Nikkhil Advani admits adding 'masala and action' to Dalit girl's tale in Vedaa was a 'mistake', made it 'impure'

Vedaa, directed by Nikkhil Advani, starred John Abraham and Sharvari, and was a failure at the box office.

Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani took the path less taken with Vedaa, a film that tackled cast issues in rural India. The film, however, was made as an action entertainer, with lots of masala thrown in. Nikkhil admits that doing so was a mistake that compromised the film's integrity and purity. (

Nikkhil Advani's Vedaa starred John Abraham and Shravari in the lead roles.

Nikkhil Advani on Vedaa

Speaking at the 7th edition of the Indian Screenwriters Conference (ISC) hosted by the Screenwriters Association of India (SWA), Nikkhil reminisced about Vedaa, his 2024 film that starred Sharvari and John Abraham. The film followed the story of a young Dalit girl who challenges caste discrimination. The filmmaker said the movie, headlined by John Abraham and Sharvari, succumbed to the pressure of being "too entertaining" to appeal to a wider audience.

"I made a mistake when I made a film (Vedaa) on a Dalit girl who wants to do boxing but something happens at her home, as a result of which the upper caste comes after her. I knew no one wanted to watch a Dalit girl's story but I still wanted to make a film on that. My mistake was that I made it too entertaining— putting all that action and masala, thinking people would come to watch the film," the filmmaker said in conversation with writer Darab Farooqui in a session titled 'Entertainment and Social Reality: How they go hand in hand.'

When asked if the team of Vedaa had Dalit representation to ensure getting the reality right, Nikkhil added, "A lot of people called me up and told me how they live and what happens with them. But the entertainment aspect of telling a story completely makes it impure."

In the panel discussion, Nikkhil Advani was joined by Mrs filmmaker Arati Kadav, director Dibakar Banerjee and Eeb Allay Ooo!-fame Prateek Vats. Nikkhil further added that he still didn't know what 'entertainment' meant. The filmmaker, who has directed diverse films like Kal Ho Naa Ho and D-Day, said, "Is Manmohan Desai entertainment or Salim-Javed? Or entertainment is what we're doing? For me what is most important is being dramatic. Am I creating enough drama? Do the characters have dignity, is there some reason or logic behind their actions?"

About Vedaa

Vedaa was released on August 15, 2024. The film starred Abhishek Banerjee and Ashish Vidyarthi apart from John and Sharvari. The film received mixed reviews from critics and failed to perform at the box office. Vedaa earned just ₹26 crore worldwide against a budget of ₹60 crore.