Pawan Kumar on Shodha: I was drawn to the mind-games and manipulations the character, Rohit, offered

Z5 has just rescheduled the release of its next Kannada original series, Shodha, which has actor-filmmaker Pawan Kumar in the lead. The 6-episode show will now begin streaming on August 29 on Z5 (also on OTTplay Premium), as against the earlier August 22, as the makers are adding some sequences featuring actress Saptami Gowda, who has a cameo.

The show revolves around Pawan’s character Rohit, a lawyer, whose wife Meera goes missing. But when she returns a couple of days later, Rohit declares that the woman in his home is not his wife. How he goes about proving that this Meera is an imposter and the reason behind it is what Shodha is all about.

Also read: Shodha on OTT: Pawan Kumar-led suspense thriller the remake of THIS Hindi series? 

Pawan Kumar: It was a treat to get a role like the one in Shodha

Shodha is Pawan’s first time as a leading man, who says that his choice of acting gigs have always revolved around doing fun stuff. “Shodha was that for me. I knew it was the central protagonist and the story takes him through all kinds of highs and lows. As an actor, it was a treat to get a role like this – you are not fit into one single box or characterisation. What I really liked about the script is that sometimes I am very emotional, at others I am a crook or I am very smart or weak. I loved the whole shift of things, and was drawn to the mind-games and manipulations of the character,” explained Pawan.

The actor, who also served as script doctor on the project and helped director Sunil Mysuru and writer Suhas Navarathna bring out a better product, adds, “Today, characters are very rarely written where a man can cries and shows emotion. In this series, I found that space, which we do in theatre. In movies you are one-dimensional and very macho. If you are a villain, you are a villain, they don’t work on the grey aspect of it, which was there here.”

Pawan explains that Shodha is about a bunch of characters who are put in a certain situation. “I play a lawyer, so the narrative follows how he twists and turns things, or how it plays out for him. It examines how facts appear and the interpretation there of. There was a great mix to play with and I felt it was great fun working on,” he says.

Meanwhile, despite the latest edit, Shodha will still have only 6 episodes of about 18 minutes each. “We did have a first cut with 20-minute episodes, but in the second round, we felt that since it is a thriller, it could be a lot more pacy. There is a very interesting shift in the way audiences watch content today. There are those who will watch a series with 45-minute-long episodes; there is another set, which, I think, is the larger chunk, who don’t want to commit to such lengthy view times,” says Pawan.

The actor reckons that the focus is to convince the second set to commit to spending episodes of only 16 or 17 minutes. “This is one way to draw them into the format. If they like the idea of binge-watching 6 episodes, maybe with time, they will be open to watching longer duration episodes,” Pawan says.

FAQs

Q. Who is the director of Shodha?

A. Sunil Mysuru, who made the Kannada film Orchestra Mysuru earlier, is the director of Shodha.

Q. When and where will Shodha stream?

A. The 6-episode Shodha is coming to Z5 on August 29. It is a suspense thriller with Pawan Kumar in the lead.

Q. Who is on the cast of Shodha?

A. Shodha stars Pawan Kumar, Siri Ravikumar, Arun Sagar, Anusha Ranganath and Saptami Gowda, among others.

Q. Is Shodha a remake?

A. According to reports, Shodha is the remake of a Hindi series called Khoj - Parchaiyo Ke Uss Paar , which is also on Z5 and OTTplay Premium