Director Siddharth, talks about the hurdles he faced for making Hichki

"I pitched it to every person in the world and everyone told me 'don't make a film about a teacher, what is Tourette syndrome, are you mad and this isn't a commercial film'

Published: Monday,Apr 02, 2018 17:10 PM GMT-06:00

Ami Sheth

Rani Mukerji's film "Hichki" is doing wonders at the box-office. In Hichki, Rani plays the character of Naina Mathur who has a nervous system disorder, Tourette Syndrome that forces an individual to make involuntary repetitive movements or sounds. Both the critics and viewers have been appreciating the film especially Rani's strong act in the film.

However, talking about Hichki's director Sidharth P Malhotra is happy with the success of the film. He revealed that earlier nobody was ready to make the film. "I pitched it to every person in the world and everyone told me 'don't make a film about a teacher, what is Tourette syndrome, are you mad and this isn't a commercial film'. Some heard me, some said I've lost the plot," Malhotra said.

"Then even I questioned myself - do I have it in me, have I really lost it? I went through this many times. I've been really fortunate that I got Yash Raj Films to back my story," he added.

Sidharth added, "I thank them for teaching me more humility and that one shouldn't lose faith." Rani, who plays the lead character in Hichki, however, was not the first choice for the role. "There was someone else but due to dates and other things, it didn't fall into place. At that point of time, Rani had just delivered her baby so we didn't even know if she'd considering coming back," said Malhotra.

"When we met Aditya Chopra, he said she may say no to you but let's give her a narration," added Sidharth. Earlier she had said 'don't take me because my priority is Adira today'. We had to figure out how to shoot with her for five hours in a day. As I knew the film inside out, there was clarity and it helped us in shooting the film," he added.

CREDITS: Pinkvilla