After the success of "D-Day" in 2013, filmmaker Nikkhil Advani faced back-to-back setbacks when his subsequent releases, "Hero" and "Katti Batti", tanked. The filmmaker feels he shouldn't have directed any film after "D-Day", and focused on his upcoming feature, "Batla House".
Advani hit jackpot with the success of his first film "Kal Ho Naa Ho", which featured Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan, but failed to replicate the success of that film in subsequent releases such as "Salaam-E-Ishq", "Chandni Chowk To China", "Patiala House" and "Delhi Safari".
"D-Day", his 2013 film on A film on cross-border terrorism, resurrected his career. The film revolves around a group of RAW agents who have been assigned the job of getting a dreaded terrorist to India from Pakistan. The cast include Irrfan Khan, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi, Shruti Haasan and Rishi Kapoor.
"The biggest lesson I learnt was not while making 'D-Day' but after the film. I should've have waited and done nothing else till 'Batla House'. This is the zone I want to be associated with. I'm grateful for getting one more chance," Advani told IANS.
"Karan Johar saw the film and said 'it has wiped out all my red lines'. It helped me start the best chapter of my life -- my production company Emmay Entertainment," he added.
Talking about "D-Day", the filmmaker said: "It was one of the best experiences in my life. I have always said that for a creative person to be really successful in creating something special, he/she needs to be free from the burden of expectation.
No one had any expectations from 'D-Day'. How could someone associated with fluff such as 'Kal Ho Naa Ho' and 'Salaam-e-Ishq' make such a gritty film? What many did not know was that this is the zone I love."
After "D-Day", Advani made the teenybopper romantic drama "Hero" and the melodramatic "Katti Batti" in 2015. Both films failed, and right now Advani hopes to replicate the success of "D-Day" with his next film, "Batla House", which opens on August 15.
"Batla House" traces the story of the shootout between a seven-member Delhi Police Special Cell team and suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists who were allegedly involved in Delhi serial blasts of September 13, 2008.