Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra says he is happy that his last directorial venture "Hichki" was well-received by the audiences...

Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra says he is happy that his last directorial venture "Hichki" was well-received by the audiences, especially women. The film, featuring Rani Mukerji in the lead role, was recently aired on Sony TV and is rated higher than any other women-centric film since the time Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) came into industry usage to derive rating points.

Filmmaker Siddharth P Malhotra's Hichki

"With Hichki we challenged various norms like it being a female-centric film, an issue based film which spoke about syndrome which not many were aware of and an actress coming back on screen post maternity. "Adi (Aditya Chopra), Rani, Maneesh (Sharma), my DOP Avinash, the entire team and me went with the hope that we have made an honest film. It is extremely hearting to see how it has resonated with the audiences.

Hichki' gets a standing ovation at Shanghai film fest

Even more heartening to know that it has rated so well on television as I am a TV guy and this is a medium for a huge audience," Malhotra said in a statement. "Hichki is a story of an aspiring teacher played by Rani, who suffers from Tourette syndrome. The film recently received a standing ovation at the Shanghai International Film Festival.