Nishikant Kamat is a man of few words. In fact, he confesses this, a tad self-consciously , as we settle down for the interview. He says, “It's nicer to direct a film, however speaking about it is difficult.“ The director exudes a calm confidence as he looks forward to the release of Madaari rather than get nervous about its box-office verdict. In an exclusive interview he tells us about his wish to helm fewer movies every year, his love for cinema and working with first-time producer Irrfan.

Madaari is a real-life drama. So, what were the challenges that you faced while working on it?
It is inspired by a real-life incident (the collapse of an under-construction metro bridge in Andheri in 2012). We have explored human emotions and how the whole accident affected people. While portraying real-life incidents in movies, you can't take liberties. Sticking to the milieu is tough in a real-life drama as I can't incorporate a song with the lead actor breaking into a jig or have 100 dancers in the film. At the same time, I have to make it thrilling and engaging. That is the biggest challenge.

Social media is abuzz with rumours that Irrfan's character is based on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Is it true?
I don't understand where these rumours emerge from. I am tired of refuting these claims. His character is not based on Kejriwal.

The film also explores the father-son relationship. So, did you incorporate your personal experiences too?
I live with my father and share a normal relationship with him. I don't know if I have incorporated my personal experiences subconsciously. The movie starts off as a thriller and gets emotional as it progresses. I don't want to reveal much but it was about time a father-son relationship was explored on screen. Having said that, everyone has questions about the way we live in the country and I'm fortunate to be working in a medium through which I can express myself. So, in this film, I have raised questions about our existence, accountability and several other issues.

You have worked with Irrfan, the actor, earlier. How different was it collaborating with him as a producer this time around?
We go back a long way. He was 27 and I was 24 when I first directed him for a TV show. Then we worked together in Mumbai Meri Jaan. Now, we are back after eight years. And the best part was that he got me onboard as the director. Once we started shooting, he was in his element as an actor. Irrfan is one of the finest actors of our country. He's not only immersed in his craft but is also demanding. He is so talented that I'm always on my toes around him. He asks the right questions, so I've to be ready with the answers.

Does that mean he made your job as a director easier?
Yes, Irrfan comes well-prepared on the sets. He is a no-nonsense actor and is serious about his work. This obviously made my job easier. He knew his costumes and dialogues and that eased my pressure to a great extent. I have not taken a single retake because he never forgot his lines.

Given a choice, would you have chosen him to play the protagonist?
Of course. We are both dedicated people when it comes to the craft. I remember there were two scenes which I had not written. Though the film was 80 per cent ready, we waited for five months to get them right. I tend to get stubborn with my scripts so Irrfan understood that.

You have made a few commercial movies but you have won more appreciation for your hard-hitting films. Do you get tempted to make commercial cinema as the box office believes in numbers?
I'm not the kind who gets carried away by formulaic cinema. I love filmmaking. If the story is good and requires a bigger star then I will need that much money to make it, and then come back to the producer with more money too. At times, I'm happy that I'm making a film on a small budget. I'm not worried about star value, the return on investment is more important. If the producer has invested in me, he must get his returns. The number game has never been important for me. A good story and correct budget makes it work. Also, if I have made a Mumbai Meri Jaan, I have also directed movies like Drishyam and Rocky Handsome.

You have also acted in a couple of films. Will you face the camera in the future too?
I act when I'm free but direction is my passion. I'm lucky that I've managed both mainstream and parallel cinema. I'm happy that now, people are enjoying films like Neerja and Airlift. If I had made Mumbai Meri Jaan today, it would have been a bigger hit. And this is a welcome change in our cinema.

Nishikant Kamat, 45, is a hotel management graduate by education but his only link to food is that he likes cooking for others. And while he considers himself extremely emotional, sensitive, soft-spoken and warm, he is certainly not vulnerable. He is a simple, happy-go-lucky person who is straightforward and honest. He is very shy and just cannot blow his own trumpet but gets bored easily, which is why all his films have been so diverse. Ahead of his upcoming family thriller Drishyam, he talks to Bombay Times about his concerted reason to not get married, what makes Ajay Devgn the most graceful actor he has worked with and why the only star he aspires to work with is Amitabh Bachchan. Excerpts:

How did you come to becoming a filmmaker?
I am a Maharashtrian, born and brought up in Mumbai. I have had a simple middle-class background, where my father taught at a private college as a mathematician, and my mother was a Sanskrit teacher. I had no idea what I wanted to do in life, so tagged along with a friend to apply for hotel management, passed the test and completed my hotel management from Goa. It was in Goa that I got interested in theatre and became the cultural secretary of my college. I came back to Mumbai and first assisted a small-time ad filmmaker, then became an editor for three years, then became a TV director for seven years, then writer for four years before I finally made my first film Dombivli Fast in 2005 after fifteen years of being in the industry. While I had a good simple life, prior to 2005 I had not done much in life, but my parents were always supportive of me as the film line initially is very tough. In fact coincidentally after eight years of living separately, my father is now moving in with me. My mother always wanted to see me as a filmmaker, but as the drama of life is, I became one only after she passed away in 2003 due to a heart attack.

You are single and fiercely independent. Any anxieties on account of now once again living with your father?
Somewhere I have to take responsibility as he is growing old. I can't be running away from it just because he's been a good man.

Do you have friends in the industry?
Film industry is not my life, it's a part of my life. My friends are outside the industry. The period of three years from 1999 to 2001 was my toughest. I was actually sitting at home with no cheques coming in. I could not tell my parents that I did not have work. But I would make it a point to leave the house at 10 am every day saying that I was going for work and would come back at only 10 at night. I would in reality go and hang out with friends at Ruia College. I would have tea if a friend bought me some and would have food if someone paid for it, otherwise would sometimes even skip it but I would not take money for food from home. All those friends I still vouch for and live for. But as luck would have it, just two months after my mother died, the tables turned and I made my first film. I still feel very empty that my mother was not there at that time. She only saw my bad times. She had a lot of health issues and my not being successful would also have contributed to her illness. Initially, she was very sure that I would do well but then those seeds of doubt start coming in as time passes. I have a friend Vinayak Kotian, who owns an Udupi restaurant in Matunga. During those three years, every day he would give me Rs 50 and he never asked me for it. Today I have won over 18 trophies for Best Director in the world including the prestigious Filmfare Critics award for Best film for Mumbai Meri Jaan, but every time I win a trophy, I go straight to his restaurant first.

Now that you are settled, any plans for getting married?
I realised during those three tough years of my life, that I could not look after myself so how could I look after someone else. I had my share of serious relationships and all outside the film industry, but now I don't want to get married ever as I have this clarity that I don't want any dependent visa on me. I have a very uncertain career graph and I don't want anyone to suffer with me.

What do you like the most about yourself?
I take pride in my honesty. I told my father honestly the day I started smoking my first cigarette so I have been like that. I don't like or work with dishonest people. I am okay with mistakes. But I have a problem with people who lie.

Anything about yourself that you want to improve upon?
I hate losing my temper even though I lose it just once in two years. I feel in any given situation, losing temper is a sign of weakness.

This is your first film with Ajay Devgn. Talk about working with him?
I have never met a more graceful star than him. He is a wonderful human being, is straightforward and is the closest to my behaviour of being an honest person. Whatever he needs to tell you he will say it on your face and while he may not show it, he is extremely sensitive. He never plays any tricks and has never lied about anything. And I respect that above everything else. That is paramount for me even above your stardom. Of course he is a big star. It has truly been an honour to work with him.

What excited you to direct Drishyam?
I got excited about the screenplay. Viacom sent me the DVD of the original blockbuster in Malayalam. It was so gripping that I called them up immediately after seeing it that I was doing it. I think that we've made a decent film.

Any one star that you would like to work with?
I grew up on Amitabh Bachchan. He is the only actor who I look at even now and I freeze. He is a childhood icon who I aspire to work with, but for that, I should have a correct script and he should like my face.

When Nishikant Kamat returned to Marathi films after an eight-year sabbatical to direct the Riteish Deshmukh-starrer Lai Bhaari in early 2013, it was to explore the unknown. For the first time in his two-decade-old career, Kamat, who has previously directed the National-award winning Dombivali Fast (2005; his first venture into films after a decade in television), Mumbai Meri Jaan (2008) and John Abraham-starrer Force (2011), had a typical Bollywood potboiler on hand. “When I read the script, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it. I had never made a film in this genre,” says Kamat.

Lai Bhaari’s story is that of a woman’s attempt to avenge the murder of her husband and son with help from another son she is reunited with after 25 years. The full-blown action-entertainer with a heady mix of Bollywood staples like comedy, romance and action, was a first for both, Kamat and Marathi cinema. It also marked the debut of a new wave in Marathi films.

For the first time, audiences were treated to a typical potboiler with Salmanesque larger-than-life treatment. “The Marathi film audience prefers intellectually-driven content, not mass entertainers. Lai Bhaari follows the typical Hindi film style of storytelling,” explains Kamat, who is presently filming Rocky Handsome with John Abraham in Hyderabad.

Though Kamat had tried his hand at mainstream cinema, he didn't think Lai Bhaari would achieve the commercial success it did. In the four weeks since its release, it has become the highest gross ing Marathi film ever. At last count it had raked in Rs 33.74 cr at the box office. But, it was the uncertainty that excited Kamat. “If a script tickles me or gives me butterflies in the tummy that root from fear, I just go ahead and do it,“ admits Kamat, who is slated to direct a yet-to-be-titled film with Irrfan Khan.

Kamat, who has known Deshmukh for eight years, had contemplated collaborating with him for a Hindi film, but nothing materialised until the two were approached by producers Ameya Khopkar and Jeetendra Thackeray (who co-produced Lai Bhaari with Deshmukh) separately. “I think I was picked since I keep trying new things and each of my films is different from the other,” says Kamat, adding that he is ‘satisfied’ with the response to the film.

And a film starring Deshmukh couldn’t have come at a better time. When it released, the 35-year-old actor was already riding high on the success of his first negative role in Ek Villain. Lai Bhaari was like a dream follow-through. But its box-office success, feels Kamat, is accidental. “Unplanned factors led to the film’s success. Firstly, Riteish's super-hit released just three weeks before Lai Bhaari and the fact that our film ended up releasing in July, a time when many devotees are on the pilgrimage to Pandharpur (shown in the film) were factors that contributed to tit being a hit,” admits Kamat, adding that the chartbusters com posed by music directors Ajay directors Ajay Atul were also a big draw.

Kamat’s recent ventures have his actors doubling up as producers (Riteish, John and Irrfan). “It helps get their dates easily,” he laughs. “On a serious note, they are more involved in the project and sensitive to production challenges. If they have to work for 12 instead of eight hours to accommodate financial constraints, they do it.” Many say Lai Bhaari has resurrected Kamat’s career — it is his second release since 2008 and now he has two films that are in production. But he insists that isn’t true. “I had bagged these films months before Lai Bhaari released. I have work chalked out for the next year, too,” he adds.

In an interview with a Mumbai daily last year, Kamat had said, “It doesn’t matter how successful I am as a filmmaker. I’d make a Marathi film whenever I need to reclaim my roots.” As it turns out, the two aren’t mutually exclusive after all.