Exclusive! Eternally Confused and Eager for Love director Rahul Nair: Series was meant to be a sitcom

Young filmmaker Rahul Nair has stepped into the world of OTT with his first outing, Eternally Confused and Eager for Love, which is currently streaming on Netflix. The series revolves around twenty-something Ray’s (Vihaan Samat) desperation to find love and keep up with the dating scene in India.

In a recent interaction with OTTplay, Nair revealed that the series features a few autobiographical elements. The director also spoke about the sitcom format, stating, “So I didn't see it as being a sitcom, but I saw it more as being what any of the sitcoms I love are. Indirectly, it was sort of meant to be a sitcom.”

Nair also spoke about the possibility of seeing Ray meet a girl similar to Suchitra Pillai’s (Ray’s on-screen mother in the series) character Priya in Dil Chahta Hai.

Excerpts below:

You know, the title, Eternally Confused and Eager for Love, reminded me of Friends character Chandler Bing's dialogue, "I'm hopeless and awkward and desperate for love!" Was it somewhere interconnected, or did the thought come to you?

I think that when I named the show, I almost meant it as a joke. I just thought of the first thing that I could think of, and it had a nice ring to it because there are two E's. And I went with it. Then I realised that, actually, in many ways, the title is kind of like the character. The title itself is a bit long and confusing. The logline became the title and it sort of defines who the character is, for sure, a little bit.

What more can you say about the autobiographical elements that you have added to the series?

When I began writing it, I just wanted to be close to home as I was writing something about myself. The story is all fictional, but it's all based on things I've seen and just experienced. I studied in America, and then when I returned to Bombay, I realised that Bombay is very similar to New York. In the way that it's like a dating scene, there's just a lot going on. But it has its unique elements as well. So I wanted to sort of portray that a little bit. You have the added elements of parents stressing you out all the time, and you just have things that go on in India that are different from other cities, but then there's also a relatability to all of it. There's a little bit of me in there, for sure. But it's mostly Ray, I want to say.

Was it always on your mind to make it in a sitcom format with just a runtime of 20–22 minutes?

I didn't do it on purpose, for sure. But I also grew up watching all the sitcoms that were available to us in the 90s and 2000s. Even in film school, I was more of a television guy than a movie guy. So I always thought about things episodically rather than the three-act structure of a movie. Yeah, what I wanted to make was fun and light. So I didn't see it as being a sitcom, but I saw it more as being what any of the sitcoms I love are. So, indirectly, it was sort of meant to be a sitcom. But I feel like what sitcoms usually do is have episodic storylines and then have wider arcs, but usually the episodic storyline is like the primary storyline. Whereas this show does have a bit of an overarching arc of Ray's quest to find love. So I feel like that's where it sort of merges and it's a sort of hybrid between a sitcom and your regular sort of show that covers a season arc.

How did you zero in on having Rahul Bose and Suchitra Pillai as Ray's parents? Both the actors have earlier played characters in which they had similar traits to Ray.

I think that they just sort of fit the roles perfectly. It's very interesting, as you said, that initially in their careers, they were also playing similar roles. Because I remember thinking in my head that Suchitra in Dil Chahta Hai was the type of role where you could see Ray meeting a girl like that in the show, but now she's the mom. It's so interesting how that worked out. I think very early on, we realised that Suchitra and Rahul would be perfect as parents. Once they were cast and once they came on set, it was just very humbling to work with people who have basically, because I'm pretty young myself, grown up watching them. And then getting to work with them was extremely fun, very nice, and sort of enlightening.

How did you decide on having Jim Sarbh as the voice of Wiz?

We shot the show with someone giving cues. We could not decide who the voice was. And then, during post-production, we sort of had an opportunity to decide who this would be. I think that Jim came up as a very interesting option because he's got a very unique voice. That's just a very important thing. But he's also very talented as a person and a very funny guy. I think that he's got a real sense of chaotic humour about him. That was very beneficial in the sense of having it just like that. Like the way that we played Vihaan as Ray, is someone calm, but has this bubbling under the surface, right? There are so many thoughts. Then to add the voice of Jim, it adds so much chaos to it, really like, amps it up because he's calmly hoping to get something done and not ruin a moment. But inside his head, there were like alarm bells, ringing all the time. That sort of contrast was perfect, and Jim was perfect for sort of performing that.

You have been associated with Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby Films for a while now. How did they both come on board as producers for Eternally Confused and Eager for Love?

I started working at Excel in 2015 as an intern, and then I continued to only do Excel projects. I feel like I became--I'm not in-house, but I sort of became a little bit of a local lad. I would love to be called "Tiger Baby," but I think that's only reserved for Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti. Therefore, I pitched the show to them, and they were the first people I pitched it to because it felt like the right thing to do. They liked it, and that was extremely heartening to know about. I was extremely grateful that they decided to take it forward and put their trust in me to put this together.

Eternally Confused and Eager for Love is now streaming on Netflix.