Ayyana Mane director Ramesh Indira: I cut the length of the show to ensure audiences are engaged throughout

When director-actor Ramesh Indira (of Premier Padmini fame) sat down to write the script for what would become the first-ever Kannada original web series on Zee5, a network he’s long been associated with as a TV series maker, he was clear that it should have elements to draw all kinds of audiences. While the trailer implies a mix of horror and mystery elements, Ramesh says that there are intricacies of family, disturbed relationships, superstitions, and much more in the 6-episode show Ayyana Mane , which drops on the platform on April 25.

The show is set within one family, with multiple members, where for some strange reason, the daughters-in-law do not survive. When the youngest, Dushyanth (Akshay Nayak), then marries Jaji (Kushee Ravi) and brings her home, it becomes a matter of survival for her and she sets out to find out the mystery behind the deaths in the family. Is there a curse at play and a higher power exacting vengeance on Ayyana Mane, or is there something more sinister?

Ayyana Mane's screenplay moves back and forth between the past and the present

With episodes running for 18-20 minutes each only, Ramesh’s job was cut out that he not only had to set up the premise, but also provide backstories to the characters, including the three women who’ve perished. “The screenplay keeps shuffling between the present and the past,” says Ramesh, adding that he cut down the run-time from an initial 7 episodes to 6, to keep the proceedings as crisp as possible.

“Just because I have made it, I cannot force audiences to sit through everything. If I have 20 minutes of content, I have to ensure that audiences have an edge-of-the-seat experience in that entire time. Focus is on keeping viewers engaged and not allowing them to zone out even for an instance,” he explains.

Ayyana Mane, produced by Shruti Naidu, also stars Manasi Sudhir, Hitha Chandrashekar, Vijay Shobraj, Anirudh Acharya, among others, with Ramesh also playing a character.

Also read: Ayyana Mane director Ramesh Indira: I wrote the show to make a name and open doors to a new platform for Kannada content