The life of a private detective undergoes a dramatic change when he takes up a case that is deeply personal and highly complex. Set in the year 1992, against the backdrop of the finance reform policy that spiraled the Indian Middle Class in a tizzy of consumerism, reforming everything, including their relationships, PUNE 52 is an heartbreaking love story blended in a edge of the seat thriller.

Biography

Nikhil Mahajan is a graduate in film direction from The International Film School Sydney, Australia, and comes from an academically inclined Middle class family. Growing up on Bollywood cinema, making films was possibly the only thing that Nikhil could imagine himself doing.
Pune 52 is Nikhils first film

Filmography

Half a Billion Dreams (Documentary) (2011)
Pune 52 (Feature) (2013)

Statement

The idea of making a film about the life of a private detective occurred to me for the first time, when I met a friends uncle who was a private detective. The stories he told me about his profession inspired me to write a drama centered about the falling marriage of a detective. The Indian society underwent a dramatic change post 1992, when the finance reform policy opened up the market for foreign companies - throwing the middle class in a mad tizzy of consumerism, making happiness being measured by your power to buy. Hence I set the story against this backdrop - however the film is not about the reform policy - and its treated as a mere, subtle backdrop. I wrote the story as a noir thriller - trying to achieve a decent blend between a thriller and a family drama, making the process of writing very challenging. While shooting, we chose very noir lighting techniques and made sure that the film looks the way we want it to. Pune 52 is my first film, and I am very happy by what weve achieved in the budget we got and within the time frame assigned to us.