Toilet: Ek Prem Katha director overwhelmed about film featuring in Bill Gates' list

Shree Narayan Singh, the director of the 2017 hit Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, can’t stop marvelling at the impact his film has made. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi and now Bill Gates, the film has been noticed by the highest and the mightiest.

He says, “It’s difficult for me to express in mere words my gratitude towards Mr Gates for appreciating a simple film like Toilet. But it definitely gives me a big high hearing appreciation from someone like Bill Gates. I mean, wow! Is Mr Gates aware of any other Hindi film?”

Shree Narayan, who began his career with a small, forgotten film Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai in 2012, got a second chance with this film. “It was Neeraj Pandey who pulled me out of oblivion. Of course, I was proud to be associated with Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai. It launched the acting career of the grandson of one of my favourite filmmakers, Shakti Samanta. But the film flopped. I would’ve vanished if it were not for Neeraj. He invited me to assist him in all his films including his productions that he didn’t direct,” says Shree Narayan, who is the second of six children born to a family in Uttar Pradesh.

Prior to Akshay, many A-list actors, including SRK, turned up their nose at a film about toilet habits. About Akshay, Shree Nayaran says, “His dedication to making Toilet is indescribable. He would be the first one on the sets, even if we shot till 1 am on the previous night. Normally, he doesn’t shoot for more than eight hours per day. But I only had to ask, and he would be there for me. He treated me like a child who needs nurturing.”

He adds, “Whatever I make has to have a connect with the day-to-day problems of the working class.