'Back to roots' films work, says Bareilly director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

With Bareilly Ki Barfi, Behen Hogi Teri and most recently, Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Bollywood seems to be banking on the small-town North Indian love stories.

But Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari says today films are becoming more about tracing one's origin in the wake of information explosion.

The director says, "Nowadays everything is a touch away. The younger generation comprises people who are educated and have gone to work in IT companies and banks. People have migrated from smaller owns and have settled in bigger cities."

She adds, "I feel when you make your mark in the city, you want to go back to your roots. Now, we just want to revisit the simpler things in life because there is so much of influx of everything around us."

Her first film Nil Battey Sannata won over both the audience and critics for the deft handling of a mother-daughter relationship and with Bareilly, Ashwiny says she tried to present a hopeful and futuristic equation between a father-daughter (Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi).

"I wanted to create a father and daughter relationship which reflects a lot about our society today. But I didn't want to overtly talk about it because I was not making a very socially inclined film."

The filmmaker says she had an inkling the people will enjoy watching Bareilly.