Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 31, 2017)

For an industry that thrives on gender divide, it doesn’t come as a surprise that director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari has to constantly battle loose talk about borrowing her husband Nitesh Tiwari’s name for eyeballs. This, despite the fact that she has a critically acclaimed film like Nil Battey Sannata (2016) to her credit.

“He is better with writing, I am good with the vision,” Iyer points out, as she adds that there is clear demarcation of work between them. “We are thorough professionals. We got used to it when we were in advertising. It’s difficult to report to your boss and be married to him,” Tiwari tells us as the duo reflects on how well they’ve handled it so far. They both admit that life has changed for them post the success of Tiwari’s directorial Dangal (2016). The film’s success, they assert, has only cemented their professional partnership.

With Iyer’s next directorial Bareilly Ki Barfi, starring Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana and Kriti Sanon up for release, she says that her husband’s name lends more credibility to the film. “Expectations build up in a good way. There’s no denying that people look at him more than me. I’m glad because it helps my film. But I don’t want people to misinterpret it as me living under his shadow. I have not directed this film because of his guidance.”

Iyer elaborates, “He never comes for my shoots because people are quick to assume that he is overpowering my work. We are aware of these issues but we never keep any ego between us. Yes, it does bother me sometimes. But we can’t control how people think.”

She adds, “The best part was when we both won awards at the same award function, and it was gratifying to see him clapping with my mum. And I did the same when he won. We are both individual achievers. There is the mindset that if a woman is doing well, there has to be a man helping her with it. I have to live with this. I am proud of being Nitesh Tiwari’s wife.”

Tiwari quips that he too has been on the receiving end of this. “For months before Dangal, I was Ashwiny’s husband once Nil Battey Sannata became a success. I celebrate her success more than her.” Iyer adds with an assuring nod, “If you go to his Facebook page, it still has the poster of Nil Battey Sannata. He didn’t change it even after Dangal became a huge hit. I love the fact that my husband respects my work so immensely. That evens out a lot of negative talk,” she signs off.