Getting Aamir Khan for a film is like a stamp of approval. - Nitesh Tiwari
The year couldn’t have ended on a more momentous ‘note’. Dangal slammed the demonetisation demon and emerged as the biggest hit of 2016. Director Nitesh Tiwari is ecstatic with the broadening horizons in his life.
Making art and mart meet is a feat Nitesh has mastered. His ascent from directing Chillar Party, Bhoothnath Returns with Amitabh Bachchan to Dangal with Aamir Khan has been fascinating. He also owes his glory to a rural hero, Mahavir Singh Phogat. It was the wrestler-turned-coach’s celebrated story that inspired both Nitesh and his superstar mentor Aamir Khan. “Some stories tug at your heart. A voice within tells you this story deserves to be told. When Mahavir Singh’s story came to me, it stayed with me. It wasn’t something I could keep aside and act upon later. I got down to making it immediately,” he recalls adding, “It had a similar impact on Aamir sir, the first time he heard it. He just couldn’t keep it out of his mind.”
But movies with superstars don’t come easy. He was willing to wait for even five years for Aamir. After all it’s not every day one writes a script like Dangal and it’s not every day that a star like Aamir Khan agrees to do it.
He claims his first narration with Aamir had a surreal breeze. He reminisces, “When we walked out of the room Sid said, ‘Man, this is the first time I’ve heard Aamir saying ‘yes’ to a film on the first hearing.’ Manish and I were numb.
Nitesh applauds Aamir’s decision to expedite the production of Dangal. He’s also grateful for the attention that comes with working on an Aamir Khan film. He smiles, “For filmmakers like me who are a couple of films old, getting someone like Aamir Khan for a film is like a stamp of approval. It’s like being on a spring board. Suddenly, people start looking at you in a different light. I haven’t changed, I’m still the same old Nitesh Tiwari but there is a halo of Aamir Khan around me now.”
That Nitesh is overwhelmed by Aamir would be an understatement. “For a star of his stature, to give two years of undivided attention to a film is a lot of time. And he’s committed and passionate enough to put his health at a risk just because he’s convinced that something has to be done in a particular way only,” he says.
Developmental hell is just an understatement with regards to Aamir’s preparation for Dangal. “Aamir could not even bend down to tie his shoe laces. He’d go breathless practising wrestling moves because he was overweight. He went through hell to prepare for the older Mahavir Singh,” reveals Nitesh. And yes, Aamir’s penchant for perfection did shock him. The actor started learning Haryanvi five months before they began shooting, something he could have started even a month before. “Aamir wanted to focus on his performance without worrying about his dialect. He wanted to be on ‘auto-pilot on the set’,” explains the director.
Casting for Mahavir Singh’s daughters was another Herculean task. They had to find not one or two, but four actresses who’d be able to match Aamir’s dedication. It was a given that they had to be excellent actors. They also had to look like Aamir’s daughters. The younger ones needed to look like the elder ones too. “We tested many wrestlers but the acting skills were not up to the mark,” he says. “Fortunately, young Zaira Wasim looked so much like Fatima and Suhani Bhatnagar resembled Sanya Malhotra,” he states.
No wonder Dangal turned out to be such a phenomenon at the box-office.
The year couldn’t have ended on a more momentous ‘note’. Dangal slammed the demonetisation demon and emerged as the biggest hit of 2016. Director Nitesh Tiwari is ecstatic with the broadening horizons in his life.
Making art and mart meet is a feat Nitesh has mastered. His ascent from directing Chillar Party, Bhoothnath Returns with Amitabh Bachchan to Dangal with Aamir Khan has been fascinating. He also owes his glory to a rural hero, Mahavir Singh Phogat. It was the wrestler-turned-coach’s celebrated story that inspired both Nitesh and his superstar mentor Aamir Khan. “Some stories tug at your heart. A voice within tells you this story deserves to be told. When Mahavir Singh’s story came to me, it stayed with me. It wasn’t something I could keep aside and act upon later. I got down to making it immediately,” he recalls adding, “It had a similar impact on Aamir sir, the first time he heard it. He just couldn’t keep it out of his mind.”
But movies with superstars don’t come easy. He was willing to wait for even five years for Aamir. After all it’s not every day one writes a script like Dangal and it’s not every day that a star like Aamir Khan agrees to do it.
He claims his first narration with Aamir had a surreal breeze. He reminisces, “When we walked out of the room Sid said, ‘Man, this is the first time I’ve heard Aamir saying ‘yes’ to a film on the first hearing.’ Manish and I were numb.
Nitesh applauds Aamir’s decision to expedite the production of Dangal. He’s also grateful for the attention that comes with working on an Aamir Khan film. He smiles, “For filmmakers like me who are a couple of films old, getting someone like Aamir Khan for a film is like a stamp of approval. It’s like being on a spring board. Suddenly, people start looking at you in a different light. I haven’t changed, I’m still the same old Nitesh Tiwari but there is a halo of Aamir Khan around me now.”
That Nitesh is overwhelmed by Aamir would be an understatement. “For a star of his stature, to give two years of undivided attention to a film is a lot of time. And he’s committed and passionate enough to put his health at a risk just because he’s convinced that something has to be done in a particular way only,” he says.
Developmental hell is just an understatement with regards to Aamir’s preparation for Dangal. “Aamir could not even bend down to tie his shoe laces. He’d go breathless practising wrestling moves because he was overweight. He went through hell to prepare for the older Mahavir Singh,” reveals Nitesh. And yes, Aamir’s penchant for perfection did shock him. The actor started learning Haryanvi five months before they began shooting, something he could have started even a month before. “Aamir wanted to focus on his performance without worrying about his dialect. He wanted to be on ‘auto-pilot on the set’,” explains the director.
Casting for Mahavir Singh’s daughters was another Herculean task. They had to find not one or two, but four actresses who’d be able to match Aamir’s dedication. It was a given that they had to be excellent actors. They also had to look like Aamir’s daughters. The younger ones needed to look like the elder ones too. “We tested many wrestlers but the acting skills were not up to the mark,” he says. “Fortunately, young Zaira Wasim looked so much like Fatima and Suhani Bhatnagar resembled Sanya Malhotra,” he states.
No wonder Dangal turned out to be such a phenomenon at the box-office.
No comments: