Kussh S Sinha says he’s giving something unique with Nikita Roy; reveals being unfazed by film’s clash with Kajol’s Maa | Bollywood-OxBig News Network

The trailer has already generated buzz for its ‘unique and fresh’ content, and the film is scheduled to release in theatres on June 27, clashing with Kajol’s Maa. In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Kussh S Sinha spoke about his experience as a debutant director, working with Paresh and Arjun, and revealed that he is unfazed by the clash with Maa.

Kussh on being a director and giving something new to the audience

Kussh spoke about his experience as a first-time director and revealed putting in a lot of hard work for his debut film. Further talking about his journey, he said, “Being a director comes with its own set of challenges, suddenly you become in charge of a lot of things together, which when you are an AD, you don’t have to look at. There are also other professionals who contribute to making a good film. It was fairly good and maybe we got lucky as we were prepared for unforeseen problems, and so it was smooth.”

Kussh revealed he wanted to give the audience something new with Nikita Roy and said, “When we enter any industry and want to make a name for ourselves, I believe that unless we do something new, how will people recognise us? There are two ways: either you make such a great romantic film which is better than others, but I think you need to give something new to the audience so that they get to know about your work and they feel it’s worth their time. So we made a mixed-genre film. The other thing I liked about the script was that every character in the film is grounded, and they have a reason to do what they do. It’s not a mindless film. That’s why I chose Nikita Roy as my first film, which has a female protagonist going against a larger-than-life grey character like Paresh Rawal’s.”

On criticism of Bollywood’s formulic content trend

Talking about making his directorial debut at a time when Bollywood is being criticised for formulaic content, Kussh said, “With all humility, people today are saying that Hindi film industry is now making stale content or complaining that there’s nothing new, but we didn’t follow a formula. We are offering people a mixed genre film because we knew that’s how we can offer them something new. The trailer itself gives a hint of supernatural, horror and thriller, so we worked very hard to give people something new and unique.”

On box office numbers and industry realities

Kussh admitted that box office numbers do affect him and added, “My father has been in the industry for many years, so we viewed his career outside as viewers and for Sonakshi’s also for that matter. So, box office numbers do matter. One must always keep in mind that somebody else has also invested their capital and mind into the film. So, one must be respectful, but all of us in the film industry know that the box office is not in our hands, it’s in the people’s hands. Obviously, keeping in mind that cinema-goers have a multitude of choices, if we make the film on a reasonable budget, it should do reasonably well. It’s a saying in Hollywood: films don’t fail, budgets do, so we keep that in mind. But I can’t stress over something not under my control.”

On Nikita Roy clashing with Maa

Talking about Nikita Roy clashing with Maa at the box office, Kussh said he isn’t bothered by it and added, “I am sure Maa is coming and that’s also a big film backed by Ajay Sir and starring Kajol ma’am. It’s got Vishal Furia, who is a great director in the horror genre. But no, we are very clear that our film will work on its own merit. We are not competing with Maa because that film is again in a different space. It shows a more horror aspect right from the start. Ours is a different genre. It’s a supernatural mystery, but I wouldn’t call it horror.”

On bringing Paresh Rawal and Arjun Rampal on board

Kussh revealed how he cast Paresh and Arjun, and said, “I think I am very fortunate to get Paresh sir on board. We had two meetings with him. We went to meet him once to tell him the premise of the film, and the second time we met him to narrate his character of a spiritual leader who calls himself Amar Dev. When he heard the character, it was pretty clear that he liked it. Because he is such a talented actor, I don’t think he wants to keep doing the same thing again and again. I think he wants to do things that do justice to his talent and further display his craft. So I think I got lucky, and for me it was a big confidence boost.

He added, “With Arjun sir, we were in talks, but we didn’t have him on board even after we reached London for the shoot. So we were about to reach that shoot day where we needed him to play his character, but thankfully couple of days before that he came on board and it all fell into place.”