Showing posts with label Rajshree Ojha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rajshree Ojha. Show all posts
The showrunners were sure that Potluck would have at least 10 seasons-Rajshree Ojha
8:17 AM
Potluck director Rajshree Ojha discusses her plans for the sitcom franchise after garnering a positive response for the second instalment
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; March 14, 2023)
During the pandemic-induced lockdowns, streaming platforms doled out crime thrillers one after the other. Director Rajshree Ojha’s Potluck (2021), a light-hearted show about the Shastri family that sticks together despite their personal highs and lows, came as a breath of fresh air. Almost one-and-a-half years on, the director is back with the second instalment of the Sony LIV comedy series. In a chat with mid-day, Ojha talks about how the narrative of a tight-knit family lends itself wonderfully to multiple seasons, and how she has the third season ready in her head.
Edited excerpts from the interview.
How has the response been to the second season?
It has been a positive response. The results are so good that we will start the third season soon. I feel Potluck has found its niche audience.
Was the second edition’s script ready when you shot for the opening season?
The showrunners were sure that Potluck would have at least 10 seasons. To be honest, I wasn’t so sure. I like the show’s vibe, so I was sure that it should have at least three seasons. It is in the space of a sitcom, so it can continue to tell the story, like say Gilmore Girls. All we needed was the audience. My biggest fear for the second season was that it was released over a year [after the first instalment]. [I feared that] people forget [a show], especially with so much content out there.
Was there pressure to keep the narrative light?
Personally, I like to find humour in the most horrendous situations; it takes away the pressure. I always try to bring in [an element of] craziness. In this season, Dhruv [Harman Singha’s character] loses his job, and I’ve made such a drama about it. We, as Indians, [have a penchant] for melodrama.
Which episode did the cast find most hilarious?
There is a scene between the three guys [Singha, Cyrus Sahukar, and Siddhant Karnick] in which they are trying to console Dhruv, who has lost his job, but Cyrus kept cracking up. Everyone was tired laughing at one point. There is a birthday/anniversary scene, which turns hilarious. Also, a scene in the end credits — with Cyrus and Ira [Dubey] in the bathtub — will leave you in splits.
Did any actor surprise you with their performance this season?
I think Harman was fantastic; he is a director’s actor. Sometimes, when I pushed him, he would get why I am doing so. There was a scene where he was having an internal struggle, which he did beautifully. Ira is my other favourite. [Her character] is shown joining a new office, plus she is trying to fit in. She captured that essence well.
So, is the plan for season three ready?
Of course. We are set to have a wedding, which is in my head [at the moment]. But I don’t know what the showrunners are thinking. I think people would be keen to see who Aalim’s [Karnick] parents were, and whether he and Prerna [Shikha Talsania’s character] unite.
After Aisha, Rajshree Ojha to now adapt Jane Austen’s Sense And Sensibility
8:15 AM
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; October 26, 2021)
Satiated with her fill of intense content in digital entertainment, director Rajshree Ojha took up Sony LIV’s Potluck to showcase a light-hearted family drama. While shooting during the pandemic brought its challenges, the director counts it as a blessing. “We had limited crew and everyone doubled up to do extra work. The bio-bubble helped the cast bond and get comfortable with each other because they had no choice, and that [camaraderie] translated on screen,” she says.
Since its release in September, Potluck has been widely appreciated. But Ojha has no time to bask in the adulation — she has already moved on to her next. The director, whose Aisha (2010) was based on Jane Austen’s Emma, has gone back to the author’s work. “Jane Austen has always been my favourite author. She is the quintessential rom-com queen in my head, and I love that space. I would love to adapt all her books into movies.”
Her next will be based on Sense And Sensibility (1811), albeit with a twist. “My script is ready. I am now in talks with production houses and talent for the project. [While the core story remains the same], I will be telling it from a millennial girl’s perspective. The world and women’s mindset may have changed, but we’ll never stop wanting romance,” says Ojha.
Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense And Sensibility (1995) won writer-actor Emma Thompson an Academy Award. Ask her if she is ready for the brickbats, and Ojha says that it comes with the territory. “Criticism doesn’t deter me from doing what I want to do. I love Ang Lee as a filmmaker and storyteller. I can’t even compare. Furthermore, I am just trying to make a fun film,” she says.
Alia Bhatt in Rajshree Ojha's next on controversial Kashmiri all-girl rock-band, Pragaash?
8:20 AM
She has been approached to play the vocalist of the former girl band, Pragaash; Shabana Azmi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui may join the line-up
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 2, 2016)
Rajshree Ojha's short, Biriyani, part of the anthology, X: Past Is Present, hit screens in November 2015. Soon after, the writer-director, best known for helming the 2010 Sonam Kapoor-Abhay Deol romcom, Aisha, took off to Kashmir in the dead of winter to write, research and scout for locations for her next.
Still untitled, it is based on the controversial Kashmiri all-girl rock-band, Pragaash. Three teenage Muslim girls, guitarist and vocalist Noma Nazir Bhatt, drummer Farah Deeba and Aneeqa Khalid on the bass guitar had joined hands to form this one-of-its kind band in December 2012 and invited the ire of scholars who alleged the trio had broken the Islamic code. After they won their first award at a National Battle of the Bands event in Srinagar, the girls began to receive death and rape threats on the phone and via Facebook.
Things took a turn for the worse after Mufti Bashiruddin Ahmad, Kashmir's state-appointed cleric, publicly criticised the band for exhibiting "indecent behaviour" and stated that "this kind of non-serious activity can become the first step towards our destruction".
On February 3, 2013, he issued a fatwa against the group, stating that music was "not good for society" and all "the bad things happening in the Indian society are because of music". Later that month, the police registered an FIR against the online attackers and then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah ordered a probe into the matter.
Three people were arrested for promoting enmity between classes and criminal intimidation. The girls got a lot of support globally, online, but eventually disintegrated towards the end of 2014. There was a reference to Pragaash in Marlon James's Man Booker Prize-winning novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, as the "first ray of light", and a medical student, Abhigyan Bahuguna, made a short film, Pariha - The Land of Fairies, which released in Christmas, 2015.
Rajshree who has been writing and researching the film for the last one year, interacted with the girls, their families, along with journalists and police officers in the region. She visited the Presentation Convent High School in Rajbagh where the girls studied, met their teachers and other students.
She was to fly to Kashmir with a team of five for the final recce and prep but the trip has been delayed following unrest in the Valley.
Still, the film should kick off by early next year and the team has been strictly instructed to not reveal anything because Rajshree is worried she won't be able to film in Srinagar if the separatists stand up in protest.
However, Mirror has learnt that Alia Bhatt has been approached to play the lead vocalist of the band and could be seen crooning a few singles herself. One of the girls will be a Kashmiri local from Srinagar and Rajshree is hoping to launch a Pakistani actress as the third band member.
Shabana Azmi, last seen as Neerja Bhanot's mother in Ram Madhvani's hijack drama, has been approached to play a character modelled on Asiya Andrabi, a pro-Pakistan separatist and the founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat - Daughters of the Nation - which was a part of the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Valley.
"Asiya Andrabi is one of the most important women separatists and often referred to as Kashmir's Iron Lady. Her burqa and spectacles will be a crucial part of the character's look in the film," a source close to the development informed Mirror.
Meanwhile, Nawaazuddin Siddiqui has been approached to step into the role of a police officer.
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