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EXCLUSIVE: Hichki director Siddharth Malhotra: Rani Mukerji is 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' in every way possible
In an EXCLUSIVE tête-à-tête with Pinkvilla, we sat down with Hichki director Siddharth P. Malhotra who spoke about his movie's success, directing Rani in a female-centric film which spelled box-office magic in 2018, and more.
2018 proved that the misconception of women-centric movies not bringing in the box-office moolah was rubbish as films like Raazi and Veere Di Wedding did not just receive critical acclaim but were BO successes as well. The film that started it all in 2018 was Hichki, which was the Indian adaptation of Brad Cohen's autobiography Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had. Starring Rani Mukerji, the movie proved fruitful at the box-office with praises galore for the female lead.
In an EXCLUSIVE tête-à-tête with Pinkvilla, we sat down with Hichki director Siddharth P. Malhotra, who got candid about the movie's humungous success, the struggles he had to face as no male actor was ready to take up such a challenging role, how directing Rani was a dream come true, how he was sort of the flagbearer of making a women-oriented movie that spelled BO magic and more. Check out the full excerpt of Siddharth P. Malhotra's interview below:
While the content of the movie was topnotch, did you expect the magnanimous box-office numbers for Hichki?
"Five years ago, nobody was letting me tell the story, may it be any studio head. I have gone to every conceivable studio you can think of barring Yash Raj and they had said no to me. Nobody said yes, I went to every male actor. They heard the film and said no. Two said yes but then the studios were not coming on board because they wanted a bigger, more saleable actor. The budget for Hichki always remained the same, male or female. Coming to the fact on content, nobody was willing to tell this story except Aditya Chopra and Maneesh Sharma, who let me tell it the way it was and the way it is. Kudos to them and thank God, that they did let me. When the trailer came out, people loved it, some people didn't love it. To tell this story while going through self-doubt and ups and downs of struggle was important. The kind of success Hichki got and is still getting, we didn't expect any of it. We made an honest film. Aditya and Maneesh told me that after watching the film, no one will doubt him as a filmmaker. People will come out and say that 'Siddharth knows his job as a writer and a filmmaker'. No one can call this film a bad film. I'm told that Hichki is India's Top 10 worldwide grossers of 2018 and in China, the Top 5. It'a big thank you to all."
Did you have apprehensions of having a female lead in Hichki, given the common notion that women-centric films don't guarantee big moolah at the box-office?
"I had no apprehensions. When your back is against the wall, my back was not against the wall but inside it. When you are inside, you want to come out and stand on the floor again, saying 'I can walk now.' I knew very well where I stood. I am grateful to Adi because he has given me a second birth in the film industry. He's given me a reason to rise and shine and so has Maneesh. At that point, women-centric or not women-centric wasn't a criterion. I just wanted to get this story told and I will tell it as a filmmaker with utmost honesty and integrity. Just let me tell it. I had no pre-conceived notions and I also knew that we were making it in a certain economic scale which would not allow us to go into losses. It's a lot of people who came together to create magic."
How is it being the flagbearer in 2018 whose movie with a female lead won over the box-office?
"I'm very proud to be the first story who actually did it. Rani was married, had a baby, so all the pre-conceived notions of being a wife and a mother and how no one will see them on-screen - 'Get Alia Bhatt, instead of Rani Mukerji! They will come for youth, they will not come for an older girl,' - all of this was proved wrong. Rani, with her brilliant performance as Naina Mathur, she shut everyone's mouth. She will always do that because the kind of spirit that she has and the kind of actor that she is, Rani is an asset to everybody. I'm proud to be the first leader in starting this movement."
How was it to direct Rani who consumes herself into every character she plays?
"Rani has done films like Hadh Kar Di Aapne, Aiyya, Black, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Hichki. She has done the full spectrum. It's a dream come true for me. If a director or writer gets to work with her and she lets them, they must because she is an asset to your film. She does not think of herself as an actor; she's an assistant director, an art director, philosopher, guide and a friend. She's all of that put together and, if she does not like something, there is no filter with Rani Mukerji. What she feels is going to be told to your face. If you like it or don't like it, deal with it. I love that kind of a person because then, there is no games or politics. You don't get people like her in this industry who think of the film, the energy of the film, the memories. Directing her is a dream come true and for Rani to play the lead in Hichki was a blessing for me. Rani coming into Hichki made Hichki. She is Hichki. Without Rani Mukerji, there is no film. She let me tell my story as a director and believed in me as a director as well as took my direction. There will always be transparency, reality and honesty between us and that honesty came through in that film."
What are your upcoming projects now?
"As a director, I'm working on two scripts. By January or February, I will know which of the two scripts I am making first and with whom. All my films will be about relationships - whether it be about a father and mother, a family or even unrequited love. But, they will always delve in the relationship space because that is who I am as a person. I like relationship-based stories."
Who is on your wish-list to direct next?
"Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan. Both together, why not again. (laughs) Tabu, Kajol, Kareena Kapoor Khan, any day again. Kamal Hassan, I'm dying to work with as I am a huge fan of him and want to direct him. I actually have something in mind for him. When that script is ready, I will go to him. I want Kamal Hassan and Amitabh Bachchan in that film. That will be fun. I want to work with Anil Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor, it will be an honour to direct him. Amongst the girls, I really love Deepika Padukone and think that she is amazing. She's had such brilliant filmmakers working and giving her such great stories. I want to be amongst those Top 5 in her career who give her one of those landmark films too. I have some stuff for her and whenever those scripts are made, they fall into place. These are the people who I definitely want to work with, in this lifetime."
What do you think changed in 2018 as we witnessed a paradigm shift in the kind of movies being accepted by the audience?
"I should credit the OTT platforms. In 2018, we saw that coming in. The audience changed. I believe that the audience who was used to tolerating a certain amount of typical formulaic run of the mill stories started saying, 'We are not going to spend 1000, 1500 or 2000 bucks to come to a cinema hall, specifically multiplex. We value our time and people are going to watch the same film in two months on Netflix. The choice of deciding to watch that film that weekend, it's boiled down to that now. The acceptance of that audience has given rise and birth to many people who could not tell their stories. 2019 will be much better. Films like Hichki, Raazi and Badhaai Ho, which could not be told years ago, now will be told. Stronger subjects will be told."
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