When Shahid Kapur’s mother Neelima Azim wanted to direct her first film Nawab Nautanki, little did she know that her star son would turn it down.

“Shahid is not a part of my film—he’s not acting in it, though he loved the script. He has been very evasive. All I can say is that his answer is no. I don’t think it will be a yes,” said the mother.

Prod her to share the reason and she said, “Why he said no, is not for me to say. He may be having his own reasons and logic. There may be some other reasons why he turned me down. Even if I had known them, I wouldn’t have disclosed them to the media.”

Neelima added, “The film is a sophisticated comedy and will have the feel of the golden years of Bollywood. You don’t get to enjoy the same dialogues, music and  dances in today’s films.”

Nawab Nautanki is the story of an eccentric Nawab family and deals with the happenings in the household. The film will have a small-town setting and focus on essentially four characters—two males and two females.

The casting of the film is also giving this former actress-and-dancer a problem. “Producers want big stars and stars want to know who the producers are before giving their consent. Nobody wants to be a part of a good film. Everyone wants to be a part of big banner,” she said.

Neelima added, “I had approached some big stars. All of them have turned me down. It’s tough for a newcomer who may have a great script but no big producers backing it.”

Neelima added, “What we see today is hardly comedy— it is filthy and low. Comedy is an excuse for having no story in the film. It is a brainless exercise to watch these films. There is no intellectual humour.”

Neelima said her script is original. “We mostly operate on remakes and are blindly copying the West, which itself doesn’t know where it is heading,” she said adding, “We seem to have lost our roots. We have so much talent, so much creativity. My film is an effort to bring back originality to our industry.”