Mumbai, September 20, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Filmmaker Nikkhil Advani, who has been receiving positive response for his recently released streaming series The Revolutionaries, has opened up about the sources that inspire his creative work, saying he often finds reality stranger and more unpredictable than fiction.
Advani spoke about his creative process during an interaction with Yes Punjab News alongside actors Bhuvan Bam, Rohit Saraf, Pratibha Ranta and Gurfateh Pirzada.
The filmmaker said he consumes relatively little fiction and prefers content based on real-life events because reality can often be more absurd than anything a writer could imagine.
“I find reality stranger than fiction. I find it absurd. Really, I find it absurd how some people behave. When I hear some stories about the things that have happened, I couldn’t just wrap my head around them,” he said.
Citing the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks as an example, Advani said the scale of the incident would have appeared unbelievable if presented purely as a fictional scene.
“If I had written it as a scene, people would say, ‘It doesn’t work like that in real life’. If I told you that 12 people came on a rubber raft and they held Bombay hostage for three days, no one would believe it,” he said.
Advani added that the unpredictability of human behaviour is a major source of inspiration for him.
“Human nature is always evolving. And this is where I draw my inspiration from,” he said.
The filmmaker previously explored the 26/11 attacks and their impact on Mumbai’s medical infrastructure through his series Mumbai Diaries.
However, when his creative references run out, Advani said he returns to the work of legendary screenwriting duo Salim-Javed.
“And when everything else fails, I go back to Salim-Javed because they have taken care of lots of stuff. I love my reference points like Jai and Veeru,” he said, referring to the iconic characters from Sholay.
Meanwhile, The Revolutionaries follows freedom fighters Rash Behari Bose, Pratibha Lahiri, Sachindra Nath Sanyal and Bagha Jatin against the backdrop of India’s struggle for independence.
The series, inspired by true events, explores the lives of revolutionaries who believed armed resistance was essential to challenging British rule. It stars Bhuvan Bam, Rohit Saraf, Pratibha Ranta, Gurfateh Pirzada and Jason Shah.
The Revolutionaries is streaming on Prime Video.
FOLLOW NOW
