative to the topic. She didn’t have any problem challenging the image that she has and was willing to take this conversation into households, which see her in a very different light. The experience of working with her was like being in a school because one learns how to be humble and professional. From the way she understands lensing, camera work and movement, to the way she knows how a drama can be told with the least amount of exuberance and expressions and only through eyes is something that I learned. She’s also as modern and as contemporary as any other actor that is in their 20s. She’s still like a child excited to play different parts.
A majority of your work showcase a social fight with love in the backdrop of a dysfunctional family and also a very subtle social messaging in between. Is this intentional, do you make sure that these elements are present in your work?
I am very happy to look at dysfunctional families and talk about it as I myself come from a somewhat dysfunctional family. Hence my stories regenerate and regurgitate that. Also, the job of a storyteller is not to just show the society as it exists, because you can never have an unbiased opinion of the society you live in. My way of taking relevant social topics forward is through entertainment, whether it is music, laughter, romance, drama, and everything in between and everything together. I really like putting a lot of masala around some of the key things that I would like people to look at or notice. Also, I have found a great amount of humour in the most inappropriate places in people that I grew up with. So my stories cannot be treating a subject with a seriousness that plays it down rather than uplift it. Because at the end of the day, I want to tell stories that give the audience a hope that things can be better. If I show you the mirror, it’s also my responsibility to show how we can make it beautiful.
You said somewhere that ‘I don’t want to become a voice in the cacophony?’ How do you make sure that distinctiveness remains in your work?
I think as a filmmaker the day I feel that the relevance of my conversation isn’t resonating as much and that I’m stuck with only the same people who generally would like my content, then I’d know my time is up as an active storyteller. Then I can support younger, more relevant voices. Also, when I travel away from Bombay, I always listen to people and find out what kind of content they watch. I try to understand what makes them tick, because that is what is going to help me create my next piece of content.
Please share your experience of working with a veteran like Naseerudin Shah in Bandish Bandits?
My relationship with Naseer sir is of a guru and shishya. He’s given me a lot of life coaching, apart from training me as a theatre actor. I thought I was passionate enough but it’s only after working with him, I understood to what extent you need to be committed and devoted to your art form, to really create something of worth. I look up to him as I would look up to my father. Ratna Pathak Shah ma’am and Naseer sir have been like my guru parents. I haven’t ever met a human being who is as devoted to his craft as Naseer sir.
According to you, how difficult is it for an aspiring director to break into the Hindi film industry compared to say a decade back?
I feel it’s the easiest time to be a director. Earlier, people had to assist for years and years to make their own film. It’s so different now. Because of the kinds of makers that we’re backing now it’s much easier to be a storyteller today. If you have a good script and you tell a production house or a platform that I want to direct this, I am guaranteeing you that they will create a team around you to make sure that you don’t mess up your own idea, such is the hunger for good content. However, hard work, finesse and good quality is not negotiable. You can never find a substitute for that.
