Move over saas-bahu drama. Welcome newage shows — the web series, shows that are made exclusively for the digital platform. SANGEETA YADAV catches up with director Vishal Mull, who has made India’s first-ever web series and who says that it is the next big thing that is trending
Call it a trend that is fast catching up or the future of entertainment — a lot of viewers are now looking up to the digital platform to watch quality content that is missing in Bollywood films and the small screen. After the success of Netflicks platform, where viewers get to watch their favourite web series much before it gets launched on TV, India is now picking up in this trend as a lot of showmakers are creating short web series instead of never ending daily soap. In one such web series is #loveBytes director Vishal Mull which is a love story of Ananya (Sukhmani Sadana) and Abhishek (Kushal Punjabi). The series is India’s first-ever show made for digital platform that goes on air from September 7, 2015.
“Web series has become the next big thing. Our first web series #loveBytes is about an ordinary couple Ananya and Abhishek who explore different facets of their relationship. In 26 episodes with a run-time of seven minutes, I’ll be showcasing different situations which every common couple goes through. There is love between them despite their differences,” Vishal tells you.
Kushal Punjabi, playing the lead character of Abhishek, feels that acting for this web series came naturally to him and gave him an opportunity to be himself in front of the camera.
“When Vishal and I were discussing about Abhishek’s character, he gave me situations and asked me what I would do. That’s how we scripted all the episodes. There is a beautiful section about video diaries where I talk about my real feeling. We didn’t need a script for it. The web series goes into the issues, you may not find the solution in all the episodes but you’ll somehow connect to it,” Punjabi says.
Unlike TV shows which dramatises and stretches a relationship too much and create unbelievable situations, the series prefers to keep everything real. “I’ve been fascinated with boy-girl relationship and romance is such an everlasting feeling. What we have tried to do is make a genuine attempt to show love in the 21 century for the couples to understand the trials and tribulation that everybody goes through. The big reason to launch this on web is that to create a buzz and make it very interactive,” Vishal says.
However, making a web series was no cake walk. A good script is what it requires to keep the audience glued. “The biggest challenge was to say a lot of things in five to seven minutes and ensure that the viewer feels connected to it. We decided to keep the web series tight — in script, editing and time. Most of the videos which people are watching on YouTube are not more than 10 minutes. They are not very long because our attention span is falling. We don’t have a lot of time to watch the content. Within a minute if the viewer gets hooked, they’ll watch it again, share it with others, comment on it and even rate it,” Vishal says.
He also tells you that in the coming time, the medium and the platform are going to change. “Maybe the movie run-time will be cut down from two hours to 90 minute. People may want showmakers to do away with content that they can’t find a connect with. Hence, the web series are going to be big,” Vishal says.
Even though the trend of watching these series is just picking up in India, showmakers are already gearing up to make short series. Also, they are now not waiting for the broadcaster to approach them for a new show. They can simply launch their web series and share on the many platforms available.
“TV is showing regressive content. The daily soaps are similar to what we used to watch 10 years back. Thebahus in serials wake up with full makeup on their face. This looks very artificial and exaggerated. TV has great potential but we don’t have the correct content. Now with web, we are more reachable, we can be edgy, bold, logical, funny, creatively crazy and much more. With #loveBytes, it has already started. From here, it will only get better,” Punjabi says.