Showing posts with label Sameer Nair interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sameer Nair interview. Show all posts
In Fauda, the terrain is dry and brown. Kashmir is jannat, so the look was changed in Tanaav-Sameer Nair
8:20 AM
Reimagining Fauda for desi audience, Tanaav creator Nair on how the Israel-Palestine conflict has been adapted in the Indian milieu
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; August 22, 2022)
Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff and actor Lior Raz created the popular series, Fauda, based on their experiences in the Israel Defence Forces. Director Sudhir Mishra has adapted the political thriller for the Indian audience with Tanaav, featuring Manav Vij, Rajat Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Zarina Wahab, Ekta Kaul and others.
When Sameer Nair’s Applause Entertainment bought the adaptation rights of the series, the primary need was to reimagine the milieu. The team decided to set the political thriller in Kashmir. “The original is a tale about Israel and Palestine, distinctly a story of Jewish-Muslim conflict. When you set it in Kashmir, the tendency is to make it an Indo-Pak story. We decided that we’ll depict a political scenario happening in Kashmir,” says the producer.
Nair asserts that the team steered clear of religious broad-stroking. “Our hero is a Muslim, working for the Indian intelligence agency taking on another Muslim, who works for an independent organisation. Around them are a whole set of people who may be Hindu or Muslim.”
At its heart, the upcoming Sony LIV series is a story about identity. Nair cites an interesting example to establish this. “We have two characters called Malik in the show — one is a Punjabi Malik, the head of an intelligence bureau in India. The other is a man in Pakistan. These nuances were important to establish the idea of how identities are derived from the same nation. Bringing the local Kashmiri culture was pivotal. In Fauda, the terrain is dry and brown. Kashmir is jannat, so the look was [changed].”
He is not worried about comparisons with the original that has become immensely popular around the globe. “The idea is to take the germ of the same story and tell it to a wider and new audience. If someone has watched Fauda, they aren’t my audience. The idea is to bring in our actors and our cinematic syntax.”
(With our Mahatma Gandhi Series), we are designing a story akin to The Crown or The Tudors-Sameer Nair
8:21 AM
Sameer Nair, Ramachandra Guha, and Pratik Gandhi/ Instagram
From pursuing historian Guha for book rights, to exploring the Mahatma’s bond with Jinnah, creator Nair discusses making a definitive biopic with his web series Gandhi
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; August 16, 2022)
In May, to mark five years of Applause Entertainment, creator Sameer Nair announced Gandhi, the magnum opus based on Mahatma Gandhi’s life. The multi-season series will be based on Indian historian-author Ramachandra Guha’s books, Gandhi Before India and Gandhi — The Years That Changed The World. It’s not surprising when Nair begins the chat by admitting that getting Guha on board was not easy. “I pursued Mr Guha for three years,” he smiles, before recounting,
“I first reached out to him in July 2019. I met him without reading the book in its entirety, and he sent me back. Then I read the whole book, and went back to him. I reached out to him again during the pandemic. [The conversation] went from a straight ‘No’ to ‘Let me see’, to ‘Let’s talk.’”
The series, with Pratik Gandhi of 'Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story' (2020) fame in the titular role, will see Hansal Mehta serve as director-showrunner, and Siddhartha Basu as historical and creative consultant. It’s easy to see that Gandhi is Nair’s passion project. The idea, he says, is to tell an all-encompassing story that sees the parallel growth of a nation and a leader.
“I don’t want to draw parallels because that has its own pitfalls, but we are designing a story akin to 'The Crown' or 'The Tudors'. There has been a single story made on Mahatma Gandhi [in terms of a biopic]. Richard Attenborough’s 'Gandhi' (1982) is a two-and-a-half hour movie about one man. Freedom fighters like B R Ambedkar and Subhas Chandra Bose don’t make memorable appearances in the film. We are attempting something more ambitious. We want to tell the story of Gandhi and the Indian independence struggle with all 150 characters since we have the advantage of time. In 25 hours, we will explore the whole gamut.”
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s story begins as a tale of an angry young man, which will be the focus of the first season. It will go on to trace his learnings in South Africa that impacted his ideology. Nair elaborates, “When he went to South Africa, he realised the on-ground impact of racism. The journey plays out from there — how he comes back to India, gathers forces, and becomes Mahatma. The people he meets for 30 years before independence is what we are telling. People tell me they know the story, but do they really? They don’t know the million stories of the freedom movement. Gandhi’s friendship with Muhammad Ali Jinnah remains untapped. The story of the birth of a nation is at the heart of it. The politics of the story adheres to the book Guha has written. This is not a pro or against story. Mr Guha has questioned a lot through the book. For instance, he wrote that Gandhi went on to be the father of the nation, but could he be a father to his own children? It is a human drama, not a political story.”
A show of such magnitude relies as much on the principal cast as on its writing. “I knew the lead had to be Pratik Gandhi because he already does a play on him [Mohan No Masalo]. A range of new actors will be in the show; we want no one with baggage to come. This show is a multi-season commitment, so we need actors who will subscribe to it.”
The drama will go on floors next year.
Everyone was called at 9 am on the first day of Rudra's shoot. Ajay Devgn came at 8:30 am-Sameer Nair
7:26 PM
Noting that Indian audience has loved remakes since KBC days, creator Nair says Ajay Devgn’s Rudra has a different context from its original Luther
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; March 4, 2022)
One would assume that luring Ajay Devgn to invest in a series, when he can wrap up four movies in the same period, was difficult. But producer Sameer Nair of Applause Entertainment — which has created Rudra: The Edge of Darkness, the Indian adaptation of popular British series Luther — busts the myth. “Ajay was the only one we approached. He was familiar with Luther’s universe. The character is dark, melancholic and has a smouldering vibe. No one can ace it like him. Ajay agreeing to do any show at all for a streaming platform was a big deal. A lot of credit for Rudra goes to Ajay. Everyone was called at 9 am on the first day of the shoot. He came at 8:30 am, and centred everyone’s energies to focus purely on the show,” says the creator.
The Disney+ Hotstar series, which drops online today, has been reimagined in Mumbai and was shot from July to December last year in live locations. Working with a superstar in a non-studio set-up wasn’t easy. Couple that with the Coronavirus pandemic, and Nair agrees it was an uphill task. “We were to start shooting in October 2020. That shifted to January 2021, then to April 2021. We finally started in July. The waiting periods were spent in enriching the material. We had three dialogue drafts. Jay Bansal [writer] added some cheek to the final draft. We storyboarded thoroughly with Rajesh [Mapuskar, director] and his DoP [director of photography]. It’s an introspective show. There are less moments of flamboyance, but at the same time, it is massy.”
Nair has been the mind behind many adaptations, including Criminal Justice and Hostages. He doesn’t view remakes from the prism of creative bankruptcy. “A large part of Indian audience has not seen Forrest Gump [1998]. For them, Laal Singh Chaddha will be a fresh film,” he argues.
The producer, however, asserts that reimagining the story is key to its success. “We adapt the original plot to a new culture, and reimagination plays a key role in establishing fresh context. In Rudra, we explore how cops and the legal system work in India. I did an adaptation 22 years ago with Kaun Banega Crorepati. The approach has to be: This is a great idea, which can be retold for a different audience.”
We are not shutting down-Balaji Motion Pictures CEO Sameer Nair
8:43 AM
After a trio of films didn't live up to expectations, Balaji CEO Sameer Nair reveals that focus will now be on digital, TV, newcomers and budgets
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 30, 2016)
Balaji Motion Pictures has had five releases this year starting with the
third instalment of the Kyaa Kool Hain Hum franchise, followed by the
Azhar biopic, Abhishek Chaubey's Udta Punjab, Great Grand Masti and the
recently-released Tiger Shroff-starrer, A Flying Jatt. None of the films
lived up to box-office expectations and now buzz is, the production
house has decided to put film making on the back burner for now. Sameer
Nair, group CEO of Balaji Telefilms refuted the rumour but admitted that
they have grown more conscious of cost and feasibility."We are not shutting down, we have productions on the floor but will take stock of projects more closely now keeping commercial viability in mind. We have been trying to be more cost effective for some time now given the market conditions. The move wasn't prompted by the last few films, we have got more stringent over the last six months," insists Sameer.
He rues the leak of the censor copy of Great Grand Masti three weeks ahead of its release resulting in huge losses.
"Ditto Udta Punjab, though it did reasonably well. Azhar broke even, A Flying Jatt has just released and Half Girlfriend is next in line. It's business as usual but we will be cautious now," he admits.
Did roping in stars like Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhatt for Udta Punjab escalate the budget? Will they now focus on newcomers to control revenues?
"Yes, we would like to do that like everyone else. It's about finding the right combo of director, actors and content. For us content has always been king," reasons Sameer, adding that for now the focus is on ALT Balaji, the digital off-shoot of the company which will be launched by the year-end.
Sameer reveals that TV will continue to be the company's core competency. "Ekta has been breaking new ground on TV. Naagin was very successful and had record-breaking ratings. On weekends only format shows work but Ekta came up with a new genre for the slot. Brahmarakshas is doing really well," he exults.
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