Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari describes herself as an old soul who swears by romantic movies of the ’80s. With her latest series Faadu, she wants to offer the magic of old-school romance to today’s generation who, she feels, are cynical about love. “[People today] are fast and impatient in love. This generation believes in dreaming big and getting things for themselves. In the process, love becomes all about meeting in a restaurant and looking at your phones,” chuckles the director.
A still from Faadu
With the Pavail Gulati and Saiyami Kher-starrer, Tiwari and writer Saumya Joshi present an ideological battle between a couple, where one aims for the sky and the other is grounded. The romantic drama may seem like a surprise offering from the director, who has mostly told stories about women empowerment — from Nil Battey Sannata (2015) to Panga (2020). But to her, Faadu, like any other work of hers, is a study of modern-day interpersonal relationships. “Excessive consumerism changes the way you look at life. You are chasing money, but you also want love. But in the process, you end up with no time to even look at the things you wanted to do. That is exactly what is happening with the younger generation. Why do people not want to fall in love? As storytellers, we [must] provoke thoughts in our audience’s mind.”
Though the SonyLIV offering marks her first fiction web series, the director says she has mounted it like a feature film. “Making a series is like directing four films. Its quality had to be on par with the international [projects] that the audience has seen.”
Also Read: Saiyami Kher opens up about her role in `Faadu: A Love Story`