In 1998, Nikkhil Advani started his career as an assistant director to Karan Johar on the latter’s directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The film featured Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol and Rani Mukerji in the lead and emerged as a blockbuster. After that, he again assisted Karan on Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, which again had a small role for Rani, before Karan gave Nikkhil his own directorial debut with Kal Ho Naa Ho.
The 2003 release starring Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta and Saif Ali Khan in the lead also had a cameo from Rani in the song Maahi Ve, and 18 years later, now that Nikkhil has become a producer himself, he is reuniting with Rani for Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway, as a producer.
Ask Nikkhil how has been teaming up with Rani again after all these years and he is all smiles. “There is a huge comfort that we share in a way that we have actually grown up in the industry together. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was her second film and my first film in mainstream cinema. I had done only Is Raat ki Subah Nahi before that. We may have lost touch in between since we both went down on different paths. But when I called her to tell her that I am sending her the script for this film, there was a huge comfort in that. It’s like we never stopped being in touch with each other,” he gushes.
Nikkhil goes on to rave about her actress. “Rani is a tremendous actor and she is doing exactly what she told me. She said that she will embrace this film as her own and she is doing exactly that,” he says, confirming the reports that the actress is shooting for the film in Estonia. “She is currently in Estonia while I am in Mumbai. Even though she is not producing the film, she is fully on to the film in every department. Her commitment to the project is fantastic,” he concludes.
Image Sources: Instagram/ranimukherjeeofficiall/nikkhiladvani