EXCLUSIVE: Nikkhil Advani SETS a record as Freedom At Midnight and Kal Ho Naa Ho arrive on the same day; explains why he hasn't worked with Shah Rukh Khan again: “I don't want to put a DAAG on our 100% track record”

Previous Friday was an exciting one for producer-director Nikkhil Advani. We have seen two films by the same director released on the same day. But Nikkhil is the first director of Indian cinema who had a web show and (re) release of his film happening on the same day. Freedom At Midnight started streaming on November 15 and on the same day, Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) had a release once again in theatres and attracted considerable footfall.When asked about it during an exclusive interaction with Bollywood Hungama on November 14, Nikkhil smiled and said, “I didn’t have access to both the decisions! Releasing Freedom At Midnight was Sony LIV’s decision while re-releasing Kal Ho Naa Ho was Dharma Productions’ decision. I am an able bystander in both cases.”He also added, “Such records are a bit ominous for me. Katti Batti was released a week after Hero. I want to be the guy who enjoys the release rather than (think about such records).”Many felt that Freedom At Midnight was released on November 15 to coincide with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday, which falls on November 14. His character is a crucial part of the show. Nikkhil Advani, however, disagreed, “As I said, I don’t have a say in these things. If that was the case, it would have been released on November 14 instead of 15. Hence, the decision to release a show on a particular day is linked to business rather than emotions.”Sidhant Gupta, who rose to fame with Jubilee, plays Nehru in the show. It also features Chirag Vohra as Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendra Chawla as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Arif Zakaria as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Malishka Mendonsa as Sarojini Naidu, Rajesh Kumar as Liaquat Ali Khan and others.Coming back to the release of Freedom At Midnight and the re-release of Kal Ho Naa Ho, Nikkhil Advani stated, “I’ll turn 54 next year and I am 10 to 20 years older than most people who work with me in my office. They have grown up watching Kal Ho Naa Ho and crying hopelessly in a cinema hall or wherever they watched it. After 120 days of shooting Freedom At Midnight and 120 days of post-production, they are looking forward to watching Kal Ho Naa Ho on the weekend.”The unforgettable classic film starred Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta. Earlier, he had worked as an assistant on Shah Rukh Khan’s films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Mohabbatein (2000) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001).When asked when can we expect him and SRK to work together again, he replied, “A lot of people ask me why I am not working with Shah Rukh Khan or figuring out a way to do it. But I feel that the experience of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Kal Ho Naa Ho were so fantastic that one would really have to come up with a flawless script. I would never want to put a daag on the 100% track record that I have.”Also Read:EXCLUSIVE: Nikkhil Advani says films like Kal Ho Naa Ho, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai gave Dharma Productions and YRF cultural equity; speaks on his definition of “blockbuster”