Kohrra which launched on Netflix on July 15, has been a sensation and has shot up to be one of the top projects created in India for the OTT medium. The series has been appreciated for its realistic portrayal of the contemporary Punjab. The series as we know, has been helmed by Showrunner Sudip Sharma and Director Randeep Jha.
We at IWMBuzz.com have already given our readers a detailed talk that we had with Director Randeep Jha of Trial By Fire fame. If you have missed it, you can take a glance of it here.
Now, we move ahead and give you a detailed report on our conversation with the Showrunner of the series, Sudip Sharma. He has earlier given viewers the investigative thriller, Paatal Lok.
Says Sudip, “Every project is a completely different experience altogether. Kohrra was more of a personal sort of tale. In Paatal Lok we were looking at the macro picture of the society. In Kohrra, we were trying to explore personal issues and character drama. So both were texturally different in nature.”
Ask him about his association with Randeep Jha, Sudip states, “The idea was to make a good project. And that is how we both approached it. It is important to be on the same page creatively. And we were happy to achieve this. It was a great experience working with Randeep. Respect was mutual.”
On the slow-burn tales like Kohrra that have gained the attention of creators and viewers, Sudip explains, “It was about time. Our journey in long-term storytelling in India started about five years back. Now the time was right to get into the next phase of storytelling. Everything need not be fast-paced. The idea was to try out a slow-burn kind of storytelling in a long-format project. It is an evolution that is happening in the OTT medium. We cannot be making similar types of storytelling for long. Having said this, every story has a background and not all can be slow-burns.”
On the toughest sequence that was put to execution in Kohrra, Sudip exclaims, “Every scene was tough. In terms of challenge, the climax scene was big for us. We shot that on the third day of the shoot. When you shoot the climax in the latter part, you would have got a hold of the characters. However, we shot it in the beginning. We took the actors to that point where we had to arrive later in the storytelling. We were second-guessing and were not fine-tuned for it. So this was the toughest to shoot.”
Ask him whether he expected this level of acceptance for Kohrra and he says, “Honestly, when we were writing Kohrra and filming it, I felt it will be a niche show. I thought if we make it right, it will be appreciated by the critics and a certain kind of audience. But I did not expect this sort of a reaction, with all the regular lovers liking it. There has been love pouring in from all strata of society. That has been a pleasant surprise for me.”
On the biggest takeaway from Kohrra, Sudip avers, “At the end of the day, you have to go with your gut feeling and instincts. People might say different things. But only you are aware of the larger picture. Take everything with a pinch of salt and follow what you see in a larger picture. This has been my reinforced learning from Kohrra.”
On the OTT boom and whether this will ruin the theatrical business in days to come, Sudip shares, “The OTT boom that you are talking about has already subsided. Theatres are going to be around for a while. Both mediums are trying to capture your time and eyeballs. Whether you can see a show on OTT or go to the theatre, is your option. But there will be a certain categorization that will be made on what can be suited for OTT and theatre. So that kind of storytelling will be in trend. They will have separate identities and separate fan bases over a period of time.”
Best of luck!!
