The response to D-Day has buoyed the spirits of director Nikhil Advani. The Rishi Kapoor-Irrfan Khan-Arjun Rampal-Huma Qureshi starrer has wiped out the bad memories of his colossal flops Salaam-e-Ishq and Chandni Chowk to China . “Stereotyping is seriously bad for any artist, be it an actor or a director. Luckily for me, I was totally written off in the last few years. Hence nobody had any expectations of me,” says the director, whose debut film under Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions — Kal Ho Na Ho (2003) — was a huge hit. With the popular and highly acclaimed D-Day, the director has done a turnaround. “As a filmmaker, I just want to tell stories. They may be regarding Shah Rukh Khan on Brooklyn, or on four animals in an animation set-up or on four people resolving to do something regarding India’s most wanted man,” he says.
The film has received public encouragement from Amitabh Bachchan and Javed Akhtar, and that’s what has made Nikhil most happy. “These were the people that made me want to get into movies, and their response has made me super happy!” he exclaims. “I really think it’s a good time to make films. In the last two years or so, the studios have finally realised that it’s not important to play safe.”
Shabnam Kapoor, director of film exhibition and distribution company ‘Wave Cinemas Inc., which has earlier distributed films such as Kahaani , OMG Oh My God! and Special 26 , says that they are only too happy to support content-driven films. “In the last 12 months, from Kahaani to D-Day , content with the right mix of media support for the movies, has worked its magic. I’d still concede that Friday is not my best friend. But Saturday, Sunday and the succeeding days more than make up for that!” She says that her company will continue to offer content-worthy cinema to audiences.
