Amyra Dastur discusses being part of Saif Ali Khan-led political thriller Dilli
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 8, 2020)

No stranger to the OTT world, Amyra Dastur is awaiting the release of Dilli, which has her sharing screen space with Saif Ali Khan. "Unfortunately, in the first season, there isn't much interaction between our characters. But, I'm told our characters will steer in different directions in the second edition," says Dastur of the series that was initially titled Tandav.

Touted as India's answer to House of Cards, the Ali Abbas Zafar-helmed political thriller is among the most awaited offerings of Amazon Prime Video. Dastur reveals she plays a Kashmiri girl who influences the proceedings in the capital. "My character has shades of grey and a dramatic arc. Shooting the political thriller in the heart of India's capital helped us ground our characters in reality."

Having dabbled in films and digital projects, the actor admits that the long-format storytelling offers actors the advantage of character development. Dastur analyses, "In digital projects, actors are critiqued basis their work. Factors like box-office numbers or theatre occupancy don't come into play. The medium helped me break out of the just-another-pretty-face mould."

After alleging makers kept him off set while shooting season one, writer of Saif Ali Khan's upcoming political drama bows out of second part; says will focus on directorial debut
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; May 15, 2020)

Towards the close of 2019, Gaurav Solanki, in a mid-day interview, had expressed dissent at being relegated to the fringes during the filming of the Saif Ali Khan-starrer, tentatively titled Dilli. Ahead of the release of the first edition of Ali Abbas Zafar's political thriller, mid-day has it that Solanki — who had been kept away from the set during the shoot — has made an exit from the second edition of the project.

The discourse invited varying viewpoints, with leading man Khan stating that it was not "a writer's place to be on set and direct". But Solanki says his decision to call time on his association with them has nothing to do with the argument. "I am developing something else and want to concentrate on my script. There was no fall out," he asserts, adding that helming the writing process of season one from scratch was a cumbersome task requiring 15 months. "If I wanted to concentrate on my film, I knew I'd have to leave, and decided to do so in the midst of writing season one itself," he says, acknowledging that the first edition was written in a manner to facilitate the creation of successive seasons.

While choosing to stay mum about his forthcoming project, Solanki is willing to reveal that he is yet to decide if his offering will enjoy a cinematic release, or hit web platforms. "I am currently developing the script, which is precious for me."

As Twitterati urges him to advance release of Saif Ali Khan's Dilli, director Ali Abbas Zafar says show in post-production to meet the October deadline
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; May 9, 2020)

Several showrunners are speeding up the post-production work to release their digital offerings during the Coronavirus lockdown. Though the idea of having all eyes glued to his show sounds tempting, director Ali Abbas Zafar is in no hurry to reach the finish line. The director — whose political drama, tentatively titled Dilli, is currently in post-production — says he would rather revel in the satisfaction of a series made well than join the rat race.

"On Twitter and Instagram, people have been asking us to release the show now. So, there has been pressure, but we don't want to rush the process. Our series was supposed to drop in the last quarter of 2020, and we will stick to that deadline. If the show was ready, we would have released it now because it is an ideal time to grab eyeballs," says Zafar, happy that the Saif Ali Khan-starrer has piqued the audience's interest.

When it comes to developing an offering for the global audience, the post-production is a long-drawn process. "Once you deliver your project, it has to be dubbed in nine languages. So, the post-production takes three to four months, longer than the shoot itself."

As his team gives the finishing touches to the project, Zafar, nestled in his hometown Dehradun, has begun writing the sophomore season. "[The top brass of] Amazon Prime have seen the rushes, and basis that, they have decided to sanction the second edition," he says, beaming with pride.

Point out to him that the drama has found its way into the second instalment, but has yet to find an apt title, and he laughs at the irony of the situation. While the working title was Tandav, the makers rechristened it Dilli, only to have a change of heart later. "We are struggling with the name. That's why Amazon has not been able to make an official announcement."

Amazon Prime content head explains how the OTT giant will have to rejig its slate as Saif Ali Khan's Dilli, Abhishek Bachchan's Breathe 2 are shot but await post-production
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 12, 2020)

From devouring new releases to catching up on old acclaimed shows, homebound citizens, over the past three weeks, have turned to OTT platforms for their daily dose of entertainment. But with the Coronavirus lockdown being extended, the key players rule out the possibility of churning out new shows. While Amazon Prime is winning praise for its latest release Panchayat and readying to launch the second season of Four More Shots Please, Aparna Purohit, content head, Amazon Originals India, tells mid-day that their slate will have to be reworked amid the current scenario.

"We are trying to put out shows as soon as we can. At this point of time, shoots have been stopped. Many of our projects have gone into hiatus. There's nothing we can do except work with our partners and find a way around it," says Purohit, who called off shoots 10 days before other cine bodies called for the shutdown. "It's the safety of people that comes first at a time like this."

Even though many of their eagerly awaited prestige dramas—including Saif Ali Khan's Dilli, Abhishek Bachchan's Breathe 2 and gangster drama Mirzapur 2—have been shot, the post-production work is pending. "Offline edits can happen from home, but for everything else, we require a dubbing studio. Most of these things require multiple people in the same vicinity. We are yet to assess the impact and negotiate how we will meet deadlines. We are in no hurry to put out content. We have Four More Shots Please 2 and Pataal Lok lined up. Mirzapur 2 and other shows will be out at some point this year."

It is evident that superlative content takes centrestage in their storytelling. The platform is using the time to develop robust new ideas. "At this point, we have opened up the kids' content, so they have some respite. We need more content for 16 to 24-year-olds. We need to find more themes that resonate with them. We are also focusing on horror stories and docu-series."

After Tandav was rechristened Dilli, leading man Saif Ali Khan reveals political drama likely to undergo another name change as Dilli is 'not available.'
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 28, 2020)

The rechristening of Saif Ali Khan's upcoming Amazon Prime political drama — from Tandav to Dilli — has elicited much interest. While the abrupt change of title raised eyebrows, the leading man of the web series recently revealed that another round of renaming may be on the cards. "I don't think the show is [officially] called Dilli. The title is not finalised. I heard that Dilli, as a title, is not available, and Tandav is not taken," Khan told mid-day. Fielding for the original name, the actor added, "I personally like dramatic titles. So, something like Tandav would make more of an impact than Dilli. [The latter] sounds generic."

It was heard that the suits at the streaming giant decided to drop Tandav and resort to a safer name, after pre-empting backlash on the religious connotation of the former. However, last week, co-star Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, in a chat with mid-day, dismissed the rumours. He reasoned that since the Ali Abbas Zafar-directed show is set in the capital, Dilli was an obvious choice for the title.

Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 26, 2020)

Are filmmakers and streaming giants moving cautiously with projects to avoid lawsuits, PILs, protests and vandalism? A trade source says that Ali Abbas Zafar's political thriller Tandav will get a name change and adds, "Politics impact creativity in literature, theatre, movies, television and web series. While originally Ali's web series was called Tandav, it is now titled Dilli."

Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, who plays a young political leader in the Saif Ali Khan-starrer infers that the reason could also be geographical. "Maybe, the title Dilli works for the story as the web series is based and shot in Delhi," says Ayyub, and is quickly adding, "I just got to know that we are not certain about the title. I think it was Amazon's call [to change the name] and I don't want to comment without knowing what exactly transpired. It could still be Tandav."

However, the trade source informs us, "The makers felt that since Tandav is related to Lord Shiva, people could raise objections. Several Hindi films—PK, Shivaay, OMG Oh My God!, Padmaavat among others—have faced the wrath of political parties and religious groups. Tandav is a political-thriller inspired from reality."