Nikkhil Advani: Have NOC to do film on Batla House encounter

Nikkhil Advani

Director Nikkhil Advani says he has acquired all the necessary permissions for his film on the Batla House encounter that will go on floors in September. The encounter occurred in September 2008 against Indian Mujahideen terrorists in the Batla House, a locality in Jamia Nagar in Delhi. As per reports, two suspected terrorists were gunned down and two other suspects were arrested, while one accused escaped that day. Encounter specialist and Delhi Police officer Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action, was shot dead during the incident.

"We have touched upon real-life incidents earlier with films like 'Lucknow Central' and 'Airlift'. We have been doing research on the subject of 'Batla House' for four years, we have NOC from everybody. It is based on the life of a police officer who was involved in the 'Batla House' operation," Advani told PTI. "As a production house, we make sure that we do a thorough research so the director has all the things ready. We will start the shoot from September-October," he added. In the film, Saif Ali Khan will portray the role of a police officer Sharma. Besides this film, Advani and Khan have also teamed up for "Baazaar", that revolves around Indian stock market. "We are very excited about 'Baazaar'. It will release in May this year and after that 'Batla House' will happen and a couple of other films," he adds. The director-producer recently announced another film, an action-thriller starring John Abraham and Manoj Bajpayee. T-Series has joined hands with Advani's Emmay Entertainment to jointly produce this cop-saga, that will be written and directed by Milap Zaveri.

"One of the important thing as a producer for me is to bring out unusual casting. John is an action star and Manoj is an extremely good actor. When I heard the story I was excited about it. My endeavour is to choose a correct script and get an unusual yet apt casting as 50 per cent of the battle is won," Advani says. His another home production film is "Marjaawaan", a dark love story in the "Ek Villain" space and Advani says, the team will announce the details once everything is in place.

Asked about his directorial venture, he says, "I don't know at this moment. I am very happy being a producer I am happy in this role. What's more satisfying as a producer and director is making sure the filmmaker has got everything that he wanted." Meanwhile, Advani is one of the jury members for REEL movie awards honouring artistes who have entertained audiences with their creativity through excellent storytelling. Film critic-TV host Rajeev Masand will moderate the jury panel that also has names such as Sudhir Mishra, Sujoy Ghosh and Farah Khan. The awards will be announced on March 20.

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