As soon as he came on board as the director of Rudra: The Edge of Darkness, Rajesh Mapuskar knew he had a delicious challenge ahead of him. With Ajay Devgn leading the cast of the Indian adaptation of Idris Elba’s Luther, he had to ensure that the narrative was steeped in the sub-culture of Mumbai. “When I was offered the show, I knew I didn’t want to sign up for a cut-and-paste job. Everything, from the characters to the nature of the crime, had to be tailored to the local sub-culture,” he begins.

The director did so by making Mumbai almost a character, not a mere backdrop, in the Disney+ Hotstar offering. “We used the same locations — say, Asiatic Library and Gateway of India — but we explored them from new angles to capture the sinister side of the city.”

The popular British crime series has spawned Korean, Russian and French adaptations over the years. With the Indian remake joining the list, Mapuskar says he deliberately decided to step out of the shadow of the original, treating it as a new story altogether.

“I have watched all the versions. The show is British in terms of writing, but with each version, comes a new flavour. I had never done an adaptation before. I wanted to know how the makers treated the character that is so famous. It was educational for me. The learning that stayed with me was that we have to forget Idris and Luther while making the show. Through the past year, I have not thought of the original at all. To me, Rudra is a new show with a new character.”

It helps that they found someone as dependable as Devgn to headline the project, alongside Atul Kulkarni, Esha Deol and Raashii Khanna. “Idris is an extrovert; his moves are visible. Mr Devgn is calm on the outside and can contain a storm within. We approached our [protagonist] differently — how he speaks, how he stands. I like to follow my actors and not over-direct, unless they are going away from the narrative. Ajay has done this completely by himself,” says the director, who has also helmed the second season of Delhi Crime.