"I never liked Hindi films in my college days. I decided to work in the advertising field and then I watched 'Salaam Bombay!' which made the biggest influence on me to be a filmmaker," Akhtar, who acted in Nair's 1996 film "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love", said at the MAMI Movie Mela here.
The 1988 Mira Nair directorial chronicles the day-to-day life of children living on the streets of Mumbai. It had won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Akhtar is now looking forward to watch quite a few Hindi films.
"I was too busy due to 'Dil Dhadakne Do'. Now, I am looking forward to watch movies like 'Court', 'Tanu Weds Manu' and 'Piku' which I have been told are incredible," she said.
Future projects?
"I have just started researching for my next film and started writing the script. It will be contemporary; my kind of genre based on Mumbai and will start shooting next year," she said.
She also shared that she has a biopic in pipeline.
