My cinema is not too far from my father's

A lot was riding on Kuttey. It was the first Bollywood film of the new year after a terrible 2022; it had some of the finest actors in the industry—from Tabu to Naseeruddin Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma and Kumud Mishra; the dashing Arjun Kapoor carried the film on his shoulders; and the film was the directorial debut of Aasmaan Bhardwaj, son of veteran director Vishal Bhardwaj and singer Rekha Bhardwaj.

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

However, it bombed at the box office. But Aasmaan, who studied screenwriting at New York University, says it was never meant to be a commercial blockbuster. Excerpts from an interview:

Q/What is your own assessment of Kuttey?

A/I’m too close to it right now to analyse it at all. Maybe two to three years down the line, when I watch it again, I would be more objective and critical. Right now I am very happy with the film I made because it is what I wanted to make right from the beginning and it has come out exactly like—in fact, better than—my visualisation.