Filmmaker Priyadarshan recalls mentoring Dhurandhar director Aditya Dhar: ‘He is one of my loyal boys’

Aditya Dhar and Priyadarshan

In an industry where relationships can turn seasonal, filmmaker Priyadarshan and Dhurandhar director Aditya Dhar have kept their bond steady for over 25 years. The veteran filmmaker, who worked with Dhar long before the latter's glory days, gets nostalgic about their journey - and doesn't hide how "proud" he feels about his former student.

"Do you know who wrote the dialogues for the Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna-starrer Aakrosh (2010)? It was Aditya. He also wrote the dialogues for Ajay, Anil Kapoor, and Kangana Ranaut-starrer Tezz (2012)," shares Priyadarshan, who worked with Dhar for three years. "He is one of my best disciples and assistants I've ever had. Aditya is one of my loyal boys; he takes my blessings for everything," smiles the senior director, adding that he recently watched the Ranveer Singh and Khanna-starrer, and "loved it."

(L-R) Priyadarshan and Aditya Dhar on the set of ‘Tezz'

In 2006, it was Aakrosh's screenplay writer Robin Bhatt - who wrote it with Akash Khurana - who introduced Dhar to Priyadarshan. "Aditya [became my] assistant director. He also sat on the script with me," remembers the filmmaker. "It was during the shoot of Tezz in Scotland that Aditya told me that he was a budding cricketer, in the under-19 team, but he didn't get in because the son of a top Indian cricketer beat him to it. [Seeing his] depressed state, his friends took him to watch my film Gardish [1993]. That day he decided to quit cricket and become a filmmaker."

Priyadarshan says Dhar still gives him the same respect. During the shoot of Bhooth Bangla, Dhar dropped by the sets to show him the trailer of Dhurandhar. "That's the kind of relationship I share with him - a guru and shishya." Recalling how Dhar, despite writing a couple of scripts that became big hits, "never got his due credit because the directors took his research, hard work, and talent but kept him aside", he says, "I am very proud of him; he has made it so big."

Ranveer Singh in ‘Dhurandhar'

Did you know?

Aditya Dhar has been a lyricist in the movies ‘Kabul Express' (2006), ‘Haal-e-Dil' (2008), and ‘Daddy Cool' (2009)

Akshaye Khanna

On Akshaye Khanna

"In my first film with Akshaye Khanna, ‘Doli Saja Ke Rakhna' [1998], everybody had discouraged me from signing him on. They said he is difficult and moody. But I fell in love with him from the first film itself. I never found him difficult. If I called him at 5am he would be there on time. He is a darling and we've never had a bitter moment together in [the six films we did]. He is least bothered by criticism."