His directorial career includes National Award winning film Paan Singh Tomar and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster and his acting prowess was captured brilliantly in projects like Manjhi—The Mountain Man and Gangs of Wasseypur. Actor-writer-director Tigmanshu Dhulia, who is now playing the role of Shah Rukh Khan’s father in Zero, feels that even big-budget films need a good script now.
He also emphasised that after 1960s, the respect for a content writer went down significantly and that must change now. “Big-budget films have started to face this challenge of just being big-budget and loaded with stars. But even big-budget films need a good script now. Look at Thugs of Hindostan. The stars delivered what they promised because the first day collections were phenomenal. So people went to see Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan, but from the second day the collections sank,” he said.
“So, whether it’s a big-budget film or not, content is the king. The audience is smart and the type of things that are coming up online has given a good exposure to the audience to quality content,” Timangshu added.
“I think after 1960’s the respect for a content writer went down significantly and that must change now,” Dhulia told IANS. Having grown up in Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad, the filmmaker says he tries to incorporate his small-town experience in his cinematic presentation. His films, including Haasil, Charas and Shagird did an average business at the box-office but are still alive in the minds of moviegoers.
When asked if Indian cinema was moving away from the fascination of Khan era with new faces taking the lead, he said cinema is now addressing a larger audience. “Earlier, multiplexes were present only in big cities, but we see them now in smaller towns as well. Hence cinema is also addressing characters from small towns. Look at Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao—their characters are from small towns,” he said.
“The Khans typically played glamorous roles and not these roles. Also, smaller towns are contributing significantly to the revenues. Hence, these characters from small towns are being considered more than ever before,” said Dhulia.
On working with Shah Rukh in Zero, he said, “Shah Rukh and I worked together during Dil Se for which I had written the dialogues. Our friendship goes way back. As of Zero, there were two-three reasons for me to take it up. One—The role was really different and unique and not like what I played in Ganges of Wasseypur.”
“Secondly, Aanand L Rai is a dear friend who was making this technically heavy film with special effects. I was curious to see how he was making the film and learn more on the sets. And thirdly, one is always exited to work with Shah Rukh,” he added.
According to Dhulia, entertainment is moving to the web. “Most content would move to the web and the cinema theatres would only see big movies like Baahubali playing,” he said.
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