‘The benefit of OTT is its wide audience’

Debutant director Pushpendra Nath Misra on his film Ghoomketu’s digital release and writing for different formats

Anurag Kashyap has directed Nawazuddin Siddiqui in four films (Gangs of Wasseypur I and II, Raman Raghav 2.0, Dev D and Black Friday) and the Netflix series Sacred Games. What are common to all of these are the adjectives ‘dark and gritty’. Ghoomketu, their fifth film together is a complete departure not just because they are co-actors for the first time but also because it’s a slice of life comedy. “It was very enjoyable to see them do comedy,” says director Pushpendra Nath Misra who has made his debut feature with this film.

Ghoomketu revolves around an aspiring film writer (Siddiqui) who runs away to Mumbai to fulfil his dreams. When his family files a missing person’s complaint, it’s up to Badlani (Kashyap), a lazy and corrupt cop to find Ghoomketu and bring him back.

Interestingly, Misra first noticed Siddiqui in Kashyap’s Black Friday. “He has a very small part in that film and he’s very dark in it. But I knew from his performance that he has great talent. Also, it’s great when you cast people non-stereotypically. When I look at him, I see a fantastic mix of talent, innocence and star power. He can play a common person but he brings a certain amount of star value to the character. He’s very interesting to shoot,” the ad-film-maker says about the film’s leading man.

Lure of digital

An alumnus of the National Institute of Design (NID), the director grew up in Lucknow. Though the film is set in western Uttar Pradesh, he insists it’s not autobiographical in any way. “I studied in a convent school and then went to NID. I had all the privileges and support, while this film is about someone who wants to escape his life and to go Mumbai and write for Bollywood.” He adds, “It’s a purely imagined story but the imagination is fuelled by a lot of characters observed around me. Uttar Pradesh is very rich in people and characters, with their mannerisms, how they speak and that sharp humour. This is a story of a person who looks at all these characters as sources of stories. Ghoomketu wants to bring his world into Bollywood.”

Ghoomketu is among the handful of feature films like Gulabo Sitabo and Shakuntala Devi that are going straight-to-digital. While most directors talk about the high of seeing their films in a theatre, Misra says he’s ‘never had any fascination for the big screen’. “Today’s audience likes to see anecdotal stuff, they like to pause it on their phones, take a phone call and then get back to it. The benefit of OTT, is its very wide audience – it’s not just one country, it’s many. So, it’s a much bigger release than Bollywood, any one region or a certain number of theatres. For a creator, you get so much more love or criticism,” he explains.

Since the announcement of films releasing on OTT platforms, exhibitors have been up in arms. There’s been talk about how the popularity of streaming services like Amazon Prime, Zee5, Disney Hotstar and Netflix could herald the decline of theatres but Misra dismisses them as hyperbole.

“Big films will always go to theatres first. Going to a theatre with one’s family and watching a film with big visuals and big sound will never lose its charm. In current times, when people are asked for social distancing it’s a different matter and hopefully temporary. Once things open up, big films will again go there. I think the balance will be found on its own and there’s nothing to worry about. OTT will keep growing but producers won’t make the same kind of profits like they would with a theatrical release, so theatres will always be the first choice.”

Storytelling comes first

It’s not about the size of the screen that matters but the story that you want to tell, Misra believes. Earlier this year, Netflix launched Taj Mahal 1989, Misra’s first show as a director. Misra, who also writes his own stories, says the distinction between the formats of ad films, episodic series and feature films starts at the writing stage. “With the writing of a web series, you leave it at a cliff-hanger, you understand the introduction of the characters in a five-act structure. With a feature film, it’s a three-act structure. In an advertising film, you need to come to the climax and leave people with one point and a call to action.” But once he starts shooting, Misra doesn’t see any distinction between the formats. “As a director you are only concentrating on shooting the next scene. That doesn’t change regardless of what you are shooting.”

Ghoomketu is streaming on Zee5