Kunal Kohli: Don’t want OTT to replace cinema

As India has gone into partial-lockdown yet again, filmmakers have been looking towards OTT platforms. The latest to do so is Hum Tum director Kunal Kohli, who made his web series debut with MX Player original show, Ramyug.

Kunal had also made his digital debut with Lahore Confidential, which was a Zee5 film starring Arunoday Singh, Richa Chadha and Karishma Tanna in the lead roles. In an exclusive interview with OTTPlay, the filmmaker opens up about his passion project, whether it will be a franchise, his experience with OTT and much more. Excerpts from the interview:

Is Ramyug the same passion project you had announced?

Yes, it’s the project I announced in 2018. We were in post-production when the world shut down around us. We had announced it as a two-part feature film, but then we tied up with MX Player, and we re-edited the entire footage which we had, which was four hours. MX had the idea of doing it as a web series instead of a feature film, and I agreed.

Is Ramyug going to turn into a franchise?

This is the story, although many parts have been left out. I’ll have to sit with MX to discuss the idea. We haven’t put any thought to that since we just wanted to first release it.

What made you choose this project, especially since it has been reworked on many times? Did you have something different in mind?

That’s a very interesting question. Many people have made it and will make it. There have been and should be many representations. The beauty of our mythology is that there is so much and it is so rich. However, even the same text can be represented differently. The visual and presentation adapted from the text can be vastly different for filmmakers. I think it’s wonderful, and I’m glad MX took the initiative to be the first web platform to do it, and I hope many more will follow.

Since this project has been adapted many times, would you call it a comfortable or risky project?

Every time you go on set or make something, it’s not comfortable, and it shouldn’t be. That’s the beauty of what we do. It’s what keeps us going, pushes us.

This also marks your debut with web series. Tell us about your experience.

The beauty of web is that it gives you a large audience - in a way that you can’t reach through cinema. The web has reached people’s phones, tablets, laptops, computers. It has gone into places where cinema does not. Will it ever replace cinema? No. We hope not, and we don’t want it to. Will it expand the reach and increase the entertainment industry? Of course. What I love about the web is that the reach is so immense. At the end of the day, that’s what filmmakers want - to reach as much of an audience as we can.

How different would you say is filmmaking for web as compared to films?

We were looking for a longer format, so it was different in the way we were shooting as well. It was very different since it was also a mythology. The content is different and they both have their own challenges. This was as challenging as anything else, possibly more.

Was it challenging shooting a few scenes since there had to be too many actors in those scenes? How did you manage that?

It was like school all over again, with me being the school teacher and guiding the children. They would all be talking and be distracted. The boys would be talking about their supplements and all. Interestingly, even though there are not many girls in the show, they take the plot forward in Ramayan.

Were you shooting for Ramyug during lockdown?

We were fortunate to finish shooting before the world had even heard the word coronavirus. During the lockdown, we were doing our post-production. That was very challenging. This is the time when there was complete lockdown and we couldn’t go anywhere. So, we were just waiting. We went to our offices during the partial lockdown and shifted them to our houses. Then we worked via the web. Our entire conversations with MX Player were also in zoom meetings. It was unlike anything we had done before, whether making the deal, talking to the platform or post-production. It slowed the process down a bit, but we got through and did it. As far as the release is concerned, once we shot the show and handed it over to MX Player, they took the decision for the release date and now it’s out there.

Your upcoming projects?

I have a project with Lionsgate, with Lara and Prateik. But we’ll talk about that another time.