Why is the web series Made in Heaven working with the audience? Its directors say that the show’s characters, so beautifully etched, are lifelike. By Chahak Mittal
It is high time we talk openly. Be it a virginity test. A beauty contest to choose a perfect bahu (daughter-in-law). An impotent man’s ego to marry a potent woman. Choosing superstitions over personal relationships. The children’s inability to accept their 60-year-old mother’s second marriage. Then there are political, religious and patriarchal restrictions imposed on women, or the aspirations of the poor crushed under the affluent’s power. Even a landlord’s intrusion into the privacy of his homosexual guest — the women and men in Made in Heaven are victims of hypocrisy, patriarchy and misogyny. And not surprisingly, the show is making huge waves by a close and critical look at all of these.
Created and penned by Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti, Nitya Mehra and Alankrita Srivastava, the new digital series is a fresh take on how modern aspirations and traditions jostle as the supposedly progressive Indian upper class creates a space for evils in the society to grow. It was after Nitya’s wedding a few years ago, that the idea of a show on Indian weddings birthed, said Zoya at a panel discussion at The Quorum, a lifestyle club in Gurugram. However, there were a number of elements that had to be looked at closely. And for that, the director started a search for other filmmakers and story-writers. Post that, in 2016, “there were only Reema, Nitya and me in the room. Alankrita joined later after I read the script of her film, Lipstick Under My Burkha.”
Reema laughed to say that those who haven’t watched the show even now will have to watch it to discover the amount of research that they had to do before setting up the project in a full-fledged manner. She said, “It was a vast project. We had to shoot 10 episodes (the original series has only nine), which means 10 weddings and each of which was of 50 minutes. There was a different cast for a different episode. It was huge!”
They reached a point where none of the directors wanted to attend or even talk about a wedding anymore. “Also, every wedding/episode had a different budget. After we completed the 10 episodes, our producer told us that the budget was exceeding. That’s when we cut short the span and combined two episodes into one. This is why nine instead of 10 episodes were released,” said Zoya.
Since the characters are life-like, while creating and writing them, it was not enough to just pen down their good qualities or achievements. Their flaws were equally important and the directors explained that there were times when they questioned their own personality in the process. Said Zoya, “The idea of a flawed protagonist in today’s time is received really well. However, they forget that the writer might face a lot of personal questions too while writing them down. At some level, they would also judge the characters. I do judge the impotent guy who wants to marry a potent girl, the guy who asks for dowry, or even the gay who wants marriage as a front to hide his sexual orientation. In a way, I am judging them because they could be annoying as real people.”
Talking about the characters, Nitya said that even though Tara (played by Sobhita Dhulipala) is the ultimate woman who could handle all the mess single-handedly, defying all the society’s stereotypes, Jaspreet’s or Jazz’s (played by Shivani Raghuvanshi) character is the one that holds the scene and makes the show relatable to many Indian middle class women. Shivani’s portrayal of a young woman from a humble background in the city and having big dreams has found a huge resonance. She wasn’t the one who tried to fit in, rather someone who wanted to make a space for herself in that world. “Jazz’s character is so beautifully etched, it’s my personal favourite,” said Nitya.
Many found that Tara and Jazz probably did have a lot in common in terms of their backgrounds but their ideas about aiming for something big were completely different, believed Sobhita. “They saw the world differently. On one hand, Tara lost her individuality and roots to the upper crust, on the other Jazz maintained her roots and tried to make a space for herself while keeping who she was intact. Tara married money only to be later betrayed by it and lost herself amidst all the riches,” she said.
The show initiated a dialogue on how the society imposes restrictions, blatantly questions and judges people who try to defy it. Arjun Mathur aka Karan Mehra said that the show is like a voice for all those who might not conform to societal norms. “I had to play a gay character, which I discovered later. However, after playing the part so intensely, I realised how difficult it is for homosexuals to live a normal life in India. They have fought for establishing their identity. The show will help you understand those things which they probably might never be able to explain to the society and their families,” said Arjun.
The show sets out to do more than just raise societal biases. It doesn’t categorise women filmmakers under a typical set of films. The two directors pointed out that when women consist of half of the population, why shouldn’t 50 per cent of the stories belong to, be about and be created by them?