Each Minute Counts

Shabana Azmi — in grey kurta and trousers and her left hand in a cast after a recent accident — is seated with director Abhinay Deo. The veteran actor,who will be making her television debut with the series,plays Agent Abhilasha who replaces Agent Rathod in the unit for a brief period. She confesses to not having seen the American series but with six of her 10-day shoot behind her,Azmi says that the show is going to be unlike any on Indian television. “Abhinay takes a whole week to shoot one episode. So the quality of the show,in terms of detailing,direction and performances,is very high,” says Azmi. Working on a format,where every minute of the chosen hour from Agent Rathod’s life has to be accounted for on screen,has been exciting too. “It’s almost mise en scene; for instance,when we’re shooting a phone call,the entire conversation — with the person’s response at the other end of the line — is accounted for. It feels more like working for theatre,” she explains,adding that the format is called real-time narration.

Between shots,Kapoor,who is also the producer of the series,carries a cup of coffee as he casually chats with the crew members. Although he played the leader of a Middle Eastern country in the eighth season of the American series,Kapoor will portray the protagonist Jack Bauer’s part as ATU Agent Rathod in the Indian version. Under Deo’s direction,he believes,they have captured Mumbai like never before. “We shot at the Worli village,where I shot for Mashaal 20 years ago,” Kapoor points out. The idea,he adds,was to keep it real,which is why they shot in broken houses,old basements,parking lots and railway stations.

Deo says with confidence that 24 is the change Indian television has been waiting for,and working around the format is a challenge he is enjoying. “If a character says he is reaching Worli in 10 minutes,we can’t cut directly to Worli. Other events happening in that time frame need to brought in and still kept relevant to the story,” says Deo.

Using a chaotic city like Mumbai as the backdrop is both exciting and challenging. Deo recounts the time they shot at Dockyard Road. “We filmed the sequence with trains running on elevated tracks,but before we could wrap up the shoot,trains stopped for the day,” says Deo. The unit had to work around the train schedules to start the shoot at 4 am the following day.

Although an adaptation of the American series,the soul of its latest version is purely Indian. “We are sociologically,demographically and geographically different. In India,patriotism,loyalty and family — something that Agent Rathod fights for — have a different meaning. So we wanted to get the drama and emotion right,” says Deo,as he is calls for the next shot.

amruta.lakhe@expressindia.com