Tigmanshu Dhulia: I am not a launchpad for star kids

At a time when several Bollywood filmmakers are vying to launch star kids, filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia, says he won’t ever make a film to launch anyone. “A debut film for star kids has to be made in a certain way. Since it is their launch film, unhey gaana bhi gaana hain aur action bhi karna hain (they must sing songs and do action sequence also). I can’t make such formula films. I make films for myself. I am not a launchpad for star kids,” says the Paan Singh Tomar (2012) director, who was recently in the Capital to launch the trailer of his film, Raag Desh, in the parliament.

Interestingly, the director was approached to make Hero (2015) that launched Sooraj Pancholi (Aditya Pancholi’s son) and Athiya Shetty (Sunil Shetty’s daughter), before it went to Nikhil Advani. “Yes I was asked to make the film but I said no because at that time I was working on something else. And, as I said, formula films aren’t my cup of tea,” he says.

In fact, he says formula films are unlikely to work as a debut film. “The audience has evolved. You can’t make a Betaab (1983) or Love Story (1981) as launch films,” he says.

The director-actor also feels that in the beginning star kids are also skeptical about the kind of film they can do. “I finished a script on Second World War and approached a star kid. He was completely blown by the story. But then he backed out because he was not sure if he will be able to pull it off,” he says.