Ahead of Mother’s Day (May 11), filmmaker Amar Kaushik opens up about the woman who ignited his storytelling spark — his mum Shashi Kaushik. Known for directing Stree (2018), Bhediya (2022) and Stree 2 (2024), Amar wholeheartedly credits his debut short film Aaba (2017) to her real-life experiences and talent.
“It was literally my mother’s story... She had just arrived from Chandigarh and, during dinner, she narrated a story from her life. It struck a chord. I stayed up all night thinking about it, and the next morning, I told her I wanted to make a film on it. We discussed it and I wrote the story, produced it and I went to Arunachal (Pradesh) and made it with her,” the 41-year-old tells us.
Aaba went on to win the National Award and 67 international accolades. “Due to mummy and the story, I travelled across the world including Korea, China, Brazil, Japan, the US and Europe. I make films in places like Chandeli, Kanpur-Lucknow, Arunachal Pradesh but this made me travel half of the world. It was made with real people without known faces and I hope to release the short film somewhere soon,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}Aaba went on to win the National Award and 67 international accolades. “Due to mummy and the story, I travelled across the world including Korea, China, Brazil, Japan, the US and Europe. I make films in places like Chandeli, Kanpur-Lucknow, Arunachal Pradesh but this made me travel half of the world. It was made with real people without known faces and I hope to release the short film somewhere soon,” he says.
{{/usCountry}}His mum was fondly credited as “Mummy” in the film and he thanks her for shaping his creative instincts early on. “Everyone is influenced by their mother, but mere saath kuch zyada hi hai! My filmmaking DNA came from her — bundled with her aashirwaad, he says.
Currently wrapping up his production Thama with actor Ayushmann Khurrana, Amar is going to channel those childhood memories into his most ambitious project yet — Mahavatar, starring Vicky Kaushal.
“Growing up in Arunachal Pradesh, she’d tell us mythological stories. Electricity wasn’t there, and maa ahaniya sunaya karti thi. Those stories went deep into me as we did not had anything else to do. I have some visuals to her she telling about mythological characters and I remember Parashuram Kund with her and she is narrating about it and his relationship with mother,” he says and adds, “Mahavatar is based on those very stories (Parashuram) and is heavy on VFX. After Stree 2, I finally have the means to bring this vision to life. ”