Locations aren’t just backdrops; they’re characters in my stories: Ashwini Iyer Tiwari 


Ashwiny immerses herself in the cultural essence of her chosen locations, allowing them to shape her narratives 


By Rajesh Ahuja 


She has established a niche for herself in Bollywood as a director with films like Bareilly Ki Barfi, Nil Batte Sannatta and Panga. 


Ashwini Iyer Tiwari,  who rose to fame with the film Bareilly Ki Barfi, starring Kriti Sanon,  Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurana,  says that she chooses the essence of the chosen locations of her films to shape her narratives. 


Speaking at the India International Film Tourism Conclave (IIFTC) , Ashwini Iyer Tiwari said that every place has a soul—a fragrance, a rhythm, a story waiting to be told. 


Whether it’s the bustling streets of Agra, the vibrant alleys of Bareilly, or the serene coastline of Konkan, Ashwiny immerses herself in the cultural essence of her chosen locations, allowing them to shape her narratives. 


For Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, locations are not just backdrops,  but characters in her stories 




“Locations aren’t just backdrops; they’re characters in my stories,” she said  at the  IIFTC conclave. 


Ashwiny’s films, like Bareilly Ki Barfi, breathe life into small-town India, capturing its quirks and idiosyncrasies with an authenticity that resonates universally. 


Ashwiny’s dedication to storytelling often sees her going to great lengths to get the perfect shot. 


Recalling an instance, the filmmaker said,''Once, during a shoot, I sat reversed on a scooter while holding the camera just to capture the rawness of a busy marketplace.” 


Her passion for rooting her stories in their locales extends beyond India’s borders. 


The  filmmaker said that filming in Serbia for an international project was a transformative experience for her, creatively and logistically. 


“Serbia has a controlled, almost poetic quality to its streets. Shooting there taught me the beauty of working within constraints while still bringing my vision to life,” Ashwiny said. 


However, working abroad comes with its challenges. 


“Filmmaking in India often has a certain spontaneity—we can adapt and innovate on the fly. Abroad, you work with rigid schedules, permits, and a precision-driven crew. It pushes you to plan meticulously, but it also opens your eyes to a whole new way of storytelling,” she says. . 


The contrast between the fluid dynamics of Indian sets and the structured approach abroad has shaped Ashwiny’s methodology. 


“In Serbia, every second of shoot time is accounted for, which can be challenging but also rewarding. Back in India, the flexibility allows for a more organic process, but that chaos has its charm,” she said. 


Despite these differences, Ashwiny finds a common thread in how locations inspire her storytelling. 


“Every place—a small Indian town or a European city—has a unique voice. It’s my job to listen and translate that voice into a story,” she says. 


Through her journey from the colourful chaos of Bareilly to the picturesque streets of Serbia, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari continues to prove that storytelling transcends borders, finding its essence in the places we inhabit and the people who make them extraordinary. 


Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari worked in advertising for several years, serving as the Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett before she moved on to pursue a filmmaking career. 


Making her debut as director with the comedy-drama Nil Battey Sannata (2016), Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari rose to fame with the romantic comedy Bareilly Ki Barfi,  for  which  she won the Filmfare Award for Best Director .


Also Read 


When Rishi Kapoor rejected a role offered by Salim Javed in Trishul 



Amrish Puri was offered villain's role in Raj Kapoor's Ram Teri Ganga Maili 



Historical web series Freedom at Midnight streaming on Sony Liv from November 15 



Rishi Kapoor had some reservations about doing Ramesh Sippy's Saagar 



Crime thriller The Buckingham Murders now streaming on Netflix 

https://raju0568.blogspot.com/2024/11/thriller-buckingham-murders-now.html


When Jeetendra refused the offer to do Tinnu Anand's Shahenshah 



Nafisa Ali, not Padmini Kolhapure, was the first choice for Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
 Nafisa Ali, not Padmini Kolhapure, was the first choice for Nasir Hussain's Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai  By Rajesh Ahuja   Padmini Kolhapure may today seem the obvious choice for Nasir Hussain's musical thriller Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai with her natural beauty and vivacity but not many are aware that she was not the original choice for the film.  The original choice for the female lead in Zamane Ko Dikhana Hai , which created a buzz for its chartbuster music,  was former Miss India Nafisa Ali, it has been revealed in Rishi Kapoor's autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored.  Writing in his autobiography,  Rishi Kapoor,  who was the male lead for the film, said, 'around the same time as Junoon (which was the debut cinematic venture of Nafisa Ali) , Nasir Hussain was drawing up a contract with Nafisa Ali to work with me in Zamaane Ko Dikhana Hai . '  Opposition by Nafisa Ali's father,  however,  put a spanner in her casting for ...
Read more
Image
 When Jeetendra refused the offer to do Tinnu Anand's Shahenshah  Jeetendra was offered the film after Amitabh's accident on sets of Coolie  By Rajesh Ahuja  Shahenshah ,  a film which marked the comeback of megastar Amitabh Bachchan after a brief gap due to his foray in politics,  was also offered to Bollywood actor Jeetendra.  In his autobiography Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor uncensored , Rishi Kapoor revealed that after Amitabh's accident on the sets of Coolie ,  Tinnu Anand and his brother Bittu Anand had approached Jeetendra, who was then a  top ranking star, for Coolie.  Writing in his autobiography, Rishi Kapoor said, 'many years ago, I remember, when my closest buddy Bittu Anand fell on hard times and needed to be bailed out,  I did a couple of films for him but they were all flops.  Jeetendra was a very big star at the start of the 1980s, getting second billing after Amitabh Bachchan.  Jeetendra was offered the l...
Read more
Image
Fans slept on pavements outside Maratha Mandir in hope of buying first show tickets for Mughal e Azam Saira Banu talks of aura and splendor of premiere of K Asif's magnum opus Mughal e Azam By Rajesh Ahuja Having been a part of the huge legion of fans who were witness to the grand spectacle that accompanied the release of K Asif's classic saga Mughal e Azam ,  Bollywood actress Saira Banu recalls how hundreds of fans slept on the pavements outside the Grand Maratha Mandir the night before the release of the film in the hope of getting hands at the tickets to the first show of the magnum opus. In a post on Instagram,  Saira Banu,  for whom attending the premiere of the film was an opportunity to meet her heartthrob and the darling of millions Dilip Kumar and propose to him, said ,'when we talk about Mughal-e-Azam ,  there is the vision of this great historical epic which took years for Mr K Asif' to put together into enthralling epic full of romance and spectacle su...
Read more