Family Ties
Meet the family that eats, sleeps and breathes movies, with dad Ajay Bijli skillfully, yet quietly, guiding his kids Niharika, Nayana & Aamer behind the scenes
When 25-year-old Ajay Bijli’s father passed away, he left behind a solid legacy in the form of a well-established transport company and strong family values to last a lifetime. At 55 years old, Ajay has successfully built his own brand that is a household name today—PVR Cinemas—from the ground up, and established a legacy all his own to pass on to his children, along with the very same values that he has always held dear.
Perhaps the most important values he’s inculcated in his children, Niharika, Nayana and Aamer, are sincerity, integrity and humility. The one habit they picked up by default was a passion for movies. Now, like their father, the three are turning their obsession into something more productive.
Creatively led
You may know of the recently released film, Brahmāstra, part one of a fantasy trilogy that featured VFX previously unseen in Hindi cinema. What you may not know is that Ajay’s elder daughter, 30-year-old Niharika, was the creative director of the film.
“I worked very closely with the director [Ayan Mukerji] through the project. I started fairly early on the film, when all we had was a basic script. So, I got to work on almost every aspect of the process,” Niharika explains.
Nayana, 28, works in PVR Pictures in acquisitions, while Aamer, 24, works as a liaison for international movie marketing and film programming at PVR, and also works for the family transport company.
For Nayana, this means buying content. Eventually though, she wants to produce movies. “I’m passionate about bringing stories to life,” she says.
Aamer describes what he does as bridging the gap between the US studios and the Indian cinemas. “I want to push Hollywood content more,” he smiles.
The three of them light up when they talk about growing up with movies.
“Movies have been ingrained in us,” Nayana shares. “We grew up in cinemas, and that always remained.”
Father figure
For Ajay, his children’s career paths are their own. “Because the same thing happened to me,” he shares. “My dad wanted me to study, but was very clear that it was my call.”
Aamer says his parent’s support is paramount. “They’ve never said no. Their direction was more: if you really want to do it, show me that you can do it.”
Clearly Ajay and his wife Selena saw the direction their children were taking and nurtured it.
“They sort of said, follow your heart, your dreams,” says Nayana.“And it was just so that our dreams aligned with what papa was doing.”
“If I ever have a problem, papa is the call I make. He always answers. Even if he’s in a meeting, he’ll pick up and say, ‘Can I call you back?’”
NIHARIKA BIJLI, Creative director,
Brahmastra
“My kids are all movie buffs to another level, especially when it comes to Harry Potter and LoTR and DC and Marvel”
AJAY BIJLI, Chairman & MD, PVR
All commitment
Ajay does not do things by half. He’s instilled this same drive and motivation in his children.
“Dad worked so hard while we were grow
ing up, but he never made us feel he wasn’t there. When I started working, I realised what he did. He was successful in finding that work-life balance. My respect and admiration for him has only grown,” says Niharika.
urvee.modwel@hindustantimes.com Follow @modwel on Instagram and @UrveeM on Twitter