Nikkhil Advani to mark 15 years of Mishra's Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi with special screening today with cast and crew in attendance
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 25, 2019)

In a bid to mark 15 years since the release of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, curator of Baro Film Nights, Nikkhil Advani is set to hold a special screening of the drama today in the presence of the cast and crew members.

"The film deserves the title of a classic. We screen films with great performances and stellar content so that they can reach a wider audience than they did during the release," says Advani, who served as an assistant director on Sudhir Mishra's offering.

Advani admits that his conversations with "auteur" Mishra is what inspired him to make films. "He is a storyteller, and the various conversations that we have had about films [enabled me to encourage] people to engage with quality cinema."

He hopes that discussion around the film can yield to subsequent conversation around the current political scenario in India. "Yesterday's radical is today's norm. The film emphasises the role that [students of cinema] play in fashioning a solid narrative. Sudhir grew up in an illustrious political family and has seen [that] life up close. He is also quite the rebel."

He doesn't know if the makers are toying with the idea of a remake but agrees that the current climate serves as an ideal breeding ground for films that can bring politics to the fore. Apart from Mishra, producer Pritish Nandy, musicians Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire, and Chitrangada Singh will also be present at the evening's gig.