We need to have more women as decision makers: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari has managed to strike a chord with the audience with her slice-of-life movies — Nil Battey Sannata (2016) and Bareilly Ki Barfi (2017). The director, who likes to veer towards strong female characters, is busy preparing for a few projects that have been announced.

In a tête-à-tête, she explains why the soul of her films will never change and discusses the importance given to women in cinema today. Over to her...

You have had a great journey so far…

My intention is to do good work and the rest will follow. The moment you start thinking about the result, everything falls flat. At least with me, it doesn’t work like that. All of us live in this world with hope. For me, it’s that we need to do our job with utmost honesty and sincerity. I never made Bareilly Ki Barfi with the intention that I should get an award for it. I wanted to helm a film, which is drastically different from my directorial debut. Otherwise, you tend to get comfortable with one space.

Do you feel a director’s struggle is not recognised?

As a breed of directors, we are used to a long wait. When we start writing, it takes us a lot of time to finish the screenplay. Then we pitch it to the actors and after the movie is complete, we look forward to the movie’s release. But if you are patiently waiting with a lot of integrity, it does come across. 

There’s a paradigm shift in Indian cinema today...

We have typecast movies in a certain fashion. When Sai Paranjpye, Satyajit Ray or Hrishikesh Mukherjee made films, people gave them immense love and respect. Viewers don’t understand terms like mainstream or art house cinema. They are looking for good films, that’s it. A movie is directly related to the box- office numbers. Right now, because of so much exposure to world cinema, everything is changing. No one categorises an Oscar-winning film like that either.

Every director has her/his space and quirks. Are you creating a niche for yourself with certain type of films?

No. If I’m duplicating myself, then after a point, I won’t have anything new to look forward to. Stories will keep changing. But there’s one thing which will remain the same in all my films — the soul. That cannot change because then, I will be fooling my audience. They come to watch my work for a certain reason. After Nil Battey Sannata and Bareilly Ki Barfi, if I make something which is not in that zone, I would be cheating my audience. It’s not that I can’t make something else or different, but not at the cost of upsetting them.

Is there a method that you follow while designing your films?

No, I’m quite fluid that way. I have clarity of thought. It’s also because of the experience I have had in terms of advertising. I know who my audience is and what I’m trying to communicate through my film. That’s extremely important.

Are you your harshest critic?

Yes, I am. When I made Nil Battey Sannata, the budgets were much lower. So, I knew what I needed to do in my next film. That’s how you progress in life. I watch my films and invariably find scenes or shots which I could have done better.

But there are few women directors today. Do you think female directors don’t get their due?

Whether you are male or female, a director, an actor or a technician, you have to be a great human being. Eventually, through your films, people will be looking up to you. What is important is to be addressed as an individual rather than being called someone’s wife or someone’s daughter. It’s high time that we, as people, start addressing women as women. In spite of doing two films and being slightly known now, why should some people still address me as Nitesh’s (Tiwari) wife? Don’t I have my own identity? Have we ever addressed a man as someone’s husband? That really troubles me because it’s unnecessary. All of us are equals and even Nitesh doesn’t like it.

Do you feel that there’s a lot of sexism in the industry?

No, it’s largely created. I want to understand what people think of the word ‘sexism’. There are a few things that do happen. When I was shooting for my first film, the line producers couldn’t accept the fact that a woman was calling the shots. Today, the same people are calling me and asking if there’s some work. We need to have more women who are decision makers. Women are so respected in the banking sector because maximum number of banks have female head honchos. I don’t believe in screaming and shouting to get noticed.

Are you averse to making a masala action film?

I can’t do action at all. Action director Shyam Kaushalji always tells me, “Mere liye bhi bana lo kuchh, jahaan main aa ke tumhein help karunga.” And I’m like, ‘I can’t even kill a cockroach, how will I design stunts’ (laughs)? 
I enjoy and appreciate masala films, but if someone asked me to make one, I won’t be able to do so.