Daddy director Ashim Ahluwalia says Arjun Rampal convinced him to direct the film

Non-conformist is the word that best describes Ashim Ahluwalia. Ashim does not believe in playing by defined rules. While his debut film Miss Lovely tackled the subject of the sleaze film industry, a sort of taboo theme for Bollywood, his upcoming film Daddy is all about guns, glory and gangsters. The conversation with the bearded director reveals that Arjun Rampal handed over the subject matter of this film to him on a platter. “It’s actually bit of an accident. I happened to shoot a commercial with Arjun and he asked me if I was interested in directing a mainstream film with him in the lead. My response was a no but he persuaded me by saying that I will have all the freedom to direct the film with no interference of any sort. It was then he informed if I was interested in doing a film on Arun Gawli,” discloses Ashim who met Arjun for the first time while directing him for a Nivea commercial. [caption id=“attachment_4011207” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Ashim Ahluwalia. Twitter[/caption] The background to this project was also the fact that when this conversation happened, Arjun was already in talks with another maker on a film on Arun Gawli. Arjun, at one point, felt that the entire story was meandering in a typical Bollywood commercial format and had little similarity with Arun Gawli’s life. It was then that a dejected Arjun solicited Ashim’s help. It was also a blessing in disguise for the South Bombay born filmmaker, as he was aware of the milieu when Arun Gawli spelled terror in the Parel region of the Maximum City. “I saw Parel in the 1980s and it was in a derelict state. I know of a lot of gang wars and he was someone who always intrigued me. To me, he is a mystery.” The past few years have also seen Bollywood’s tryst with biopics. While all applauded the biopic on Milkha Singh and Mary Kom, Azhar floundered badly at the box office. The case with Azhar was also the fact that here was one flawed character that was glorified on the celluloid. Arun Gawli too, is someone who was not on the right side of the law. So will he be glorified in Daddy? “Not at all. The first thing I said when I signed the film was that I am not doing a propaganda film. Perhaps the Gawli family wanted to see him as a politician or a social worker but I said that this is not the story of the film. He was a part of the rise of lots of gangs in Mumbai in the 80s and I was determined not to do just one side of his story. It’s not a film about a hero or a villain but of a human being. There is no attempt to make him look cool or glorified,” clarifies Ashim. So detached is Ashim from Bollywood’s shenanigans that when it comes to influences on his film making style, he is candid enough to admit that films like Sholay are not the ones that changed his life. The abhorrence for Bollywood is deep rooted and it all started with his debut film. Miss Lovely, despite a film with Bombay and Bollywood as its milieu, failed to manage any Indian financiers. It was French and Japanese firms who eventually came to rescue the film. “I don’t like the system because it did not, for the longest time, allow people like myself or anybody who is different to make any thing different. In me, there was a lot of resentment as a guy like me was not allowed to make films. The industry is not about directors, it’s all about actors.” [caption id=“attachment_3778267” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Arjun Rampal as Arun Gawli in a still from Daddy. YouTube[/caption] The characters that are depicted in his films also give a sense that the filmmaker is particularly attracted by flawed characters. “I come from the school of thought that every human being is a flawed character. I don’t believe in the make believe that Bollywood wants you to buy. That the hero is intrinsically a good guy. I just don’t want you to make happy just because you had a bad day at work. I have more respect for my work.” Despite having started his career as early as 1999 with a documentary, his career of 18 years boasts of just two documentary and two films. He candidly admits that Bollywood film making is not his career and is not his full time job. “I am not in a rush. I don’t want to make 50 films that I will hate but would rather make five films that I will love. I make my money from my commercials and so I am not reliant on having to churn out films for my home. I can actually take time and have that luxury. Had I taken six months instead of three years for Daddy, it would have not looked the way it does," explains Ashim.