Lines between TV content and web series getting blurred: Anand Tiwari

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

What triggered the idea for Girl In The City?

“The germ of the idea came to us from Saurabh, Siddharth and team Bindaas. They called Amrit (Amritpal Singh, co-producer) and me after watching Bang Baaja Baaraat and wanted us to develop and produce it. We loved the concept especially because we wanted to do a series, which explored the life of today’s urban female youth. And here was a great opportunity to collaborate on something around those lines. We got on board Sanyukta Chawla to write it and Samar Shaikh to direct it. Sanyukta was inspired to bring in a lot of her own experiences of coming to Mumbai from a small town. We really enjoyed seeing the city of Mumbai through Meera’s (the protagonist) eyes and so did the audience.”

A still from Girl In The City, starring Mithila Palkar.

It was popular on the web. What made you take it to television?

“That was always the plan. Bindaas has been very organised with their broadcast and web release plans. We made two edits of every episode, one which suited the TV standard and practices and the other for the web. It maximised our reach to a much larger audience than any other web series out there.”

There is a huge difference between the content on TV and web. Do you think the series will do well on small screen?

“The lines are getting blurred every day. A lot of people are consuming their TV content online. You also have most modern televisions with internet support. Girl In The City as I said, has been popular on both platforms. So in the near future, we will only be calling them series and not TV serials and web series. And I am hoping that Girl in the city chapter 2 will also be loved by the audiences.”

Bang Baaja Baaraat starred Ali Fazal and Angira Dhar, among others.

Do you think it will act as a motivation for other producers to make fresh reparable stories for TV?

“We just made an honest series. The credit goes to bindaas for having the vision and trusting the TV audience with this content. We need more channels to do so. They shouldn’t be afraid of trying new things, and they can trust the sensibilities of the audience more.”

You have entertained us with films like Udaan and Go Goa Gone. Anything coming up on the acting front?

“I have just directed a feature film. In the middle of its post-production. Once this baby is delivered I will figure whether to direct something new or sneak out and do a quick acting gig.”

Also read | No hassle of censorship in making web series: Tripling actor Amol Parashar

Starring Mithila Palkar in the lead role, Girl In The City premiered last year in July. It is the story of an ambitious girl, who moves from Dehradun to Mumbai to fulfill her dream of becoming a fashion designer. The show is now in its second season.