Milkshakes Masti Friendship

‘Chhichhore’ director Nitesh Tiwari talks about how he was inspired by his years and friends at IIT Bombay to create this week’s release

- Suhani Singh

Much before he directed one of the biggest films of Indian cinema in Dangal, Nitesh Tiwari was a lanky young man whose drink of choice on the campus of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay was milkshake.

“I never paid for my milkshakes,” with much pride Tiwari told Mail Today, while promoting his fourth feature Chhichhore. “I was active in sports and dramatics and fared well so the sports secretary would sign on my canteen account ‘ki iske against paanch milkshakes’ [this for his five milkshakes].” Tiwari, who graduated with a degree in metallurgy and material science engineering, was popular because he was generous enough to let his friends have from his quota.

Engineering students love for milkshakes is just one of the many aspects of IIT campus that Tiwari recreates for Chhichhore. Short on IIT Bombay campus, Tiwari spoke of the “surreal” feeling he recently had after the film was screened at the convocation hall a few days before its release. “It is where my love affair with movies started,” he said. “I never missed any of the four films screened there each month. The first Hollywood film I saw on the big screen was there –