Milan Talkies Director Tigmanshu Dhulia: 'In The Future, I'll Not Act In Films That I Direct'
Tigmanshu Dhulia opened up by saying that he'll no longer act in movies that he directs. He played a part in his latest release Milan Talkies which stars Ali Fazal and Shraddha Srinath.
Tigmanshu
Dhulia
may
have
impressed
the
audiences
with
his
directing
and
acting
chops,
but
the
filmmaker
says
balancing
both
the
jobs
in
the
same
film
is
akin
to
walking
a
tightrope.
The
director,
who
played
the
father
to
the
main
lead
(Ali
Fazal)
in
his
latest
directorial
Milan
Talkies,
said
he
decided
to
take
up
the
part
as
other
actors
were
unavailable.
This
was
Dhulia's
first
full-fledged
role
in
his
directorial
venture.
He
previously
made
a
guest
appearance
in
his
2011
film
Saheb
Biwi
Aur
Gangster.
"I
never
wanted
to
do
this
role.
In
the
future
I
will
never
do
acting
and
direction
hand-in-hand
as
it's
very
tough.
I
wanted
someone
else
to
do
this
role.
But
the
issue
was
of
the
dates
and
everyone
was
busy.
When
I
was
left
with
no
choice,
I
decided
to
act
in
the
film," the
director
told
PTI
in
an
interview.
Dhulia
has
acted
in
a
number
of
films,
most
notably
Anurag
Kashyap's
Gangs
of
Wasseypur
series
and
Shahrukh
Khan's
Zero.
He
believes
Milan
Talkies
nicely
deals
with
a
father-son
relationship.
"People
will
be
inspired
by
my
character
and
will
wish
to
have
such
a
father.
Moreover,
I
have
seen
today's
advertisements
where
the
father
is
shown
as
a
foolish
guy
who
knows
nothing
about
today's
generation
and
the
children
are
shown
as
smart.
In
this
film,
the
father
is
a
bigger
loafer
than
his
own
son.
His
son
is
a
cinema
buff
but
the
father
is
a
bigger
cinema
buff.
So
they
share
a
very
strong
bond."
The
filmmaker
said
it
was
his
daughter
who
urged
him
to
make
a
"pure
love
story" as
she
was
unable
to
watch
his
previous
films
due
to
their
A
ratings.
"I
decided
to
make
a
story
on
pure
love
as
my
daughter
always
had
a
problem
when
my
movies
would
receive
an
adult
certificate,
even
though
they
never
contained
abusive
language
but
there
was
violence
in
them.
So
I
said
ok.
The
project
took
so
much
time
to
get
made
that
my
daughter
is
20-years-old
now,"
he
said.
Dhulia's
Milan
Talkies
went
through
development
hell
as
the
project
was
announced
back
in
2012.
Before
Fazal
bagged
the
lead
role,
several
names
were
attached
to
the
film,
from
Shahid
Kapoor
and
Priyanka
Chopra
to
Imran
Khan.
Despite
the
delays,
the
director
said
he
stuck
to
base
the
film
in
the
year
2010
as
he
believes
it
highlights
the
importance
of
communication.
"I
decided
to
keep
the
plot
of
the
story
in
2010
to
2013.
Basically,
the
story
revolves
around
the
theme
of
communication
gap.
In
today's
time,
we
have
several
platforms
like
Twitter,
WhatsApp,
Instagram
and
others,
where
we
can
communicate
but
still
we
fail
at
it.''
"People
are
using
the
social
networking
sites
to
get
into
relationships.
They
don't
even
know
how
to
establish
communication
with
someone.
So
my
film
basically
deals
with
how
communication
is
important
in
one's
life."
The
film,
produced
by
PS
Chhatwal
and
Filmy
Keeda
Productions,
also
features
Shraddha
Srinath,
who
has
made
her
Bollywood
debut
with
the
project.
Also
starring
Ashutosh
Rana,
Sanjay
Mishra,
Reecha
Sinha
and
Sikander
Kherr,
Milan
Talkies
released
on
March
15.