Nonika Singh
He chuckles at the enthused response to the trailer of his upcoming web-series Bard of Blood. Emraan Hashmi, who makes his online debut with the Netflix show, is tickled pink as his fans believe the series will do greater justice to his talent, something that Bollywood failed to.
He clarifies on behalf of his admirers; “What they probably mean is that the kind of character (Kabir Anand) I get to play in this series is almost inconceivable in Hindi cinema.” Come to think of it, he admits that the spy genre is under-developed in Hindi cinema. Offhand only two movies come to his mind, Agent Vinod being one of them, which too by the way he has not seen!
Undercover agent
Clearly, like so many of us, he grew up watching the suave James Bond; from Sean Connery to Roger Moore to Daniel Craig, he has imbibed a bit of them. But beyond that it was his imagination and research on RAW agents that helped him etch this Indian spy, undercover agent Kabir Anand. At the end of the day, the real challenge as with any other character is to get into its head. Add to it the physical exertion; from the blistering heat of Rajasthan to numbing cold of Ladakh, indeed he and other members of the cast braved it all.
As for his character’s alias Adonis, he understands the underlying link to his romantic hero aka serial kisser image. “Yes there is a hint of romance in the series.” To those who are wondering whether Bard of Blood would measure up to the hugely successful and acclaimed Sacred Games, he is neither surprised nor offended by the ticklish query. “When the platform is the same, it is but natural to compare, but I believe Bard of Blood would create its own reference point.”
The director of the series Ribhu Dasgupta nods and asserts that the comparison is uncalled for, since both fall into different genres. Unlike Sacred Games, he has remained truthful to the book written by Bilal Siddiqi. On the happy marriage between web space and the books, what with most series finding inspiration in books, he agrees, “It is tempting to take on content which is already out there, as you need a lot of material.” But web series, he insists, is not just about hooking the viewer or playing on the ‘what next’ quotient. “It’s what is in each episode, each frame. As a maker what excites me is the story.”
Technically, he has to follow a different approach while canning a web series. Aware that the content is likely to be viewed on a tab or even a mobile screen, he adds, “You do not need so many wide angle shots.”
Test of mettle
Both Sobhita Dhulipala and Kirti Kulhari chorus that once the camera rolls, its action, no matter what the medium. If anything, it’s the brevity of a short film that truly tests their mettle. Indeed, OTT platforms, especially Netflix, beaming into 192 countries spell endless possibilities.
Vineet Singh of Mukkabaaz fame, despite an incredibly busy year, said yes to Bard of Blood precisely to reach out to wider audience. According to Dasgupta, Netflix is the best thing that happened to mankind, of the creative kind, especially writers who have become the key to the content. On whether the medium is an imminent threat to cinema, Emraan states, “Whenever there is a paradigm shift, there is fear which I think is unfounded. But yes with the kind of superlative content that OTT has on offer, cinema will have to up its game.” Right now it’s time for some spy games, as the series streams on 27th September.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2lz3s9J
via Today’s News Headlines
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