WHY NIKHIL BACKED AN ALLWOMEN FILM

Veere Di Wedding coproducer Nikhil Dwivedi says he knew from the word go that the film would turn out to be a pathbreaking project

Afilm doing good business at the box office is great news for its producer. Naturally then, Nikhil Dwivedi, the co-producer of Veere Di Wedding — which is receiving a lot of love from the audiences — is all smiles these days. “I would like to believe that more people have liked it [than some who might not have], and that’s why it’s a success. The opening has been record breaking,” says Nikhil.

Asked why he has been missing from the promotions of the film all this while, he says, “It’s perhaps my personality. I think the film should just speak for itself. I am happy with the way things are going.”

Nikhil adds that he knew that this film, which stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam K Ahuja, Swara Bhasker and Shikha Talsania, would be a path-breaking project, and that it was important for him to support it. “I knew it from the word go! We knew that a lot of people may not find substance in it, thinking that we’re not taking up a social initiative such as building toilets for women. We are just dream merchants and our job is to pedal cinema. There can be relevant cinema, but we can also tell stories without making them preachy or minus a social message all the time. I’d [still] call it groundbreaking in many ways for women to be able to say what they are, regardless of it being ‘frivolous’ or ‘substantial’. I don’t think women in Hindi cinema have been able to express themselves this freely on screen before,” he says.

He’s an actor as well, but realises that his strength lies elsewhere, Nikhil, who is clear that he won’t act in anything he produces, says, “As an actor, I haven’t done too well... But I’m willing to explore certain roles. And as a producer, I’d like to support interesting cinema.”

I’d call it groundbreaking for women to be able to say what they are, regardless of it being ‘frivolous’ or ‘substantial’. I don’t think women in Hindi cinema have expressed themselves this freely on screen before. NIKHIL DWIVEDI, ACTORPRODUCER

A still from the recent release, Veere Di Wedding