Anurag Basu’s Real FM is a story of young, confident women, ready to face challenges. Its director Akarsh Khurana tells Divya Kaushik that such formats are the future of Indian television
A group of girls, carefree and too busy in their own lives, one day gets a chance to run a radio channel. None of them has an understanding of its business and operations. There are crisis and hurdles but the girls manage to run a show and in the process they determine their own strengths. They overcome tough situations and learn some lessons for life. This precisely was the story of Anurag Basu’s film Real FM, that was aired on MTV on Sunday as part of MTV Films. “The story revolved around three friends who help each other out in achieving their goals. Rhea, the protagonist is a 22-year-old girl who is happy-go-lucky and loves her two friends. Her dad, who runs a radio station, suffers a heart attack. In the wake of an emergency, coupled with a dwindling radio station, she takes it upon herself to turn things around. Along with her two friends she not only saves the station but also brings about a welcome change in the programming. Her dad, who experiences the great work put in by his daughter and her friends through a live broadcast of the show, couldn’t be more proud. It is a beautiful film about confident girls and the camaraderie they share. It also brings to you music from across India, in its truest sense,” informs its director Akarsh Khurana, who wrote films like Krrish 3 and is also directing Bijoy Nambiar’s next.
MTV and HUl came together for MTV Films, a unique initiative showcasing six made-for-television films by Bollywood directors like Anurag Basu, Anurag Kashyap, Rohan Sippy, Nikhil Advani, Abhinay Deo and Shoojit Sircar. One movie will go on air every month starting this Monday.
The films will be inspired by the brand philosophies of different HUl products like Sunsilk, Tresemme, Ponds and Close Up amongst others. Each movie will portray the take of today’s youth on age-old topics of love, family, friendship, relationships and ambitions in an hour-long story.
“Since the brand given to us was Sunsilk, which represents confident, young women, it was pretty clear that we need to build some story presenting modern Indian women. The story came from Anurag Basu, and I was thrilled when he narrated me the story. But since it is an hour-long story it was important to package it well. It is easier to work on the story when you have a fixed duration for it. It presents new challenges but it also offers a different kind of creative liberty,” said Khurana, who feels that such interesting formats are the future of Indian television.
“Programming has been through a change in the last few years. There are more youth-centric series. This one is something gripping and it might be a beginning of a new trend,” he said.
The director said that Real FM was not just a story of women. It rather represented the present generation. “The audience is exposed to highly innovative work today. It is important to come up with storylines presenting a real situation in an entertaining way. Our film was an inspiring, entertaining and engaging story,” he said.