Adgully Exclusive | Only babbling all the time on Facebook and Twitter won't help: Tigmanshu Dhulia

Dil Se, I thought, was a brilliant movie. Incidentally, it was also the first Bollywood movie to make it to the top-ten list in the UK. Bandit Queen ' a biopic of Phoolan Devi, Haasil, Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai and more recently, Charas. These are films that are worlds apart from each other and yet there is a name that links them all ' Tigmanshu Dhulia. He hails from the lovely land of Uttaranchal but was born and brought up in Allahabad, U.P.

Having majored in English, Economics and Modern History, Tigmanshu joined The National School of Drama where he specialized in acting and passed out with a Masters degree in Theatre in 1989.

It was back in time when Bollywood was obsessed with mushy love stories that Tigmanshu did not find any takers for his script. "Nobody was ready to invest in my films. My film had a climax in Allahabad in Kumbh Mela. Everything was ready, Kumbh Mela started, everything was in time but then I did not have a producer. So, I collected money from my friends, some of the finance I managed to raise, took my actors and my crew to Allahabad. We shot our whole climax there, we got it edited and then showed it to people. This is the way I got my first break," recalls Tigmanshu.

He developed an inclination towards direction when he realized that he wasn't a good actor at all. Tigmanshu got on board Ketan Mehta's Sardar Patel. His faculty at the time, Robin Das, was roped in as the art director for the film. Tigmanshu was a history student and because the film was a based on events from the past, he was taken on board for doing all the research for the film.

His directorial effort, Pan Singh Tomar, is set to come out in 2010. The film is based on a true event. Explaining the plot of the film, Tigmanshu says, "He was an army man who became an athlete. For seven years nobody could break his record. He stayed in Chambal where he had some land disputes with his relatives who were from a more affluent family with accesses to guns. They started to harass his family and beat up his son and mother. Being a national player he thought the Panchayat and police might help him but then no one turned up to save his family. At last he had to pick the gun. Ultimately Pan Singh Tomar became a dacoit. He formed his gang and terrorized the Chambal valley for 3 to 4 years then he was shot by cops."

While working as an assistant for Shekhar Kapur, Tigmanshu had to research about Bandit Queen and the lives of dacoits. It was during this time he came across the mention of Pan Singh Tomar in a magazine and it was from here that the inspiration to make a movie around this topic came to life. "UTV got interested and funded my research. I did my research for a year talking to the athletes, the people who were a part of pansingh tomar gang, to their families," he says.

His investment of almost two years on the project was a thrilling experience. "We were in Chambal which is still famous for dacoits. Surrendered dacoits were protecting us. We earlier worked in that area for Bandit Queen so I knew the old people who helped us that time. Even they came forward to help us. There was police protection but still we had ex-dacoits as bodyguards. Dacoits protecting from dacoits¦ you never knew what will happen next. Between that Irfan Khan broke his leg during an action sequence," Tigmanshu recollects when asked about the hurdles he faced during the making of the film.

Tigmanshu is of the belief that marketing should be an integral part of any project and says that it is difficult to market the film unless you have a big star like Aamir, Salman or Shahrukh. He isn't aiming at any marketing stunt and believes that the film will be able to attract movie goers owing to its real-life inspiration.

"It has deteriorated. No profit is gained as compared to the last decade. Corporate world has entered in the film industry which has held it back. Earlier there were solo producers, now there is a corporate world which has entered who has so many people which gets related to film who really do nothing. So the budget simply sky high when there is actually no need. Chandini Chowk to China had a good marketing, a good budget, a good star cast, still it was a flop. Marketing has nothing to do with the viewers. The audience can sniff a good package. It depends on audience to make the film hit not on the marketing thing. It's all crap," he explains when asked how marketing has changed over the past decade.

He is making another film with UTV called Milan Talkies that stars Pratik Babbar in the lead. This small town love story is set to hit the floor in July.

Tigmanshu is a firm believer of giving opportunities to new and aspiring people. "I made a film with Rafiq Mehemood ' the camera person of Hassil. For my next film, Charas, he gave me his word but then took up Rajat Kapur's project. I got pissed off and gave chance to his assistant Setu who was CP of Charas and then he got Taare Zameen Par. So I do totally believe to give chances," he says sharing an example.

Tigmanshu also enjoys music and actually formed a band of his own. "My elder brother used to play guitar and I learned by watching him. He had a band so even I made my band. We used to play rock. Then I went to NSD and the whole scenario changed. Music there was very Indian so music completely vanished, but I still listen to the music," he says.

Speaking passionately about history and its importance, he says, "Youngsters have to find their heroes in Cricketers and film stars. This young generation is very casual about everything, enjoying at café coffee day and barista. They are not bothered about anything. The fast money has taken them nowhere. People are upset with government but the funny thing is that nothing has changed. Mumbai has faced so much of turbulence for many years but things are still same and the same people are being voted in. There is complacency in the younger generation. They are contented with what they have, so you have to find some inspiring hero from history so that you can make some inspiring stuff from it."

He parts off giving a solid message to the entire community, especially the younger generation of today. "Throw your laptops and get out on the streets and kick some ass. Get out of the virtual world and get in the real world. Only babbling all the time on Facebook and Twitter won't help," he says. We can only nod in agreement to that statement.