There was an interesting conversation this reporter overheard last week. At the Cinevesture International Film Festival, held in Chandigarh between March 20 and 23, an independent filmmaker described writer-director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane as “unpredictable”—you never know what he’ll make next, there’s no one genre you can slot him in, and he breaks the mould after every film he works on. His journey, this indie filmmaker said, is un-emulatable.
That really is an interesting observation. Motwane’s directorial debut Udaan released in 2010, following which he made Lootera (2013), Trapped (2017), Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018), Sacred Games (2018-19), AK vs AK (2020), Jubilee (2023), Indi(r)a’s Emergency (2023), and CTRL (2024)—all of them about distinct subjects.
Now, fresh off the success of his Netflix Hindi-language crime drama thriller, Black Warrant (2025), Motwane is already working on his next feature. But what keeps him going and makes him keep experimenting? “As a movie buff, I love all kinds of movies. I just get excited by stories. I get excited by the potential to see how a story will translate itself from a single line onto the screen. That’s what drives me—the excitement to tell a story in a new way, in a different way,” he offers.
While Motwane’s passion is telling all kinds of stories, there’s one genre he loves a lot—superhero films. He says, “I love superhero films to death, and I hope to make more of them.”
In fact, he is next producing actor Radhika Apte’s debut directorial feature Koyta, which also has themes of action-fantasy. Talking about the film, he says, “It’s a film about a migrant sugarcane worker who suddenly discovers after an operation that she has superpowers, and she’s not the only one out there.” He laughs as he adds, “That’s all I can say right now.”
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Fantasies aside, is filmmaking becoming a difficult job? Can filmmakers today even think of making something like a Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, which talks about lynching, or a Sacred Games for that matter?
The Udaan director believes that such films need to be made, that they should be made, because they are unfortunately still relevant and “always will be wherever injustice persists”.
He, however, adds: “I think there’s an overall sensitivity across the board. Everyone’s feelings and sentiments get hurt equally. I think people need to calm down a little bit. It’s just a movie. It’s just a series. It’s okay to dislike something. You don’t have to watch everything and you can turn it off if it doesn’t apply to you.”
“In a democracy, we shouldn’t try to censor or tell adults what they can and cannot watch, it’s just absurd,” Motwane sighs.
The filmmaker is right when he says that there’s a growing sensitivity and intolerance towards the creative space. This, however, is not new. Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2018 period drama Padmaavat sparked violent protests before its release. Hansal Mehta just days ago took to social media to share that back in 2000, after the release of his film Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!, workers of the (then undivided) Shiv Sena had blackened his face when they took offence to one dialogue in the movie. Just this year, the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Punjab’ 95 has seen its release being delayed due to what the team called “circumstances beyond our control”.
Unfortunate as these backlashes to films are, we’re also constantly hearing people go on tirade after tirade about how mainstream Bollywood films are “losing the plot”, as Gen Z would say.
Motwane nods. He believes the movies today are undergoing a change. “Especially post-pandemic, we are still discovering what Hindi cinema is and trying to find our identity again. It’ll take a little bit of time, but it’ll happen,” he says.
“The big Bollywood film will always exist. But it’ll also need a reinvention. I think middle of the road cinema is where the biggest question mark is, about what that would look like two years from now. I strongly believe it will be genre films, but let’s see,” he adds.
Interestingly, with new mainstream films taking a hit, multiplex chains like PVR Inox have relied on re-releases as a revenue model lately. Motwane’s Lootera also was re-released this month in theatres. “When you’re making a film, you’re a little too tense and can’t see it objectively. But now that one has the time, I re-watched Udaan and Lootera recently, and I actually quite enjoyed both the films,” he says.
With his films having universal themes that are more often than not undated, he reveals that people have often told things like “I’ve seen your film X number of times and it always works for me,” or “Every time I see X film of yours, I discover new things.”
Says Motwane, “The greatest compliment I’ve ever received is when someone once said that Udaan changed their life. With movies, the thing is that you can see one today and it’ll mean something to you, but I think a core memory—of what something meant to you the first time you saw it—never goes away.”
Blockbuster formula
Does Motwane have a word of advice for the young crop of filmmakers? He does, and it’s a simple mantra — be excited yourself and make films that will be exciting for people.
“I think they (young filmmakers) have to do what excites them and what moves them, keeping in mind what can be made in a time and in a place like today. You want people to buy a ticket to see your film. How are you gonna do that? That’s the main question. Excitement is the only answer. Make exciting movies,” he adds.