03 June,2026 07:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Athulya Nambiar
L- Nikkhil Advani; R- Still from Kal Ho Naa Ho
As filmmaker Nikkhil Advani prepares to serve on the jury of the 17th edition of the Kashish Pride Film Festival, he is using the platform to advocate for stories that often struggle to find space in mainstream cinema. For Advani, the challenge is not the lack of audiences for independent and queer films, but the industry's inability to reach them.
The filmmaker believes festivals like Kashish play a crucial role in amplifying such voices. Quoting legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese's belief that "what is most personal is most creative", Advani argues that stories emerging from within the queer community deserve to be told and, more importantly, deserve platforms where they can be discovered.
At the same time, he expresses disappointment with the mainstream film industry's lack of support for such initiatives.
"I am quite disappointed that the film industry is not helping out with putting together or supporting a film festival like this," he says.
Advani's criticism extends to the larger state of mainstream cinema, which he believes has become increasingly driven by commercial expectations. According to him, conversations around storytelling are often cut short by discussions about box-office potential.
"What happened to the Hrishikesh Mukherjee films? What happened to Basu Chatterjee's cinema? What happened to the kind of films we associated with Rajkummar Rao and Ayushmann Khurrana, films like Bareilly Ki Barfi?" he asks. "You can't make those films anymore because the first question is whether it will make Rs 1,800 crore. The conversation ends before it even starts."
For Advani, good stories are often sacrificed when filmmaking becomes solely about numbers.
"We are in the film industry, but we should not forget that cinema is art. Cinema should not be about hate; it should be about hearts," he says adding that festivals like Kashish are all heart over hate.
Yet, despite his concerns about mainstream cinema, the filmmaker remains optimistic about audiences. Pointing to the packed screenings organised by the Film Heritage Foundation at Mumbai's Regal Cinema, he argues that there is a sizeable and engaged audience actively seeking meaningful storytelling.
"People are travelling from Malad, Goregaon, Andheri and Navi Mumbai, taking trains and metros to watch classic films. The audience is there. We should stop thinking only about mainstream cinema and start thinking about intelligent cinema and interested audiences," he says.
Advani also believes that greater visibility for queer stories can come through mainstream casting choices. Asked about major stars playing queer characters, he says even imperfect representation can be valuable. In recent years, actors like Mammootty, Madhuri Dixit, Sharmila Tagore have portrayed queer characters.
"There is not enough being done. Even if it is tokenism, let's embrace it and celebrate it. Because at least it is creating visibility," he says.
The conversation inevitably turns to Kal Ho Naa Ho, the 2003 film that marked Advani's directorial debut and continues to find new audiences more than two decades later. While the film's comedic misunderstanding involving Shah Rukh Khan's Aman and Saif Ali Khan's Rohit relationship from the lens of their homophobic househelp Kantaben is often remembered fondly, Advani says younger viewers interpret the film differently. He recalls that his own daughter was appalled by the comedic treatment of Kantaben's homophobia.
"It was a bromance," he says. "The film ended for me when Aman and Rohit made a pact with each other. That pact involved a woman, and that woman was standing outside in the corridor and today most girls wonder why the hell was she standing outside when those wto are talking the whole shit. I will never be able to get away with that kind of ending of Kal Ho Naa Ho ever again. "
Reflecting on changing social attitudes, Advani admits that if the film were remade today, exploring a romantic relationship between the two male leads would be an intriguing possibility.
"If we were to remake Kal Ho Naa Ho today, it would be interesting to explore that (romance between Aman and Rohit)," he says.
