'Srikanth' makers get candid about National Award win, initial snubs
What's the story
Rajkummar Rao's film, Srikanth, recently bagged the 72nd National Award for Best Hindi Feature Film. However, before this recognition, the biographical drama was overlooked by several major award shows. The film is based on the life of visually-impaired industrialist Srikanth Bolla and has been directed by Tushar Hiranandani and produced by Nidhi Parmar. In an interview with Mid-Day, they opened up about their journey and the initial snubs.
Award snub
'Not even nominated in any of the other awards...'
Hiranandani said, "I think it will sink in slowly."
"But yes, the kind of messages that I have got from the entire industry that it really deserved, that we deserve to win, is great."
"The film won the best film in Moscow, but it was not even nominated in any of the other awards, and to get the biggest award in India, which is the national award for the best Hindi film, means something to us."
Film's performance
'It's one of the highest-collection films for Raj'
Hiranandani added, "I was very confident I made a good film because the reaction in the box office collections also showed it to me."
"It's one of the highest-collection films for Raj also, and he was praised. Even the critics praised the film."
Parmar added, "We didn't get honored by any other awards, but that's okay because I think once you get the National Award it's as large as it can be."
Budget
'It was just after COVID had finished'
Hiranandani revealed that the film was actually made on a small budget.
He revealed, "Industry was going through a big time lull in that time, and it was just after COVID had finished, and this is not your typical Bollywood film that anyone would know...it was tough."
"Bhushan (Kumar) said that we need to cap the budget more than what it was earlier."
The director revealed they were allotted 65 days to shoot the film but completed it in 42.