Before Ramayana: Part 1 opens on November 5, the career of its director, Nitesh Tiwari, offers a rare case study in changing course. The filmmaker is an IIT Bombay graduate in metallurgy and material science engineering, yet he spent only four months in a software job before turning toward advertising and, eventually, direction.
Leaving the safe path
Speaking to Komal Nahta on the Game Changers podcast, Tiwari said he did not find peace in the software role. “I wanted to do what I love, not what I want to be made to do,” he said. As a student at IIT he had written plays and mono-acting pieces, always pushing himself to try something original, and that instinct stayed with him.
He began as a copywriter at Draftfcb Ulka in 1996, then moved through Lowe Lintas and Leo Burnett, where he became chief creative officer. The advertising years were not a detour; they were the training ground for the economy and clarity of his later films.
Three National Awards and a record
The record is now unmistakable.
- 2011: His debut, Chillar Party, which had a dance number by Ranbir Kapoor, won two National Film Awards, including Best Children’s Film and Best Screenplay.
- Later: His wrestling drama became India’s highest-grossing film at over Rs 2,000 crore, succeeded in China, and won Best Direction.
- After that: Chhichhore, starring the late Sushant Singh Rajput and Shraddha Kapoor, won Best Feature Film in Hindi.
This is the context in which Ramayana: Part 1 arrives. Tiwari has already moved between scales—children’s ensemble, sports biopic, campus nostalgia—without losing the National Award jury’s attention.
What to watch in Ramayana
For readers of this publication, the interest is not merely whether the film opens well. It is whether Tiwari can bring his characteristic restraint to a mythological canvas that demands both spectacle and reverence. His comments about wanting to do what he loves indicate why he keeps returning to stories rather than formulas.
Source: The Economic Times
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