‘Srikanth’ director Tushar Hiranandani said- two deaths in the house during editing had broken me

Tushar Hiranandani, who has written many films of different genres like ‘Masti’, ‘Half Girl Friend’, ‘Ek Villain’, made his/her directorial debut with the popular film ‘Saand Ki Aankh’. Tushar, who was once a clapper boy, gives full credit to his/her producer wife Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani in his/her journey. his/her recent film ‘Shrikant’ not only received praise from critics but also got a good response at the box office. A special conversation on his/her journey.

The grief of losing the mother deepened
Making a biopic like ‘Srikanth’ was quite challenging for Tushar Hiranandani. he/she says, ‘There was a challenge on every front, but during the time I was editing, I lost my mother and my wife Nidhi (producer of the film) lost her father. At that time I was shattered. The grief of losing my mother deepened. My editing was not going well. I had shown 600 versions of the film to my wife and Bhushan Kumar (producer). My wife had also gone mad, but then my friend Sanjay Sankla came into my life. he/she clearly told me that you have given a lot to the film and you have finished, so give the film to me for 6-7 days. he/she edited the film and when he/she showed it to me, I heaved a sigh of relief, because I wanted such an edit of the film, but was not able to do it. Anyway, we remained honest to the film and the story. We did not show Shrikant as a poor person. Anyway, biopics get attached to me. After Saand Ki Aankh and Shrikant, we are coming up with a biopic. There is a female centric film based on force and a web series, that too will be a biopic. Apart from this, we are also doing a Marathi film named Rider.

Had to sell the house, had no place to sleep

Tushar Hiranandani is the son of well-known film distributor Ashok Hiranandani. Talking about his/her background, he/she says, ‘I have seen many ups and downs in the family due to my film background. My father was a successful distributor. he/she distributed super hit films like Nikaah, but when he/she became a producer, he/she suffered huge losses. People did a lot of wrong to him/her. I remember when my father suffered losses in production, we had to leave our 6 BHK house in town and all the comforts and move to a one bedroom house. Our entire house was filled with stuff and we did not even have a place to sleep.’

I have no regrets about writing ‘Masti’

Tushar, who has written many films like ‘Masti’, ‘Pyare Mohan’, ‘Double Dhamaal’, ‘Grand Masti’, ‘Half Girl Friend’, says, ‘People often ask me whether I made a mistake by having fun? I tell them that you are watching the whole film, but not watching its end. The heroes get a realization at the end of the film, when the song ‘Dil De Diya Hai’ comes. So we showed the truth of men in the film that how you have to suffer the consequences of having fun. We showed the truth of a married man. After watching the film, a film maker like Sooraj ji (Sooraj Barjatya) praised us and told us that he/she wants us to write a film, so I want to say that I have no regrets about writing Masti.’

I never felt ashamed of being a clapper boy

Tushar used to be a clapper boy in the Indra Kumar directed film Mann. he/she says about the beginning of his/her journey, ‘At that time I was not even allowed to go inside the set. I could not even talk to Indu ji (director Indra Kumar). One day the shooting clapper boy fell ill, now no one was ready to clap on the set, because everyone considered it a small job. But I clapped and considered myself lucky, because I was able to go close to the artists inside the set. I never felt ashamed of clapping. How can I forget that when I used to clap, I was called ‘Aye Tushar’ on the set and when I became a writer on the same set, I started being called Tushar ji.’

Sharad Kelkar made a film for just one rupee

Director Tushar Hiranandani’s producer wife Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani has been an important part of his/her film journey. Even at that time when Tushar and his/her ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ was released. Regarding the budget of Shrikant and the prize money of the actors, he/she revealed, ‘We wanted Sharad Kelkar for the role of Ravi in ​​Shrikant, but we could not afford him/her in terms of budget, so Bhushan ji talked to him/her. Sharad asked for the script to read, he/she liked the script very much, but we told Sharad that we can afford only ten percent of your fee, then he/she said that he/she would not like to spoil his/her market value, but he/she wanted to do this film, so he/she did this film for just one rupee. Jyotika and Alaya reduced their fees for the film. Technicians and writers also reduced their remuneration. Talking about her stint as a producer on Saand Ki Aankh, Nidhi says, “As a female producer, I have faced the tag of ‘trophy wife’ (one who depends on her husband), but making a female-centric film is no less challenging. We initially wanted to make ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ with Shabana Azmi and Kirron Kher, but we did not get funding in their name. When we agreed to make it with any heroine, luckily we got Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu. Although we were trolled a lot on their casting, no one knew about our journey.”