COVER STORY
work. These kinds of characters are often explored in European cinema but, for the first time, they have been explored in Hindi films. It is a passion project for me. The supernatural thriller also stars Diana Penty, Rohan Mehra and Shreya Dhanwanthary. Tell us about the OTT space and script being centered around interesting characters such as Serious Men? It has been rare in Bollywood that a film is character-centric. Mr Amitabh Bachchan has done many films where the character has been the centre of the film, more than other actors. But that genre gave way to the story being central to the film. Thanks to the change in recent years, films and web-series are now becoming charactercentric. In the OTT space, characters with grey shades are interesting because the characters bond with audiences and remind them of people they know or have seen around. The hero/heroine/villain formula is dying out and audiences today are more discerning. In fact, they have contributed immensely to this change. Do you see the era of superstars change with OTT? If the superstar film is content driven, people will watch it. Or else, people have options in the OTT space. Often small budget films are ignored by theatre owners because nearly all big screens are booked by superstar films. OTT has liberated them and given them an equal opportunity to showcase their work. I used to go to international film festivals and I have seen people make fun of our cinema. I mean
I
have seen that time when I didn’t even have a single penny in my pocket. And it stayed like that for two-three years. I used to have lunch at one friend’s place, dinner at other’s and a third friend would
get cigarettes for me. I came to Mumbai with Rs 2,500. If I again face a situation where I am left with just Rs 2,500, I would not feel like a failure. I am not afraid of anything. 12 FILMFARE MIDDLE EAST December 2021
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