Dangal Director Nitesh Tiwari At IFFI 2019: “Never Really Thought I Would Direct A Film Someday”

While the 50th edition of the International Film Festival of India has begun, there were some interesting Masterclasses and In conversations that took place on day one. A session called ‘From the Director’s Chair’ with Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari and Tamil filmmaker Vetrin Maaran was moderated by journalist and film critic Naman Ramachandran.

The hit director who recently gave a blockbuster with Chhichhore said, “I’m a self-taught filmmaker. I never really thought that I would direct a film someday. I left IIT, Mumbai purely out of my passion of writing. Not many people know that with my first salary I bought a TV, with the second one, I bought a VCR, and with the third one, I got the membership of Shemaroo. In my 10K salary, I used to buy 800 rupees DVD. I am glad that my first film Chillar party fell in my lap.”

“I understood the aspects of Bollywood by the time Chillar patty came my way due to my advertising background. Besides that, I wrote two screenplays before Chillar Party for which I hadn’t received money until today,” he laughed.

He further said, “When BR Films called me to make the sequel of Bhootnath, I and my writer Piyush decided that if we can create something good, only then we will make it. When the idea of a Bhoot standing in elections came up, my producers liked the idea and we got a go-ahead.”