Nikkhil Advani’s journey in Bollywood began with esteemed production houses Yash Raj Films and Dharma Productions, culminating in his directorial debut with the iconic Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Kal Ho Naa Ho, a film still cherished as one of Dharma’s most memorable releases. However, his association with Dharma and producer Karan Johar was short-lived, as a creative rift led to a fallout, resulting in a severed professional relationship. Now, in a new interview, the filmmaker revealed how Salman Khan came to his rescue.
In an interview with Galatta Plus, Nikkhil revealed that people often doubted about him directing Kal Ho Naa Ho, and hence he wanted to prove them all wrong. Hence, he went on to direct the multi-starrer Salaam-e-Ishq. Recollecting the same, he shared, “Salaam-e-Ishq was an outcome of arrogance that, ‘Okay, people feel that I have not directed Kal Ho Naa Ho, I’ll direct six love stories. One will be a Mani Ratnam type love story, one will be a Gulzar type, one will be Karan Johar type, one will be a Kundan Shah type’. So, I said I will direct six love stories. Sunil Manchanda (producer) gave me the option. He said, ‘Let’s make something like Love Actually’,”
The film starred Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra, along with John Abraham, Vidya Balan, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, and Akshaye Khanna, in the lead roles.
Talking about Salman Khan’s support, he added, “Salman Khan prides himself on being the messiah of the industry, so the minute I walked out of the doors of Dharma Productions, I got a call from Salman saying, ‘Come and meet me’. (He then said) ‘Now you will work for me, you will make a film for me’. And I appreciate that.” Nikkhil explained that this was also why he directed Sooraj Pancholi’s Hero years later. “I did Hero because Salman called me up, even after I started D-Day. After D-Day, the next film I did was Hero. Hero and Katti Batti were two big flops, one week after another.”
Nikkhil Advani’s career took a detour with a string of films like Salaam-e-Ishq, Chandni Chowk to China, and Patiala House, which unfortunately didn’t resonate with audiences. However, this streak of unsuccessful ventures proved to be a turning point for the director. He shifted gears, adopting a more realistic approach with D-Day, a decision he attributes to the lessons learned from his previous failures. In his own words, “It was just failure after failure,” which prompted him to reassess and recalibrate his filmmaking trajectory.
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