Why can’t a woman make a Rs 100 or Rs 1,000 crore film: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, known for her middle-of-the-road movies like ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ and ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, said if she gets to direct a big-budget multi-crore movie, her dream cast would be Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Sai Pallavi.

Iyer Tiwari questioned why such ‘event films’ are predominantly done by male directors. “Why can’t a woman make a Rs 100 or Rs 1,000 crore film? Why does only a male director have to make? I have one in the house (her director husband, Nitesh Tiwari, known for ‘Dangal’ and the upcoming ‘Ramayana’) but still,” the director told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of Red Lorry Film Festival.

Iyer Tiwari said she has a creative vision for it, but getting the backing from a studio is most crucial. “I just put it out there into the universe (about her desire to make a Rs 1,000 crore film) because you need a kind of platform, budget and everything is there. I may have an idea today, but if the studio is putting in money, then they also need to have that much faith and a long-term plan on it. So, it’s a two-way process,” she said.

The director said that for her Rs 1,000 crore film, the actors on her wish-list are Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Sai Pallavi. “I’ve lots of names on my wish list, but right now, my wish list is Deepika, Alia and Sai Pallavi. I hope Deepika, Alia and Sai Pallavi are listening. I’m putting it out in the universe,” she said.

Iyer Tiwari said she is personally keen to explore the action genre too. “I want to make action films. There has to be some sentiment in it,” she said, adding that the Hollywood animated action franchise, ‘Incredibles’, ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Shahenshah’ are some of her all-time favourite action movies.

She said she is looking forward to fellow director Geetu Mohandas’ pan-India movie, ‘Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups’ starring Kannada movie star Yash. The period action gangster drama is one of the most anticipated movies of the year.