Jehanabad Of Love and War makers on merging love and revolution: ‘We have tried to handle a serious subject with sensitivity’

“I wanted to send a message that there is no conflict or problem which love cannot solve and with this in mind I started writing the series” added Barnwal, who also informed that it took around eight months to write the script and around 85 days to complete the shoot.

The series could have easily fit into the category of the web series that revels in gratuitous and superfluous violence had it not been for the writer (Rajeev Barnwal) and directors (Rajeev Barnwal and Satyanshu Singh). Blood and gore was only shown when it was integral to storytelling, thus making this series an outlier among the expansive OTT ecosystem which thrives on depicting sordidness. Thus Jehanabad, which was shot in eight different locations in states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, boasts of an effective storytelling and direction which does not hinge on stereotypes.

“For the first time I was directing something not written by me so I had a certain emotional detachment with the project, which allowed me to focus only at the work at hand without the emotional insecurities and stresses that come with your own thing,” noted Satyanshu Singh, who co-directed the series with Barnwal.

BTS from Jehanabad- Of Love & War. Satyanshu Singh is seen directing Ankur Thakur, who played Trilok. (Photo: SonyLiv/Vivek Kumar)

Jehanabad is an amalgamation of various plots and subplots running parallelly, the twists and turns in the plots seamlessly hold the audience’s attention. Adding to this mix, is the unpredictability factor that the writer has brought in the characters, be it the lead character Abhimanyu Singh (Ritwik Bhowmik) or a character like Trilok (Ankur Thakur) who leaves us guessing about his actual motive till the end.

“I wanted people to be guessing about what will happen next. I wanted to maintain the suspense till the point it appears organically. I also wanted to create characters who leave an impact, make you think smartly and play with your mind,” said Barnwal.

The most striking part of the series is the heart-melting love story of Abhimanyu and Kasturi (Harshita Gaur), which is intense and alluring at the same time. When Abhimanyu blushes over the goofy and playful ways of Kasturi, you can’t help but smile and root for their love to blossom even when things around them are falling apart. Though a slow burner and following a familiar theme, the love story provides a window into the complex nature of the characters- Abhimanyu bound by his obligation towards a mission but in deep love with Kasturi, whereas Kasturi a bubbly and extrovert girl, who can go to any extent for her love. “These are the archetypal characters, with whom we have a certain familiarity but their circumstances and situations offer us something new to play with. Also, Ritwik and Harshita brought their own mannerisms to the character to give it a very fresh look,” claimed Satyanshu Singh.

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The series has a constant back and forth between the two overarching themes, love and revolution, which stand in contrast to one another throughout the series before flawlessly merging in the last episode. The switch between these two worlds happens so effortlessly that throughout the series the audience’s heartbeat remains in sync with the pace of the events panning out on screen. “When I set out writing I had no idea as to how to merge these two universes, I just let the story develop organically,” Barnwal recalled. “Once we finalised the cast and actually began shooting, the script started taking its own shape,” noted Satyanshu Singh.

Talking about the challenges while writing the script, Barnwal revealed that lack of availability of reading material on the jailbreak was the biggest hindrance. Due to lack of documentation of the actual people who participated in the jailbreak, Barnwal said, “I relied upon my interactions during my TV days in Bastar and Dantewada with people affiliated with the ultra left ideology. It was also difficult for me to handle such a serious subject with sensitivity and bring a lot of research to make it look more authentic, believable and real but at the same time keep it entertaining.”

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Notwithstanding the clever and astute screenplay, a lot of questions remained unanswered in this season such as – What was the backstory of Abhimanyu? How did his parents die? Did the personal enmity between the SP, Durgesh Pratap Singh (Satyadeep Mishra), and Naxal commander, Deepak Kumar (Parambrata Chatterjee), go back to their college days?

“In this season we wanted to introduce the characters and tell their current stories, we wanted to tell how this jailbreak happened, how this love story took birth and if you love these characters you would want to see more of them. We might explore these questions if season 2 happens,” the writer said.

Even though the lead protagonist sympathises with a particular ideology, Jehanabad- Of Love and War, remains conscious of not forcing any ideology onto the viewer. “For this story it was important to showcase that it is very difficult to have a clear idea of right and wrong. It’s a complex battleground and the best of people have the darkest of sides and the most evil people have some hope inside them,” noted Satyanshu Singh.