Srijit Mukherji agrees ‘patriotism is the flavour today’, calls Jaanbaaz Hindustan ke a ‘pan-India’ web-series

When asked how has he managed to inculcate the feeling of patriotism in the web series, Srijit says, “The best way to do it is by having it inside you, I guess, it then flows out as an extension of your storytelling. This (show) talks about people entrusted with the job of protecting our country, its borders, peace, law and order. So when you make a film about them, when you have grown up hearing stories about their bravery and courage, you automatically become patriotic and get inspired. When you put it to a script and structure, it shows.”

The filmmaker shared he’s done a thorough research on the subject of his series, included a pan-India cast and shot it across the country to give the audience a great viewing experience. He shares, “The USP of our series is that it is frontlined by a woman cop, and is a truly pan-Indian series. It travels the length and the breadth of India, we traversed from Shillong, Guwahati and went to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, then to Kochi and Alleppey, and Mumbai as well. So, we are actually showing action and drama and police life across the country. The ensemble cast is also exactly like that which represents the best of our country. We have Regina (Cassandra) and Gayathri (Shanker) from the south, Barun (Sobti) and Sumeet (Vyas) from the north, we have Chandan (Roy) from Bihar, and we have some great actors from Meghalaya.”

 

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Patriotism seems to be the flavour du jour when it comes to making films and OTT content. The filmmaker agrees and says that when there is a flux of content of a similar subject, there can come a saturation point.

“Doing something repeatedly or doing in a great amount has its own problems in terms of saturation. Also, it has its advantages in terms of its core competencies. For example, when I was doing my research, Juggernaut (The show’s production house) knew exactly which rank has how many stars and which is the correct uniform. I’ve been researching and detailing from the last three-four years, that is the advantage you have when you have a lot of such stories happening. But yes, there will come a time when people will be saturated with such stories, which is why I really wanted to do this differently. I’ve consciously made sure that this has a number of USPs, and doesn’t turn out to be just another cop action drama to the audience,” the filmmaker said.

With great power comes great responsibility, making content based on Indian armed forces is a job that needs meticulous research and detailing. So what are the do’s and don’ts to follow when making films and shows like these? Srijit shares, “Juggernaut is very experienced with this, so I had a list of it in hand. Also, I think one should have their personal aesthetic in place, so one knows that this is nationalism and this is jingoism, and this is too over the top and what can violate the laws of physics when you’re shooting an action sequence. So it is stuff like that, to keep it realistic yet keep it adrenaline pumping.”

Srijit had two releases last year, Taapsee Pannu’s Shabaash Mithu and Pankaj Tripathi’s Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga, however both the films under-performed at the box office. When asked if box office failure of his films affects him, the ace director said, “No, it doesn’t. Last year most films didn’t work, and a lot of great films didn’t work. Films not working at the box office is not at all a statement on the quality of the film, it might be a statement on the psychological space where audiences are. Also, in terms of Sherdil and Shabaash Mithu, when they released on OTT, they got a humongous response. They were on Netflix’s top five for almost a month, each. People who were watching it were not spirits or zombies, they were also human beings with aesthetics, people with flesh and blood. That is also an audience, and I take that love and warmth as my take home, as my bonus, and yes, box-office hota toh bohot acchha hota, but it is ok.”