Madhuri Talkies, the recently launched thriller web-series which is the first Bhojpuri content on the webspace has been well-received.
The Applause Entertainment created series for MX Player has been directed by the acclaimed director and creative genius, Arvind Babbal.
Arvind Babbal who has set up many successful TV shows as Director put all of his experience into play in getting this theme right.
In an exclusive conversation with Producer and Director Arvind Babbal, IWMBuzz.com takes the readers through his thought process in bringing this series to life.
Says Arvind Babbal, “This is a special concept for me as I have written this story. So directing Madhuri Talkies gave me the freedom to think and implement things the way I perceived it as a writer. I could relate more to the characters and understand their psyche better. This has been a fabulous experience shooting in the locales of Banaras and Mughal Sarai. We took a lot of actors from Banaras and Kanpur. They are not experienced actors, but they have done a marvellous job in the series.”
From setting up TV shows to writing and directing a series for the web, Arvind Babbal has gotten a new experience with Madhuri Talkies. “I have been doing TV for the last 26 years. There is a very different way of connecting to the web when compared to TV and films. The drama element shown on web is very different. The biggest challenge was to keep aside the thought process meant for TV. So as Director, I made sure not to take the first few shots that came to my mind. I have done TV for such a long time that I felt that the first few shots that come to my mind will always be TV-centric. So I made sure to omit those and take the shots that came to my mind later. This technique helped me a lot and I always took the 4th or 5th shot that came to my mind. And trust me, this made a huge difference.”
“Every medium has its own way of shoot process and requirements. The TV always uses the close shots. But in films and web, there is no hard rule of taking the close shots. I enjoyed the process of making this web-series. And I have a feeling that I will be involved in many web-series to come,” he adds.
“I have always liked to work on varied social issues. When this concept came to me, I wrote the story. Coming to casting, it was really tough for my team to cast for this series. We wanted to make sure we don’t take popular faces. We are happy with the outcome of the series,” Babbal explains.
“There is a character called Pagglait Shukla in the series who has been loved by one and all. We had to change the cast as the person who was chosen to play the character could not report to shoot, owing to some unforeseen circumstance. Though we got this actor at the last minute, he has performed so well that he won a lot of praises,” he states.
Noted Casting Director Sohan Thakur has cast for Madhuri Talkies.
Arvind Babbal will soon come up with a TV show for Zee TV. On the web, he will be working on a new concept which will be crime-related but will have less of action in it.
Ask Arvind Babbal whether he will want to implement a mytho concept on the web in the near future. For the uninitiated, he has set up many successful mytho based shows for TV. “Yes, that is surely in my mind. Let us see, what materializes.”
Best of luck for your next!!