Dahaad creator Zoya Akhtar: ‘Whatever genre it is, the challenge is to make an audience feel something’

Dahaad - the latest creation by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti - is an intriguing and power-packed crime-mystery thriller web series, releasing on Amazon Prime Video on May 12. Starring Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma and Gulshan Devaiah, the story of the upcoming series is set in a remote village of Rajasthan.

Directed by Reema and Ruchika Oberoi, Dahaad is said to be the first Indian web series to premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival. The show also features Sohum Shah, Manyuu Doshi, Yogi Singha, Sanghmitra Hitaishi, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee, Nirmal Chiraniyan, Vijay Kumar Dogra, Abhishek Bhalerao and Waris Ahmed Zaidi.

Speaking at the trailer launch of Dahaad in Mumbai earlier today, Zoya said, “We are very excited about Dahaad, because it’s got its own tone and it’s layered. It says a lot of things about women that we want to touch upon. The series has got an amazing cast and it’s beautifully crafted by Reema and Ruchika.” Dahaad is produced by Excel Entertainment and Tiger Baby Films. 

Also read: Zoya Akhtar at Dahaad trailer launch: ‘It’s a layered story that says a lot about women’

Shedding light on why every story must resonate with the audience, Zoya said, “If you stay true and honest to the characters that you’re creating and the journey of those characters, you create a world and you create authenticity. The challenge at the end of the day, whatever your genre is, is to make an audience feel something; they need to feel something; they need to resonate. That feeling could be anything. It could be amusement, it could be pathos. It could be a reflection of their life. Whatever it is, they need to feel something. I think that’s the biggest challenge, and I think the only tool you have besides a narrative arc that’s interesting, is to be honest with your world.” 

Also read: Dahaad trailer: Gulshan Devaiah on how he manages to stand out in an ensemble cast

Dahaad marks Zoya and Reema’s second crime thriller after Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, which was released in 2012, starring Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukerji. Meanwhile, the two are also working on their upcoming film, The Archies - a musical adaptation of the popular Archie Comics series - starring Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Vedang Raina and Agastya Nanda.