Exclusive! Goldie Behl: I wanted to contrast Gulshan Devaiah's independent style with a mainstream actor like Drashti Dhami in Duranga

Goldie Behl is one of the renowned filmmakers of India, who has recently created a hit crime-thriller show, Duranga. The Drashti Dhami and Gulshan Devaiah starrer ZEE5 original show is an official adaptation of a cult Korean drama, Flower Of Evil. 

In a candid chat with OTTplay, the creator-director talked about his journey of making Duranga and also shared his idea behind roping an unusual on-screen pair like Gulshan Devaiah and Drashti Dhami opposite each other. Behl also informed us about his upcoming ventures and more. Excerpts:

Talking about how he ended up making the adaptation of a cult Korean drama, Flower Of Evil, Behl informed, "A young girl in my office, who is a huge K-drama fan, introduced this show to me and when I saw it I really really liked it and thought that it has the lengths to be made into an Indian thriller drama. So we decided to remake it and then we reached out to the original makers (CJ and Studio Dragons) for the rights to make it and then we reached out to Zee5 and ran the idea of the show. Once we had a platform onboard the process became simpler."

When asked about how he chose Gulshan and Drashti to be the lead couple in the show, the filmmaker replied, "Gulshan toh is apt for any role. He is a fantastic actor and I'm so addicted to him now. I don't know how to work without him. That's the power of a good actor. Drashti was a revelation. She popped up initially because of her popularity. I wanted the people of two different worlds. I wanted to contrast Gulshan's independent style to a mainstream girl like Drashti."

Moving on the show creator mentioned that the makers had to change multiple things in the Indian series from the original one keeping the Indian audience in mind. "Although the plot scenes are the same. We haven't messed around with that. But apart from that, the entire screenplay has been changed to our palate.

Talking about the viewers' comparison between the Indian and Korean shows, Behl said that the adaptation can never be better than the original because it's original for a reason. "For us to even stand up for such a cult show is also a victory. So I don't want to take away anything from the original. But, yes, comparisons are inevitable. Original will always be original but we have also done our best."

Mentioning the freedom of creativity, the filmmaker spoke in the favour of OTT and mentioned, "Now, I just find the freedom to make a story far more easier than those days when we used to wait for actors to come out of their vanity or wait in the offices of the executive of television. So, someone like me who has done TV, as well as films, do find that OTT is a nice hybrid between the two mediums."

When asked about the second season of Duranga, Behl mentioned that it's up to ZEE5 when they will decide to announce it, however, the creator informed us that Amit Sadh who had a cameo appearance on the first part, is going to have a major role in the sequel.

Talking about his upcoming ventures, the filmmakers informed OTTplay that currently he is sticking to the web series and his forthcoming projects will be announced soon.