Interview: Rajkumar Hirani: No shortcut was kept for son Veer, he became ‘Pritam’ after giving many auditions.
Rajkumar Hirani made his OTT debut with the web series ‘Pritam and Pedro’. This also marked the debut of his son Veer. After box office, now Hirani is creating history on OTT also. Read the exclusive interview… What was it about this story that made you decide to connect with it? Today technology has become a part of everyday life, but it is not easy for the elderly or people who are less familiar with technology. From booking train tickets to banking, everything has become online. After reading some stories of cyber crime, it seemed that now not only the methods of committing crimes but also the methods of solving them have changed. From here a story was born in my mind, in which if an honest police officer is suddenly sent to the cyber cell, then how will he adapt himself in this new world and how will he investigate the crime. After this, the character of Pritam, who is a young hacker, was added. The different thinking and experiences of both create a unique friendship and exciting story. Which moment during the shooting felt like the real life of the web series? The biggest strength of the show is the song at the end. His words are- ‘Sometimes apologize to someone, sometimes even forgive someone. Make the journey of life a little easier. While writing the story, the only question in my mind was what do we want to tell the audience. I didn’t want it to be limited to just friendship, investigation or cyber crime. When this feeling of ‘forgiveness’ emerged as the core theme of the story, then it seemed that the series had found its true soul. Any story related to the series that has not been shared yet? Guest appearance of cricket player Virender Sehwag in the series. During the shoot, he perfected his entire scene in one take. I was surprised myself. I jokingly told him…’The shot is perfect, but let’s do one more take.’ It seems like school got out early today. I remember when I approached him on the phone and told him that I had a small role in the series. Without wasting a moment he replied, ‘I am returning to Delhi on such and such date, let’s shoot on the same day.’ The experience of working with Sehwag was very pleasant. Where does the vision of telling extraordinary stories of ordinary people come from? There is a saying… ‘Life is good when there is no conflict in it.’ At the same time, a film is made good when there is conflict in it. I believe that the hero of the story may be a common man, but his life should not be common. If there is no conflict in the story, then both its thrill and impact are reduced. Has OTT changed the way of storytelling or just the platform? There is definitely some difference between the writing of films and OTT, but the basic principles of drama and emotion remain the same. There is no time limit on OTT. So you can tell longer stories, create characters with more depth. Also, maintaining the interest of the audience is the biggest challenge. At the same time, the audience has to be given something new and exciting, because if they get bored, they also have other shows. How do you always come up with a different story? The first effort is to find a story that the audience has never seen before. However it is not easy now. Many films and series are being made every year. Audiences have access to cinema from around the world, dubbed and subtitled. In such a situation, finding a new story is a challenge. The most important thing today is to keep the audience engaged till the end. Do you get the most happiness from the success of a project or from the people? Its biggest measure is the reaction of the audience. The number of messages received after ‘Pritam and Pedro’ was probably not received even after any film. Many people sent me messages saying, ‘Thought we would watch just one episode, but the whole night passed. Stayed up till 3 am and watched all six episodes. This love and appreciation is the biggest comfort for a filmmaker. Was it the most excitement or responsibility while working with your son Veer? I had decided long ago that I would not direct Veer’s first project. I only wrote the story and produced the series. It has been directed by Avinash Arun. Interestingly, before Veer, some other actor was doing this role. Then some date issues arose and Veer expressed his desire that he wanted to do this role. I said, talk to Avinash and give an audition. Then Veer first showed Avinash his play ‘Letters of Suresh’, which is directed by Firoz Abbas Khan. He auditioned for at least 15 scenes in the series. This sequence continued for several days. Then one day Avinash came and said that Veer was perfect for the role of Pritam. What is the story of this series? In this 6-episode series set on the backdrop of Goa, Pedro (Arshad Warsi) is an old-fashioned policeman who is transferred to the cyber cell. There he meets Pritam (Veer Hirani), a genius ethical hacker. Together they solve complex cases like kidnapping and cyber crime. In this series, Vikrant Massey has appeared in an eccentric negative character, while Boman Irani and Mona Singh are also involved in important roles.
Source link
