Srikanth director Tushar Hiranandani and producer Nidhi Exclusive Interview: “Anurag Kashyap called us one day…”
In an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, National award winner director Tushar Hiranandani and producer Nidhi Hiranandani revealed how Anurag Kashyap’s advice helped them in understanding each other’s creative boundaries.
Written by Mohit Dixit , Author
Published on Sep 29, 2026 | 11:01 AM IST | 15K
Tushar Hiranandani and Nidhi Hiranandani are currently on cloud 9 for winning the National Award for Srikanth in the category of ‘Best Hindi Feature Film’ at the 72nd National Awards. The former being the director and the latter being one of the producers, the couple has proved that hard work pays off. After their major victory, both gave Pinkvilla an exclusive interview in which they discussed their inspiring journey, early career struggles, and the creative passion that continues to drive their work. During the talk, Tushar and Nidhi confirmed working on three projects, recalled how Anurag Kashyap's advice helped them understand each other's creative boundaries, and much more.
(Excerpts from the interview)
Q. How did it feel when you first learned that Srikanth was winning the National Award?
Tushar: My wife and I were in Goa. We were celebrating our birthday, and I was actually asleep in the afternoon. Somebody called me and told me about it. I thought it was a dream, and then I exclaimed in happiness and excitement and told Nidhi about it. The rest, my wife Nidhi will tell.
Nidhi: He came to me and said that we won the National Award. I thought he genuinely had some dream, so I told him to go back to sleep. When we found out a little later, within five minutes, that we had actually won, it was very surreal. Even then, it wasn't sinking in. Of course, when we sat in the ceremony, the whole thing came alive- that atmosphere, and being in the middle of all these high achievers, and the President giving the award. It was a very, very surreal experience, and a very proud feeling.
Q. You've been active in the industry for over two decades. Before directing, you were a writer for around 15 years. What took you so long to transition from a writer to a director?
Tushar: Actually, it's a very strange story. She was actually the Creative Head at Dharma Productions, and I was at Balaji Motion Pictures. Plus, I was writing as well, and I wanted to become a director. I tried a lot, up and down, but it didn't happen. When I turned 45, I thought I would just retire. Then I watched Aamir Khan sir's show Satyamev Jayate.
There, I saw those two grandmothers who started sharp-shooting at 65. I actually teared up out of happiness seeing what great achievers they were. I told Nidhi that a story like this should be made. But nobody would make it because it was female-centric. So she said, "Why don't you make it?" I said, "Me? She said, "Didn't you want to direct? Direct this film". I asked, "Who will produce it?" She said, "I also want to produce one film; I'll do it". And that's how, because of Nidhi, I think I became a director.
So that was the story of my entry into direction. After that, people often ask, "You wrote these films, but you make different films as a director compared to what you wrote". That's because of Nidhi. Our company's name is Chalk and Cheese. So, Chalk and Cheese being two different people coming together. She chooses those subjects. She chose Srikanth as well, and Saand Ki Aankh was also through her. So credit goes to her more than me in this. She's my boss.
Q. How does this chemistry work on set? You are director-producer, and also husband and wife. Does any conflict ever arise, or how does it go?
Nidhi: It happened; in the first film, there was a lot of conflict during Saand Ki Aankh. We basically argued a lot. It was our first film; we were figuring out our boundaries- what was his boundary, what was my boundary. We were overstepping each other, fighting a lot.
But Anurag Kashyap called us one day and said, "When you shoot together, stay in different rooms; you'll get a lot of relief". As a couple, you need some distance when working together. We followed his advice, and genuinely, it made a lot of difference. We got space to think, recalibrate, and come back. That was the first step, I think, of trying to understand each other's job roles and giving each other space.
Now we've done three films together, and I think we've both become individually secure in our roles.
We understand that "this is his territory, I shouldn't step in," and he understands that "this is Nidhi's jurisdiction, I shouldn't step in". So we respect each other's boundaries now. We are still vocal about things; we still fight a lot, but just not on set. Now we do those fights at home before going to the set. I think we've found a comfort level, and along the way, we've understood that when we fight, we're fighting for the film, not attacking each other. That's a basic understanding. Our fights are full-throttle; we fight very loudly, and in two minutes we're fine because it's not personal. So I think we've learned how to deal with it.
Q. Coming to Srikanth, Rajkummar Rao played a visually impaired character, and it was a very different kind of role compared to the blind characters we've seen before-like Naseeruddin Shah in Sparsh, Al Pacino, or the characters in Aankhen. But here, it's very different and has a distinct mannerism. How did you guys decide how Rajkumar Rao would play it?
Tushar: Basically, Srikanth was right in front of us because we were making a film on Srikanth himself. But Raj (Rajkummar Rao) deserves a lot of credit for this. First, we went to the blind school in Jogeshwari. We went there quite a few times and spent a lot of time with the visually impaired people there. Raj is very smart at this. He picked up one character trait from one person, another from someone else, and created this mannerism on his own. He got it right with this approach. If you look at the shots from the first two days, his acting was a bit different, but then he gradually picked it up, gained confidence, and got it bang on. Me, Raj, and Nidhi used to say that in the future, whenever anyone makes a film about a visually impaired person, they will definitely watch Srikanth at least once, just to see how he performed. Just like we used to watch Naseer sahab or Om Puri sahab.
Nidhi: But honestly, 100 out of 100 to Raj. He is a master of his craft, a very professional actor who takes his job very seriously. He went to the school and spent a lot of time with the visually impaired, but what he picked up from Srikanth, that eye movement, the eyebrow movement- is exactly how Srikanth is. So all marks to Raj; he's too good.
Q: Saand Ki Aankh, Srikanth, and Scam 2003, all are real stories about underdogs, not widely popular personalities. Are you naturally inclined toward underdog real-life stories?
Tushar: Nidhi brings these magical stories; I mean, we also want to make films about famous people, undoubtedly, but we really enjoy it when more people come to know about Srikanth today. Srikanth often calls me and says, "Thank you, man, my life has become much easier after this movie came out". That's a great thing. When people know about the Tomar sisters today, it's a very nice feeling for us, and I enjoy it.
As I said, I make these stories because I can relate to them. I get an emotional reaction. Same with Nidhi. We are both very careful. It's been two years now since Srikanth, and we haven't made a film yet because we work very, very hard on writing. Once we are sure, then we start the project.
Q. You must have already planned your next film. Is it going to be another grounded real-life story?
Tushar: Not just one, there are a couple of stories- two or three stories we are working on now, and all of them are grounded stories. Nidhi will tell you better.
Nidhi: We actually have several stories ready. One is Ragda Pachhees, about the first batch of women in the Army. For the second one, we are in the middle of casting, and the announcement will come soon, probably in October. Then we have developed three more; basically, our slate is ready. We are just getting into casting, fine-tuning, and refining. But two subjects are absolutely ready: one is the Army film, and the other one we will announce in October. So it's an exciting time, and we are very happy with the content we are making. Our lens is still content-forward, and we're slowly moving toward more commercial territory while keeping our DNA intact.
Tushar: We also made a Marathi picture, directed by Shivraj Waichal, which won eight Filmfare Awards. So we are making a film with Shivraj as well.
Q. Will you be directing Ragda Pachhees?
Tushar: Yes.
Q. You have written several comedy films as well, and nowadays the comedy genre seems a bit shaky, with not many good comedy films coming out. Would you ever like to direct a comedy film?
Nidhi: I will make him direct a comedy film for sure!
Tushar: She has thought of a brilliant idea, and we've identified a superb writer for it as well. We are starting soon. That's Nidhi's job; she keeps making those scripts so that I won't stop now. Once it starts, I'll make five or six pictures in five years. That's what Nidhi has been doing for the last two years—identifying subjects and writers to take it forward. Our comedy will be a bit different; it will be comedy, but thoughtful, with a story that everyone will enjoy.
Q. Is there anything you'd like to share about Ragda Pachhees? When it's going on floors or anything?
Tushar: There's a saying: "Jitna ragda Pachhees, utna tagda Pachhees". So that's why the title is Ragda Pachhees. Casting is ongoing; the script is locked. We are just waiting to complete casting. As I said, casting for other films is also underway. Whichever actor's dates we get first, that film will start. All I can say is that we are very confident; we have three brilliant subjects.
Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more updates.
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