Abhinay Deo’s latest web show, Brown, featuring actor Karisma Kapoor, has been included in Berlinale Series Market Selects section of the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival. While the filmmaker admits that such honours add gravitas to a director’s filmography, they aren’t the be-all and end-all. 

“Given the kind of importance Berlinale holds in the festival circuit, it definitely adds weight. Making it to an event that’s known for the honesty with which they run the festival and choose films from across the world certainly adds value to your filmography. Having said that, it does not define a filmmaker. What defines us is what we create. When our work gets appreciated nationally and internationally, it feels great. Film festivals are a feather in the cap, not the cap itself,” says Deo.

Brown happens to be the Blackmail (2018) and Delly Belly (2011) director’s first web series. Talking about it, Deo goes on to talk about another project, 24, which he did with actor Anil Kapoor.

“24 was like a web series, but it aired on TV as there was no OTT in our country back then (in 2013). But conceptually, 24 was my first web series. It had limited number of episodes, was made on a high budget and was well-thought-out. In that sense, Brown is my second web project. But purely from the OTT point of view, it is my first,” he ends.