Ashim Ahluwalia, helmer of the recent biopic Daddy, based on the politician Arun Gawli, and starring Arjun Rampal, is the outsider making inroads into Bollywood one film at a time. His first feature, Miss Lovely, was a periscope zooming into the underground world of the C-grade pornographic films made in the 1980s. In his next film, Ahluwalia moved closer to the mainstream, if not entirely, by featuring Rampal in the lead role. Ahluwalia updated us about his picks for the best new films this year.

Between your first feature Miss Lovely (2012) and Daddy (2017), what have you learned about working in the film industry by and large – in terms of trying to get your film made – the rigor that you now follow if at all there is one?

To make the kind of films I do, you have to be headstrong, crazy and somewhat possessed. Filmmaking is a war, there is no other way.

Which films did you see this year?

I don’t watch too much. Many recent films were too safe and predictable, kind of dull for my general taste. I like older films. I saw a Filipino film from 1975 last night, Lino Brocka’s Manila in the Claw of Light â€“ and that would probably blow anything made this year out of the water.

What about the craft of filmmakers back home?

I like seeing films from within the community, sometimes while they are in-process. The younger directors are definitely more exciting. Kabir Mehta, who started out working with me as an assistant, made a really interesting film called Buddha.mov. I really liked Shaunak Sen’s Cities of Sleep, Kabir Chowdhry’s Mehsampur and also Nepalese filmmaker Deepak Rauniyar’s White Sun.

Is there a trend you noticed in cinema this year?

Biopics and period films.

Is that where you are heading next after Daddy, a period film?

I’m currently working on my first international film, and the first film I've made that isn't set in India. It’s set in the near future. That's quite exciting.