‘Gyaarah Gyaarah’ is paced like a feature film. Did the thought of making it a film ever cross your mind?No, the pacing was done in order to end every episode on a cliffhanger. Gyaarah Gyaarah was conceptualised as a series. Maybe after a few more seasons, say seasons 2 and 3, we may end the story with a film instead of a season 4.Are you confirming exclusively with us that the series is getting renewed?That’s how we dreamers think (laughs). There are always talks about new seasons, but it’s the streamer’s call.Did director Umesh Bist convince you with his pitch, or did he ask you to watch Signal?Actually, it happened the other way around. We loved Signal. We struggled for over a year and a half to acquire its remake rights. We then took it to Umesh, as we loved working with him in Pagglait. Umesh, along with writers Puja Banerji and Sunjoy Shekhar, did a fantastic job Indianising the show.Why and how was Uttarakhand chosen as the setting for ‘Gyaarah Gyaarah’?How we finalised Uttarakhand is an interesting story. We first wanted to set the story in Punjab or Rajasthan, for the unique colours these regions provide. Only later did Uttarakhand, Dehradun, and the mountains happen. The winter mist and the mountains of Uttarakhand added to the mystery of the show and helped bring out great visuals. The mountains of the state are an important element of the series.On another occasion, you said Sikhya Entertainment aims to take Indian stories to the world. How do you define Indian stories?We want to tell the stories of our land, not necessarily in Hindi. Our films like The Lunchbox, The Elephant Whisperers, Masaan, Kill, and Gangs of Wasseypur are stories of different regions of India. Several foreigners told me they knew India only through The Lunchbox. Likewise, I have heard so many people coming to India solely to meet Raghu and Ammu (the elephants in The Elephant Whisperers). So I would define Indian stories as raw, authentic, and original. Showing us (Indians) on the larger canvas is our superpower as storytellers. The more local and original the content, the greater the reach would be globally. Life is too short, and there is so much to be done. I like to be a bridge that constantly takes India to the world.Being a woman producer, what is that extra lens you wear while filtering content while portraying women on screen?I don’t believe in showing women in a certain colour, and I am sick of always turning them into goddesses. I feel women should be able to make all kinds of films and portray all kinds of roles, breaking stereotypes. Whenever it comes to showing a female body through a camera, there is always a subtext that you play into. Even in an otherwise male-dominated, testosterone-heavy action film like Kill, the biggest kills are given to women; that’s the subtext we wanted to convey. There is always a conversation between me and the directors on how the camera moves and what emotions we want to titillate. I don’t encourage the exploitation of women, at the same time, nor do I say whitewash women’s reputations, since we come in all forms and colours. It has to be taught that a film is not your ‘titillation space’; just tell your stories.
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