Bollywood Hungama

EXCLUSIVE: Srikanth producer Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani talks about National Award win and busts lobbying perception: The jury liked our film and awarded us; explains how it looked bigger than its budget: My only brief to DOP was to make every shot look like a Rs. 50 cr film

The 72nd National Film Awards ceremony was held last week, on September 22, and among the proud attendees was Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani. Her production house, Chalk N Cheese Films, produced Srikanth (2024) with T-Series, and the Rajkummar Rao-starrer went on to win the Best Hindi Feature Film award. Understandably, Nidhi is on cloud nine. Chalk N Cheese Films has carved a distinct niche for itself. All three of its films so far Saand Ki Aankh (2019), Srikanth and the Marathi film Ata Thambaycha Naay (2025) have been inspired by remarkable real-life stories and presented in a mainstream, entertaining manner. Saand Ki Aankh and Srikanth, incidentally, were directed by Tushar Hiranandani, who is also Nidhi Parmar Hiranandanis husband. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Hungama, conducted just before her birthday, the enterprising producer opened up about Srikanths National Award win, her journey into films, her working equation with Tushar, her fascination with Karan Johar and a lot more. Where were you when you learned that Srikanth won the National Award? We were in Goa at my cousins place to celebrate Tushars birthday. I was sitting by the pool with a friend while he was sleeping inside. Suddenly, he came running out and said, Nidhi, we won the National Award. I thought he was dreaming! I told him, You must have dreamt about it. Go back to sleep. He replied, No, really, I just got a call from someone. We were staying in a remote area and neither of us had network on our phones. However, my friend did. She switched on the live stream of the announcement and thats when we saw that Srikanth had indeed won the National Award. It took us a minute to believe it. Soon, we were flooded with congratulatory calls. With Srikanth, an important point has been proven, or rather, disproven, that you need to lobby to win an award. We didnt do anything of that sort. The National Award jury did its job. They saw the film, liked it and awarded us. Even now, people ask us, How did you guys win? or Did you know so-and-so? When we went for the ceremony, we got a chance to meet people from different film industries across the country. Several of them told us that Srikanth deserved the National Award. Two encounters particularly stood out. Aanand L Rais wife told Tushar that the film really deserved to win. Shashwat Sachdevs father hugged Tushar and said that Srikanth was one of his favourite films. That felt really nice. How did the real Srikanth Bolla react to the National Award honour? He has been expecting this award from the very beginning (laughs). Ever since the day we narrated the final script to him, he kept saying, Our film will win the National Award. During the promotions, we literally had to tell him, Please dont say such things! He also dreamt of an Oscar. And he wasnt too far off, because Srikanth was among the films considered to be Indias official entry to the Oscars. It even made it to the top five! So, when we won the National Award, he was his usual nonchalant self. He simply said, I told you we would win! Often, films enjoy strong word of mouth but still struggle to find an audience because of the sheer number of releases. Srikanth, however, arrived at a time when there was hardly any major competition for almost three weeks. Do you think that worked in the films favour? The film had been ready for a while and we were looking for the right release window. The date shifted two or three times. Rajkummar Raos Mr & Mrs Mahi (2024) was also being planned for release around the same time, but it eventually arrived three weeks after our film. May 10, 2024, looked like a great date to us. We met Bhushan Kumar ji and requested him to release the film on May 10 because we felt it was an ideal window. He agreed, and thats how we announced the date. And yes, it turned out to be a dream release for us. What changes for you from here on? I feel we must have done something right to win the National Award, and wed like to continue on that path. At the same time, as makers, we want to evolve. We do want to explore more commercial cinema, but content will always come first for us. Even if we make something more commercial, it still has to have a strong story at its core. After Srikanth, we made Ata Thambaycha Naay, which was a small Marathi film. Its been a year since that film and two years since Srikanth, but its not as if we havent received offers or come across subjects to make. We did try going down the route of putting together a more commercial package, but we realised thats not really how we function. We need to connect with the script. So, even when we do make a commercial film, it will have to be something that genuinely speaks to us. How challenging was it to make Srikanth within a certain budget? I feel I was a very lucky producer because Tushar was the director. I would give him 100 out of 100. Hes a dream director for any producer because hes extremely mindful of the budget. Hes also a master at making a film mounted on a modest budget look beautiful. His DOP is very important to him, so he takes his time finalising the cinematographer. Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti shot Saand Ki Aankh, while Srikanth was shot by Pratham Mehta. Pratham gave it his absolute best as well, and full marks to him. I dont understand the technical aspects too much. My only brief to Pratham was, Every shot should look like this is a Rs. 50 crore film, even though our COP was Rs. 20 crores! He and all our HODs worked within the budget and still delivered their A-game. Why is your production house called Chalk N Cheese Films? (Smiles) Thats because Tushar and I are like chalk and cheese! We are complete opposites as personalities, right from the kind of food we like and the way we dress to the places we like to visit. So, whenever we make a movie, both of us have to like it, which is actually very difficult! We have to meet somewhere in the middle and find common ground. Even our approach to filmmaking and shooting is very different. How did you get into this profession? I am from Chandigarh and I came to Mumbai to become a director. I was studying to become a CA, although I hated every bit of it. I hated accounts! I was a scholarship student and had topped Economics, which is why I was studying Commerce. Then, I went to watch Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) with my mother and I went mad over the person who had made the movie (Karan Johar)! I didnt go crazy over Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol or Rani Mukerji. Instead, I kept wondering, Who is this person who has created this world? Thats when I started trying to understand what a director actually does. In the process, I became obsessed with KJo. He opened my mind to a medium that I had never taken seriously before. It completely changed my world, and that was the day I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in cinema. I left everything and came to Mumbai. I did a course at XIC (Xavier Institute of Communications) and started working. Later, I even got the opportunity to work at Karans company, Dharma Productions! So, in a way, he is the reason I came to Mumbai from Chandigarh. Are you still in touch with him? Of course. Karan will always have the warmest place in my heart (smiles). Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Srikanth makers Tushar Hiranandani and Nidhi Parmar Hiranandani announce Ragda 25; film based on Indian Armys first experimental batch of 25 women