MUMBAI: Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, known for her middle-of-the-road movies like Nil Battey Sannata and Bareilly Ki Barfi, says if she gets to direct a big-budget multi-crore movie, her dream cast would be Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Sai Pallavi.
Iyer Tiwari questioned why such "event films" are predominantly done by male directors.
"Why can't a woman make a Rs 100 or Rs 1,000 crore film, why only a male director has to make? I have one in the house (her director husband, Nitesh Tiwari, known for Dangal and the upcoming, Ramayana) but still," the director told PTI in an interview on the sidelines of Red Lorry Film Festival.
Iyer Tiwari said she has the creative vision for it but getting the backing from a studio is most crucial.
"I just put it out there into the universe (about her desire to make a Rs 1,000 crore film) because you need a kind of platform, budget, and everything is there.
I may have an idea today, but if the studio is putting in money, then they also need to have that much faith and a long-term plan on it.
So, it's a two-way process," she said.
The director said that for her Rs 1,000 crore film, the actors on her wish-list are Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, and Sai Pallavi.
"I've lots of names on my wish list but right now, my wish list is Deepika, Alia, Sai Pallavi. I hope Deepika, Alia, Sai Pallavi are listening. I'm putting it out in the universe," she said.
Iyer Tiwari said she is personally keen to explore the action genre too.
"I want to make action films. There has to be some sentiment in it," she said, adding that the Hollywood animated action franchise, Incredibles, Spider-Man, and Shahenshah are some of her all-time favourite action movies.
She said she is looking forward to fellow director Geetu Mohandas' pan-India movie, Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-ups starring Kannada movie star Yash.
The period action gangster drama is one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
"I'm very very happy for Geetu to make that kind of film, and also to be an encourager for many more storytellers.
Moreover, I feel that it's all about faith and trust in the maker, so it doesn't matter (which gender).
I always feel that a good storyteller will always be a good storyteller, it's just that the budgets increase, or are the same.
Hats off to Yash to support Geetu, and also to make sure that it gets the right kind of window for film like that, so I think that's great."
Iyer Tiwari said she most recently watched Dhurandhar in a cinema hall as she was keen to understand what truly resonates with audiences.
"For me it was more of a market check to see what makes the audiences happy and that is very important for us.
We cannot shy away from that as a storyteller.
So I may keep saying that we are making middle cinema and I want that cinema to be back, but at the same time we also need to know what is working.
"If I get a film which is for a certain budget, and the budget is big, then I also need to know (where) that kind of money has to go, and what the audience is expecting from it."
She also said she will also be watching the highly anticipated Dhurandhar 2 in theatres. The film, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh, will arrive in cinema halls on March 19.