Panga is a hit for Ashwini

Kangana Ranaut starrer

Panga released on January 24 to a slow response, and despite growing in numbers over the weekend, has not been a hit. But director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is happy with the accolades and the critical acclaim that the film has garnered thus far.

She says: “I do feel that as a storyteller, you get a lot of love from the viewers and the cinema halls when you get appreciation from not one but all the film critics for your work. They message you about liking the film, because there are times when you forget your perspective as a filmmaker. But then we should be making more films like these. Because these films are not just for entertainment but are inspiration and aspiration. We have only spent a week in the cinema halls, and the audience is growing slowly, but steadily.” Panga was made at a budget of `25 crore plus a release cost of `12 crore with a total expense of `37 crore. The film has recovered over `23 crore at the Indian box office and around `5 crore overseas. The film also collected `24.4 crore from the sale of satellite and digital rights, and music rights of `3 crore thereby making profits for the producers. However, Tiwari debunks the `100 crore collection theory as humbug. “Stories have to be limited to the narrative only and not beyond it. We start giving it a tag stating that a film is a hit only when it makes `100 crore. Stories do not become hit like that. Stories become a hit with your feeling. It is a hit if it has been able to make a difference to you and your thinking,” she opines.

The filmmaker reveals that she was warned against various potential hurdles that come to a film like Panga, such as working with a controversial actress like Ranaut and also doing a film on a sport like kabaddi, where one could risk a lot of injuries to the cast. “I was also warned about a lot of things, about how Kangana fights on the set and how actors can get injured on the set because I had picked up a sport like kabaddi as the premise for the film. But human relationships are different. It all depends on how one human behaves with the other. Kangana and I trust each other a lot which is why we made a film like this,” she shares.

Tiwari maintains that films are commerce and hence the producers should make money as well. But a hit tag will come only when the film manages to connect with the audience. Well, that is a bit of a paradox, isn’t it?

“Film is a hit if it has been able to make a difference to you and your thinking.” —Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari