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Silent operator! Nikhil Alva

“We are a conservative organisation. We don’t believe in hogging limelight,” says Nikhil, the other half of the Alva brothers. But even modesty has its limits. Many won’t know that the critically acclaimed Aamir was produced by Miditech before being sold to UTV, which has walked away with all the credit for supporting meaningful cinema.

“Raj Kumar Gupta came to us after facing rejection from many quarters. We felt it was an original plot and the story needed to be told in these terror-filled times where an entire community is facing persecution because of a few exceptions. We brought together the entire crew. Rajeev Khandelwal had already worked with us in Deal Ya No Deal. Not only Raj and Rajeev have made their debut with the film, the cinematographer and music composers are also first timers.”

But then why did they sell the film to UTV? “It was a conscious decision. We took it as a television project, where we complete the series and sell it to a channel. It has proved to be a successful exercise, as UTV has made 8 to 10 times of what they spent on the film.” Nikhil says they would like to do three-four such projects before going full throttle in Bollywood.

Nikhil shares Niret has this amazing ability to compartmentalise his personal and professional life. “I can’t do it so effectively. He always has some extra time with him.”

Both the brothers started with documentaries and Nikhil still rates Living on the Edge as his favourite. The brothers won critical acclaim when they put together a telling tale of the biggest mid air collision: the head on crash between a Khazakistan and Saudi Arabian jet over Charkhi Dadri in Haryana. It was followed by the intriguing investigation of IC 814 hijack. Recently they won acclaim for a documentary on Munmbai floods. Over the years, while Niret diversified, Nikhil seemed stuck to his first love. “This is just a perception. When we started Niret used to take care of the creative side and I was in charge of management. But today there are no fixed roles.”

He insists that reality shows haven’t diluted their credibility. Television requires different kinds of programming. Indian Idol has a space in Indian television as have the documentaries like Chasing Earthquakes.

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