Reputed TV, film and web director Nupur Asthana is back with season 2 of Amazon Prime series Four More Shots Please Season 2. IWMBuzz had a quick chat with Nupur about the same. Excerpts
What was your most significant take-home from Season 1?
I was encouraged at being able to tell the tale of female bonding, courtesy four professional south Mumbai women. Sayani Gupta, Bani J, Kirti Kulhari, and Maanvi Gagroo’s characters live life on their terms, which is not easy given our male-dominated society.
How will the sequel pan out plot-wise?
Now, we will dwell deeper into their journey, struggles, and relationships. Also, it will see the girls peeking inwards for self-realization. Not all career women are strong; some are weak as well. Everyone has their demons to exorcise.
If TV women are supposed to be asexual beings, female web characters, on the other hand, can’t get out of bed, where are the real women?
While my girls struggle with work issues. Why should we shy away from talking about their romantic and private lives, s*x is an integral part of humanity. A three-dimensional character is always more thrilling and exciting to watch compared to a unidimensional one. Apart from our four main characters and their family members, we will also have new entries in the form of Shibani Dandekar, Samir Kocchar, and Praval Punjabi, making the narrative more appealing.
What is the biggest plus of the web compared to TV (Hip Hip Hurray and Mahi Way)?
We are free to tell our story without channel interference. Plus, we can remain true to our genre, e.g., there would be no need to add a comic element to a thriller to bring in the family viewers. If you don’t watch to watch a women’s story, you will not tune into Four More Shots Please!
Your women’s story is not a hardcore feminist i.e., anti-male?
I approach all my characters, including men, from a humanistic point of view. Can someone be wrong just because of their Y chromosome?
Being a woman helps to tell the story of your ilk?
Only in the sense that since there were so many women on a set the conversation is more unfiltered and relaxed. It is never about gender, but getting the required emotions on screen.
Having done films like Bewakoofiyaan and Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, your take on cinema vs. web?
I love to make cinema for its work at a slower pace, but yes, the stakes are much higher. Everything boils down to that Friday. While digital medium affords you one more chance as your content is still out there on the app. The challenge on the web is to shoot within a limited time frame keeping episodic, character, and season arcs in mind, which makes the viewer come back for more.
What’s next?
I am working on a film script, which I would also be directing. The plan was to start shooting by October. But now, with the lockdown, all timelines might go for a toss.