The Night Manager's Sandeep Modi on his film with Karan Johar: The concept is a little tedha

Curiosity has been high ever since news broke that writer-director Sandeep Modi, the creator of Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur's web series The Night Manager, has signed a two-film deal with filmmaker Karan Johar under the Dharma Production banner.

In a candid conversation with Sandeep, we tried to uncover what's cooking as far as the two new projects go. 

Sandeep told OTTplay, "I cannot talk about the story and the idea I am working on right now. But what I can tell you is that it is comforting for a storyteller like me to know that I have the backing of a producer like Karan Johar, because he is an enabler. I know that he can provide all the resources that I need to tell a good story, mount it well, and cast the right actors. All I can reveal about the concept is that it will be a little tedha. It will be in a popular genre, but it will have a twist. I am going to challenge myself with the next project because that is when I can grow."

Considering that both his projects are action thrillers and that Karan Johar's signature style is love stories and musicals with characters who are larger than life, one wonders how these two worlds will come together.

Asked about the genre that would challenge him the most as a filmmaker, Sandeep said, "I have been developing stories for the last couple of years. There are different stories that can challenge me, not just a genre. Having said that, creating something with cinematic moments that the audience will invest their time and energy to watch on a 70-mm screen is a challenge for me, especially in the current time. The expectations of the audience for OTT content are different from those of theatre-going audiences. Since I have written episodic content, where the duration of the content is longer than that of a film, it is a challenge for me to compress everything into two hours."

However, the storyteller also highlights that the syntax of Indian cinema fascinates him the most.

"Personally, I like the syntax of our films. Ours is the only film industry in the world that uses song and dance as important elements of the narrative. I do not look down upon that at all. OTT content has mostly stayed away from that. Even if a song is used, it is not lip-synched. So, I am quite intrigued by how to use that to tell a story in a traditional way. It is a challenge for me to create something for theatres as opposed to OTT platforms," shared Sandeep.

Karan Johar is busy with the release of his latest directorial, Rockey Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani. Sandeep's latest work, The Night Manager, is available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.