A few years ago, director-producer Nikkhil Advani noticed that his internal sleep clock was broken. “Like my good friend Akshay Kumar, I’d go to sleep by 9:30 PM but wake up by 2 AM. On most days, I can’t go back to sleep so I end up reading until about 6 AM when I really start my day,” he says. It is this sleep deprivation that he credits for being able to wear multiple hats and work on the many projects that his production company Emmay Entertainment is involved in.
This year alone, Emmay has produced the films Indoo Ki Jawani, Sardar Ka Grandson, and Bell Bottom, the anthology series Unpaused, and two web shows – The Empire and Mumbai Diaries 26/11. Coming up next are Satyameva Jayate 2 with John Abraham, and Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, that has just wrapped up a schedule in Estonia, with Rani Mukerji in the lead. In the OTT space, there is Rocket Boys on SonyLIV, which is based on the life of Indian nuclear physicists Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, and an untitled show with Nasseruddin Shah and Lara Dutta. Of these, Advani has directed Mumbai Diaries 26/11 and Apartment, a short film in Unpaused, starring Richa Chadha. He also has writing credits on Bell Bottom and Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway.
Firstpost spoke with Advani a day after his return from Estonia. Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway reunites him with Mukerji decades after Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, where he assisted director Karan Johar. “It was phenomenal to see Rani in front of the camera again. She’s a powerhouse, and she’s really sunk her teeth into the script," says Advani. Directed by Ashima Chibber, the film is based on a true event when a couple’s child was taken away by Norwegian welfare services as the parents were deemed unfit to raise a kid. Shooting for the film will wrap up after an impending two-week schedule in India.
Advani launched Emmay Entertainment almost exactly a decade ago in partnership with his sister Monisha Advani, and Madhu Bhojwani. “We started as a boutique production house where I directed everything we produced. But I always knew that I wanted to give wings to the younger associates and assistants who worked with me.” Raja Krishna Menon’s Airlift was the first film from the banner that Advani did not direct. “This was a huge turning point for us. We now have a robust development team, and a fantastic production team which remains our backbone.”
With Bhojwani almost completely taking over the production aspect, the Advani siblings have been focusing on developing shows and films. “Both Monisha and I are avid readers. Every day, we exchange five-six interesting articles on a range of subjects from around the world. And then, there are also the books that we are adapting.” Through the lockdowns, the team at Emmay has been working almost non-stop. “Zoom really became our friend. We even did the post production on Mumbai Diaries remotely.”
The Akshay Kumar-starrer Bell Bottom, which was coproduced by Emmay Entertainment and Vasu Bhagnani’s Pooja Entertainment, was the first Hindi film to be shot and released in a theatre since the pandemic began last year. Theatres being shut in different parts of the country and the audience still not ready to return has meant that the film has earned less than Rs 50 crore at the box office before it premiered on Amazon Prime Video India 10 days ago. “We developed the film, and when Pooja Entertainment took over, we were very clear that they're responsible for everything. I'm extremely gratified though that it released on Amazon, and I've been getting message after message that it's a good film.”
Adavi's next Satyameva Jayate 2 will be releasing in cinemas on 26 November. “Ideally I’d like the theatres to be a hundred percent open, and not with social distancing or no night shows. But it’s going to take a while for that level of normalcy to return. Having said that, I completely understand that producers don’t always have the luxury of waiting for a theatrical release of their film. It is a function of cashflows.”
For now though, Advani is celebrating the praise coming their way for Mumbai Diaries 26/11, that recently dropped on Amazon Prime Video India. A medical drama set against the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, the show stars Mohit Raina and Konkona Sensharma among others. The show was triggered by his love for the medical drama ER, and the American playwright and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. “I wanted to do something fast-paced and dramatic. Amazon hadn’t done a medical drama as yet so we started developing it. It was initially called Bombay Hospital but we couldn’t get the name because there’s a hospital by that name. During research, we really understood what a normal day in a government hospital is like, and then thought of increasing the stakes with a tragedy of some kind. That’s when we thought of juxtaposing the Mumbai attacks. The idea was to have a medical drama on a day when the city is about to crumble. And going forward, if there are more seasons, this is what the format is going to be.” With films like D-Day, Airlift, and Batla House to their credit, it’s no surprise that Advani and his team has an affinity towards stories that are inspired by real events.
His tryst with translating real to reel started with D-Day, which came at a time when he was looking to make 'a Veere Di Wedding/ Sex in the City kind of film with four sisters.' “Every single one of these real stories that we’ve adapted belong in the ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ category. Before 2008, if I told you a story about a group of who come into Mumbai in a dinghy and hold the city at ransom for three days and attacked the Taj (Mahal Hotel) and CST (Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus), people would have told me it’s too far-fetched.”
While having source material helps, the filmmaker is cognisant of the fact that he has not "really written anything truly fictional in a very long time."
A ‘marathon’ is how Advani describes the experience of directing a long-format story. “When we were making P.O.W (Star Plus), I was committed to direct only four episodes but ended up doing 106. I really enjoyed the experience. After Batla House, I didn’t have an exciting idea for a film so I knew that I had a good two-three years that I could commit to making a series. Also, OTT gives you a chance to work with such a wide variety of actors.”
While Mumbai Diaries 26/11 sits comfortably in Advani’s varied filmography, he is conscious of choosing quality over quantity when it comes to the projects that Emmay Entertainment produces. “I turned 50 earlier this year, and you start thinking about things like your legacy. You can’t make perfect films or shows every time but I know that there’s a certain benchmark that we will not go below. At any point, we don’t want to be ashamed of what we have done.”
by Karishma Upadhyay
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