Exclusive! Sathish Chandrasekaran: I pounced at the opportunity when TVF approached me with Engga Hostel

Movie buffs were excited when Amazon Prime announced Engga Hostel, a Tamil adaptation of the popular Hindi series, Hostel Daze. The five-episode project, starring a bevy of newbies, which revolves around the lives of engineering students in a hostel, was dropped on Friday.

Sacchin Nachiappan, Avinaash Ramesh, Samyuktha Viswanathan, Saranya Ravichandran, Dravid Selvam and Goutham Raj play lead roles in the series which has been helmed by Sathish Chandrasekaran. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the filmmaker opens up about how the project shaped up, compares it with Hostel Daze, the challenges he faced and what film lovers can look forward to. Excerpts...

With the series having dropped on Amazon Prime a couple of days ago, how excited are you?

Being at the helm of the Tamil version of the popular series Hostel Daze was a big task. I'm excited seeing the reaction of film buffs. This might be new to the Tamil audience, but I'm sure there will be comparisons with the original version. I'm really thrilled about what we have pulled off.

How did the idea of remaking Hostel Daze come up?

It all started when I was approached by The Viral Fever (TVF). I'm a huge fan of their works, so I couldn't say no to their offer. Moreover, I also have an engineering background and would stay in a hostel. Hence, this came across as a completely relatable plot for me. I would say I immediately pounced on the opportunity.

How different is Engga Hostel when compared to Hostel Daze in terms of screenplay?

We have tried to incorporate a few fresh conflicts and new characters. We have also explored the girls hotel as much as we can in our version. Some of the conversations between girls, unlike the Hindi version, are one of the major things we have added to Engga Hostel. While watching some of the sequences, you will realize that we have basically adapted only the essence of Hostel Daze.

The series features several newbies. How did you rope in actors and decide on who is playing what role?

The audition part was the funniest thing for me, we really had a blast. Since most of the characters shared similar traits in the Hindi version as well, we were careful about not spoiling the essence of the original series. While choosing actors, we focused on their attitude and body language with which they performed during the audition.

How challenging was it to make a new version of something which was already a huge hit?

The biggest challenge was to convince the production team and extract engaging performances from lead actors. The inclusion of new characters and changing the entire plot to suit Tamil nativity were other Herculean tasks. There are many ideas which strike you when you work on a fun-filled series which is set against the backdrop of an engineering hostel. But choosing which ones to incorporate and which ones to ignore was quite taxing.

Do you think fans of Hostel Daze would be able to enjoy Engga Hostel?

Of course. This is like a reboot of the Hindi version. In fact, I'm more curious about the feedback from those who loved Hostel Daze.