Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari: Middle-income group is new-age India

Mumbai: Filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari feels the middle-income group defines new-age India and we no longer want to ape the West, and these are reasons why more films rooted in India and Indian culture are gaining popularity lately.

Tiwari, who has explored smalltown themes in films like "Nil Battey Sannata" and "Bareilly Ki Barfi", is gearing up for "Panga", where Kangana Ranaut plays a kabaddi player. She shared her opinion at the trailer launch of her upcoming film.

"I feel the middle-income group in India is new-age India. Our parents didn't get the facilities they gave us. Now we are getting everything through online shopping and we eat pizzas and burgers, but we still we want khichdi and dal-chaawal for dinner. We travel entire world but at the end of the day, we want to come home. This is the aspiration," said Tiwari.

She added: "At one point of time, we wanted to be like the West (countries) but now, we just want to be unapologetically Indian and we have no qualms about it. When we make films that travel to the entire world, then they (NRIs) experience our culture. The people who have left our country still feel the love for it. So instead of aping the West, it's okay to show our colours, it's okay to show that we share our food and its okay to show open doors. We don't have to feel that we can't show these things in our films."

At the "Panga" trailer launch, Tiwari was accompanied by cast members Kangana Ranaut and Jassie Gill, besides music composers Shankar Mahadevan and Loy Mendonsa.

The trailer showcases Kangana as a national level Kabaddi player who decides to get married and settle down in life. However, as a Railway employee, she feels something is missing in life. Her husband Prashant, played by Jassie Gill, decides to support her in her bid to make a comeback in kabaddi.

Ashwiny added that we shouldn't feel shy talking about our music, culture and characters. She said: "In the film, Kangana works in the railways and Jassie is an engineer, so for the first time in Indian cinema we are going to show the railway yard. That's our country, so why should we feel shy talking about our music, culture and characters?"

"Panga" also features Richa Chadda, Neena Gupta and Yogya Bhasin. The film is set to release on January 24.