Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari says she had no plans to step into direction but when the story of ‘Nil Battey Sannata’, about a single mother’s struggle to get her daughter educated, inspired her to step behind the camera.

She calls the 2015 film, starring Swara Bhasker and Pankaj Tripathi, as one of her “most precious experiments”. The movie was part of the work-in-progress lab at Film Bazaar in 2013, Tiwari said on the sidelines of the ongoing 56^th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), according to a PTI report from Panaji, Goa yesterday.

“Festivals have been an important part of my life. It went to a lot of festivals and later it was released in the country, with a lot of love and support, and that made me the filmmaker that I’m. I’m known for certain kinds of stories.

“Film festivals help you open up your mind, you meet different people, see different kinds of stories, it’s a great place to network, you come back with a lot of experience,” the director told PTI in an interview.

Tiwari said she feels “lucky” to have found producers like Ajay Rai and Alan McAlex for her first movie ‘Nil Battey Sannata’. “I was not looking to direct it. I was working in advertising and I’m an art director and writer predominately. I had the story, therefore I wanted to tell it. I finished the story and I went to Ajay and Alan and told them if they can find a director for it.

“It’s a story that’s important and is close to my heart. It’s almost a reflection of me and my mother and how she felt that no dream is impossible. I wanted to talk about how people from middle India or any class can make their dream come true, and that’s what all my stories have said,” she said.

Tiwari credited Rai and McAlex for coaxing her to take on the mantle of directing the movie and that led to other movies like ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ and ‘Panga’.

“I feel you need to have good stories and belief in yourself that you can direct. It was also something that I discovered about myself and I did it with all honesty. That’s how my journey into storytelling began,” she said, adding, she aims to back “good” stories and support budding filmmakers in their journey of making the films that they wish to make.

The director said she has never understood why films are labelled as commercial or independent cinema. “I’m a storyteller, I wanted to tell a story and say it in a certain way. I later found out that cinema is divided into different genres. It did well in festivals and in theatres even though it’s a small film, but it had a very big heart.

“When people ask me, ‘What is ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’… it is a middle cinema but it was a commercial cinema because it has a strong storyline. So how would you put boxes to stories, I would not know. I do know that a certain budget and how you position the film, makes it what it is.

“A film like ‘Nil Battey Sannata’ cannot be called an independent film but has gone to festivals. We should stop coining these words and just keep stories the way they are. The story takes its own shape and journey outside,” she added.

The director said she has been working on a couple of projects, including a love story, a social drama and a series for a major OTT platform.

“Today, we are telling the stories to the new age India, and it’s important to understand what is new age India… I want stories to inspire, aspire… It’s also important for the audience to see and imbibe my cinema. It’s important to step back and follow what you’re good at and do not follow the crowd,” Tiwari said.