Milan Talkies Director Tigmanshu Dhulia: I Didn't Join Bollywood To Make Movies With Superstars
Tigmanshu Dhulia has a solid clarity of what he wants to do: make films which have his trademark style and never chase stars to get his dream on celluloid.
Filmmaker
Tigmanshu
Dhulia
has
a
solid
clarity
of
what
he
wants
to
do:
make
films
which
have
his
trademark
style
and
never
chase
stars
to
get
his
dream
on
celluloid.
The
director,
who
has
helmed
mid-budget
but
critically
acclaimed
films
like
"Paan
Singh
Tomar" and
"Saheb
Biwi
aur
Gangster"
series,
has
learnt
over
the
years
on
how
to
avoid
the
pressure
of
having
a
star
to
headline
his
film.
"I
don't
want
to
sound
pompous
but
I
want
my
films
to
be
a
'Tigmanshu
Dhulia
Film.'
Whether
it's
a
hit
or
a
flop,
doesn't
matter.
I
came
to
this
industry
to
make
films,
not
to
make
films
with
stars.
Now
I've
learnt
to
not
approach
those
producers
with
those
kind
of
scripts
where
they
will
ask
me
to
get
a
star.
I
don't
fall
into
that
trap
anymore," Tigmanshu
told
PTI.
The
pressure
on
a
director
to
get
a
star
on
board
can
be
quite
daunting.
Tigmanshu
first
hand
experienced
this
while
making
his
upcoming
directorial,
"Milan
Talkies",
which
earlier
had
several
names
attached
to
it,
from
Shahid
Kapoor
and
Priyanka
Chopra
to
Imran
Khan.
Though
conceptualised
around
2011,
Tigmanshu
had
to
cross
several
roadblocks
to
finally
make
the
film.
"Earlier
UTV
was
supposed
to
do
it
but
I
had
a
fallout
with
them
because
they
weren't
releasing
'Paan
Singh
Tomar.' There
was
a
gap
then
and
Ekta
pushed
really
hard.
I'll
give
it
up
to
her.
Despite
actors
saying
yes
and
no,
dillydallying
about
it,
she
held
on
to
it.
But
they
needed
a
star.
I
requested
her
let
me
make
it
with
whoever
because
otherwise
this
will
never
get
made
and
she
did."
The
filmmaker
is
now
ready
to
release
"Milan
Talkies" on
March
15,
featuring
Ali
Fazal,
Shraddha
Srinath,
Sikander
Kher
and
Ashutosh
Rana,
among
others.
The
director,
however,
had
to
tweak
the
writing
a
bit
as
the
film
kept
on
getting
delayed.
"I
started
writing
it
in
2010-2011,
that's
why
the
film
is
also
set
in
that
period,
where
we
had
prints
in
theatres.
Suddenly
because
of
digital,
the
romance
of
cinema
goes.
I
had
to
show
the
projectors,
the
equipments."
Tigmanshu
has
often
set
his
films,
including
"Milan
Talkies",
in
small
towns
and
he
says
the
reasons
is
that
most
of
the
intriguing
stories
come
from
there.
"If
you
take
up
the
films
set
in
small
town
and
try
to
make
it
in
Mumbai,
it'll
not
work.
Small
towns
bring
a
lot
of
conflicts
of
various
kinds.
Apart
from
Mumbai
and
probably
Bangalore,
every
city
in
this
country
is
a
small
town
anyway,
where
values
and
traditions
still
exist.
Despite
Delhi
being
the
capital
of
the
country,
people
there
have
small
town
mentalities.
But
not
Mumbai.
Mumbai
is
an
office,
not
a
home."