Writer-director Adeeb Rais, who first came to fame directing TV superstar Barun Sobti’s feature film Main Aur Mr. Riight, is now going full steam, digitally.
Apart from directing and acting in a YouTube short film called Baatein, also starring Supriya Pilgoankar and Shivani Raghuvanshi (Made In Heaven fame), he is also leading a couple of web series for OTT platforms.
“First off the cuff would be an anthological series, front-lining Vinay Pathak, Soni Razdan and Sayani Gupta, which will be out in the middle of 2020. Then we have a college murder mystery with freshers.”
Talking about his current short, he says, “Baatein talks about the importance of communication in today’s device run world. We also want to send out a message of empathy to the many lonely folks who end up taking their own lives.”
Here, Adeeb admits that he makes shorts for creative satisfaction and not money. “On youtube, you get 25% revenue only after crossing a certain viewership threshold of say 3 million.”
Talking about Main Aur Mr Riight which went nowhere, he says, “I guess our niche urban story was a bit early for its time, as streaming services were yet to start in 2014.
We are getting a good response from the youth on Netflix, where we are currently streaming.”
“One other reason for it not doing well was lack of marketing and media support due to the absence of big film names. This negative perception percolated downstream, affecting the number of shows allotted, especially prime time.”
“I do accept that had I taken more commercial stars, things might have been different, but then I too did not have access to the B-Town biggies.”
“All said and done, I still stand by my choice. Barun fitted the character to the T.”
“Post this, I tried to make two more feature films which did not happen for various reasons. So in 2017, I changed tack and made my first short with Nidhi Singh of Permanent Roomates fame. Lovey Dovey did quite well, making me regain my above lost confidence.”
“My other 2018 short, starring Shabana Azmi and titled Auntyji, was also quite well received, garnering around 2 million views. We even went to several film festivals.”
“I am really happy with the arrival of the digital space, which has made filmmaking more democratic and fair.”
“Agreed, some makers and platforms do take undue advantage of the lack of censorship to fill their content with sex. But there are many like me, who prefer to remain true to their craft.”