Mumbai, Feb 7: Director Ashwini Iyer Tiwari says she is a fan of romantic stories but there are very few films being made in the genre and she would love see some fresh pairings.
The filmmaker is also looking forward to the reaction of audiences to the re-release of her romance-comedy “Bareilly Ki Barfi”, a small town romantic drama that featured Kriti Sanon and Ayushmann Khurrana as lead pairs
“After the pandemic, a lot of things have changed, especially the way we view cinema. I’m a big lover of romantic cinema. I love the genre. I would love to make more romance films. There’s a lot of love missing in people’s lives, we as storytellers need to add more love and joy to their lives,” the director, known for helming movies such as “Nil Battey Sannata”, and “Panga”, told PTI in an interview.
“I would like to see Alia and Ayushmann together in a love story, I would like to see Vicky Kaushal and Kriti Sanon in a love story, that will be a great combination,” she said.
Originally released during the Independence Day weekend of 2017, “Bareilly Ki Barfi” was re-released during a month traditionally associated with love—February. It is out in cinema halls across India from Friday.
“Back then, we had finished shooting in December and then we had to do post-production work so then we felt August was the correct date. The universe gave us a second chance to release it again and this time in the month of love.”
The inspiration for “Bareilly Ki Barfi” traces back to a French novel titled “The Ingredient of Love” by Nicolas Barreau, which the director read while she was taking a flight to Mumbai from Delhi after wrapping up the shoot of her debut feature, “Nil Battey Sannata”.
“I read it on the flight and the next day I was still thinking about the book. I told Nitesh (her director husband) to read it and he was like, ‘I’m not reading a rom-com book’ but later he did. He said, ‘There’s something in this book’ and we both started writing the story.
“We took the basic plot idea of the book. The publisher of the book was staying in a remote place in Paris and when we met him, he was surprised as to why we were making the film in India. We told him we liked the idea of mistaken identity.”
Also starring Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi, the movie garnered acclaim for its quirky storyline and the performance of its actors.
One of the standout aspects of “Bareilly Ki Barfi” is its unconventional casting.
Iyer Tiwari made a conscious choice to rope in Rao and Tripathi in light-hearted roles, diverging from their frequent portrayals of serious characters.
In “Bareilly Ki Barfi”, Rao plays the role of Sanon’s love interest, while Tripathi takes on the role of her father.
“An artist is like a chameleon; they will merge into the character. Pankaj ji and Raj are brilliant actors and it’s a sin to tag them into one thing. What happens is no one wants to take that first risk and one tends to offer a similar kind of offer to actors, one has to challenge the actor.
Iyer Tiwari said she is elated with the overnight success the actors garnered with “Bareilly Ki Barfi”.
“For me, the greatest joy is when my actors do well. Somewhere if they thank me in their heart, that’s great,” she said. (PTI)
