Exclusive! Pranay Pachauri on Crash Course: The show captures toxicity, competitions, ambitions and other emotions

Annu Kapoor’s Crash Course was dropped on Amazon Prime on August 5. Directed by Vijay Mourya and written by Manish Hariprasad and Raina Roy, the series delves into the fiercely competitive student life of Kota, where pupils come to prepare for IIT entrance and JEE exams. Pranay Pachauri plays a popular physics professor at a leading coaching centre. The show presents the story of rival coaching centres and their money-making mechanism. 

Talking about the uniqueness of the show, Pranay said, “Not many shows are made keeping education in the central theme. Crash Course uses Kota (Rajasthan) as the background. Kota is an educational city where all the engineering and medical aspirants go to study right after their 10th examination. There is a culture of super competition and pressure. That is a reality. There aren’t many shows that delve into this social reality. Also, the show deals with intricate layers of the characters of Kota – the students, the residents, educational institutes like coaching centres, the people who run such centres and so on. It is not just a drama or some other labelled genre, This show creates a different genre for itself. It captures the life playing out in the toxicity, competitions, ambitions and so on. It is a raw, real and honest effort from our end.”

Talking about if he was nervous before the release, Pranay said, “Honestly, I would be nervous if I knew that the work that I have done is not at par. But in this case, a series has been made with full honesty and the content will resonate with people. If you have put in your best work then you don’t be nervous. We have put in our best wishes, a lot of positive energy, and a lot of hard work into this project. Now it is up to the audience to watch it and see if they like it or not. I hope it gets appreciated by the audience.”