PremiumKonkona Sensharma to shift gears as a director with a comedy series? Actor spills the beans
Konkona Sensharma spoke at length about the OTT rise and the impact of the creative horizon.
Last Updated: 10.55 AM, Jan 30, 2024
Whether she's working in film or OTT, Konkona Sensharma has an innate sense of what will resonate with audiences. In Mumbai Diaries, we see a doctor battling demons from her past; in Ajeeb Dastaans, viewers are engrossed in a story of sexual identity. So far, the actor has starred opposite Manoj Bajpayee as a villainous businesswoman in her most recent OTT series, Killer Soup. By the accounts of the vast majority of her audience, the presentation has been a delightful affair.
Delightful ventures
During an interaction with Hindustan Times, Konkona exclaimed that they clearly put in a lot of time and effort, and it takes a lot of effort to create a show as well. It had been a while before anyone could watch it. As an actor, one feels extremely exposed and delicate right after filming ends; nevertheless, by the time the film is released, they manage to collect themselves. An advantage is that one is somewhat more dispassionate; thus, seeing this reaction is absolutely delightful.
Konkona has had a very successful OTT career. As a first step, in 2023, a second season of the medical drama, Mumbai Diaries, premiered. Most people thought her segment directing Tillotama Shome and Amruta Subhash in Lust Stories was the greatest. The actor explained that she was a fan of foreign dramas like Breaking Bad and Fargo before OTT became popular in India. After working on feature films and short films, she was eager to branch out and do a limited series since she was already comfortable with the concept. When Mumbai Diaries was offered to her, Konkona eagerly jumped on the bandwagon because she had never done a web series before.
Gender dynamics in OTT and Film
Considering her filmography before taking on web roles, when asked if she does still find that female actors are offered more leading roles on OTT than in films, even now, Konkona muses that perhaps, in general, she avoids OTT content. Recent financially successful films, however, have notably underrepresented women in leading roles. The actor feels she could be completely wrong, but she doesn't see many strong female characters in Bollywood films at the moment; they will come.
Konkona has refrained from tackling projects that feature explicit sexual content or profanity in order to attract viewers, even if the internet presents a greater opportunity for female actors. However, she considers that many people engage in excessive self-restraint. She remarked that because a FIR might come at any moment, everyone is being extremely cautious about what they say. A lot of people are self-censoring now, which wasn't the case ten years ago.
The intersection of self-censorship and artistic freedom
At the same time, though, she notes that people don't question the treatment of female characters nearly enough. Respect for religious sensitivities is the primary motivation behind this censorship. Konkona doesn't see it as a platform for sexism; after all, how much skin can one reveal? Unfortunately, web projects lack sufficient filtering, resulting in women being subjected to violence. Many religious expressions are subject to suppression, and they need to consider the pros and cons of that.
The fact that Konkona has tried his hand at directing and performing in this medium is intriguing. Plus, she spills the beans about her plans to grow as a filmmaker. The idea is very appealing to her. She is attempting to create a series. Getting everything to line up takes a long time, so it's not something one can do on the fly. The actor has no idea if platforms will approve of the comedic tone or if they will be able to secure the necessary funding for the project, and the question is still unanswered.
Along with that, Konkona is working on a feature film. She has plenty of time, and the actor intends to succeed if she can write a decent piece and get enough money to release it. No pressure is exerted, and producing it for its own sake isn't something she is interested in.