Nitish Bhardwaj On His 1989 Film Nache Nagin Gali Gali Being An Online Craze

‘Lord Krishna’  Nitish Bhardwaj  is pleasantly  surprised to know that one of his old films Naache Nagin Gali Gali  is a  craze online  with  over  60 million views  .And  still counting.

The  film  released in 1989 s , directed  by  Mohanji Prasad  stars  the director’s favourite actress Meenakshi Sheshadri alongside  Nitish Bhardwaj.The films is  a  weird kinky and tacky tale  of two snakes played by Sheshadri  and Bhardwaj

Nitish recalls how he was a virtual  newcomer on  the sets. “Meenakshi  was my senior and  a  very well-established  actress . I  was new to cinema. In fact  I was a visitor on  the sets  of Meenakshi’s  debut film Painter Babu at Filmistan  studios. When  we began  shooting together  for Naache Nagin Gali Gali(NNGG)  Meenakshi was very reserved .To break the ice I told her  exactly what  happened on the sets of Painter Babu on the days when  I was  a  visitor.  She  was  completely stumped. She wanted to  know how I knew all of that.That’s how we became  friends.”

It  was  very  important  for  the   lead pair  to  be comfortable  with one  another as they  had  to  perform some  really  awkward  intimate scenes.

Recalls Nitish  with a  laugh, “We were  supposed to be snakes in human form so we had  cling to one another  like snakes on a bed. I  was  very embarrassed  because   for one, she  was my senior and a big star and in any case it would be awkward  for any  two people to  do that kind  of an intimate scene. But  Meenakshi put me  at ease and  made sure I was  comfortable doing the scenes.”

 Interestingly  there  was  an incident  on  the set  of NNGG where Meenakshi was  assaulted  by  stranger.

  Confirming this incident Nitish  said, “He was  stalker, an obsessive  fan. But before he  could  cause any trouble  , he was  immediately  removed  by security and handed  over to the police.She handled the situation with  great dignity. It’s a pity Meenakshi married and left  so early in her career when she was  so popular and such a fabulous trained dancer. During the shooting she would  guide me  through my steps.”

How does  Nitish explain  the  massive interest  in  this mythological potboiler? “I think it is due to   the  newly found craze  for  my serials  Mahabharat and Krishna among the younger generation.This generation seems  more  curious about my work  beyond my Krishna avatars  on  screen than the  audience  of the 1990s.”