‘The gaze wasn’t right’: director Nikhil Pherwani, of ‘Ahaan’, on the portrayal of developmental disabilities in Indian cinema

Not satisfied with how developmental disabilities were portrayed in Indian cinema, director Nikhil Pherwani cast an actor with Down syndrome in his début film, ‘Ahaan’

Filmmaker Nikhil Pherwani met 45-year-oldAbuli Mamaji, one of the leads of his début film Ahaan, in a care facility for individuals with autism, Down syndrome (DS), and other learning disabilities. “The first thing he said to me was that he loves acting and Salman Khan,” Pherwani recalls. Ahaan, which had its theatrical release earlier this year and drops on Netflix on May 15, is a film about a young man with DS who finds a friend in an older neighbour struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), played by Arif Zakaria. The film, which Pherwani and his brother Abhishek have produced under their banner, Will Find Way Films, also stars Plabita Borthakur, Niharika Singh, and Rajit Kapur. It wasn’t enough for Pherwani to tell a story about an under-represented section of our society, he also wanted them to be seen on screen. “We talk about inclusion but I don’t think we see enough of it. When you watch world cinema, filmmakers there go the extra step. I didn’t want to hire an actor, put prosthetics on him, and try to replicate behaviour. In Abuli, I found someone with Down syndrome who wanted to act. He was really passionate about it and wanted to give it his all,” he says. After spending some more time with his young actor, both with his family and alone, the director knew he was one step closer to making his dream début.