Raj Kumar Hirani: OTT cinema jaisa nahi hai par hai mazedaar
Raj Kumar Hirani says he didn’t intend to make a series or to make a series about cybercrime. However, during the pandemic, he read about a lot of incidents and became fascinated by the world of cybercrime.
He spoke to cybercrime officials and hackers in Mumbai and Delhi. And he felt that this material couldn't be contained within the duration of a film. That realisation led to Pritam and Pedro , his first series and his debut on streaming which he didn't direct. Months after its release, and now working on the second season, Raj Kumar Hirani admits he’s still a little paranoid about opening his mails.
In a recent conversation, Raj Kumar Hirani spoke about the world of cybercrime, and about what streaming taught him.
Ab samajh aaya OTT alag hai, cinema jaisa nahi hai. Par hai mazedaar!
Raj Kumar Hirani says that now he feels more equipped to work in OTT.
He shares,“Cinema mein itna depth mein nahi ja sakte kisi character ke andar. Do ghante mein, 2.5 ghante mein kahani kehni hoti hai. We compress the story a lot. While writing as well, we compress a lot - this scene can’t go in, so many pages. Here, in a series, we have the opportunity to go in depth. Aap khol sakte ho characters ki life. Yeh ek alag world hai. Alag dhang se bolni parti hai kahani yahan. I also found that in every episode you have to create some dynamic thing to keep people hooked.”
He says the process changed how he thinks about writing. “Likhte-likhte samajh aaya. Ab likhne ke baad aur (response) dekhne ke baad samajh aaya - in a way I’m better equipped now to do something better on OTT. Ab samajh aaya ki alag hai, cinema jaisa nahi hai. Par hai mazedaar! Kai kahaniyaan jo hum wahan nahi keh sakte, definitely yahan keh sakte hain.”
He also got feedback that the series never derails, which usually happens in longform storytelling. He shares,“Woh hua kyunki hamari cinema ki training thi. Main koshish kar raha tha ki main usko tight rakhoon, aur sab mujhse keh rahe thay - khol dete hain tracks, lamba-lamba rakh sakte hain. Par hamari training cinema ki hai toh lagta hai kyun khol rahe hain usko? Details mein batao, lekin dramatic nahi hai toh mat kholo tracks. I really kept it very tight. Tha bhi lamba, par mujhe laga yahan bore ho jayenge toh main kaatta gaya. Bahut kaata.Bade pyaar mohabbat se ban gayi woh series. Maza aa gaya,” he says, laughing.
'Every project that I start begins with a fascination to understand that world'
Hirani says every project of his begins with a fascination. “If it’s Three Idiots, then I am like - we should show college life, kahani bahut mazedaar hogi. For Munna Bhai, the concept was: what if an older guy goes to a medical school! So it’s a small trigger through which we jump into that world. PK was about religion, and in this series, the trigger was cybercrime. There is no clear-cut objective. And then you learn that world. Ab toh main mail bhi dar-dar ke kholta hoon,” he laughs.
He explains,“Finally, stories are of characters and their world. Like PK was of religion and God, and this was of cybercrime - but it is personal story of two characters. Humne educate karne ke hisaab se nahi banaya, par research strong hoti hai toh woh cheezein uske andar aa jati hain. Nahi toh surface pe hi reh jaati hai kahani.”
'If people don’t like something, aapka phone band ho chuka hota hai'
Hirani says the feedback for this show is unlike anything he experienced with films. “Whether film or show - one thing is numbers. In cinema you get to know via box office, and here you get to know by the number of views. Second is people’s reactions. If they don’t like something, aapka phone band ho chuka hota hai. Koi response nahi aata hai. Ya bahut courteous - nice, itna sa aa jayega ek message, ek smiley aa jayega. Kisi ko lagta hai isko bolna zaroori hai. You have to read between the lines and understand ye kaisa response raha.”
This time, the response surprised him. “Very strangely, none of my films got me these reactions. I got reactions from people I haven’t heard from in ages. Kahan kahan se gaon se hamare log message kar rahe hain. I think maybe it’s because it’s available immediately, everywhere, at the same time. I was totally shocked, ye ho kya raha hai. And that made me realise the power of OTT. Reach of OTT is- woh aapke ghar mein ghuss jata hai,” he says, laughing, “aur aapko ticket nahi lena parta.”
He adds,"Till now, the crimes we used to see were really hardcore - on-ground crime and on-ground investigation, like Sherlock Holmes. But cybercrime is a different world, where most crimes are committed by phones and solved by phones."
Avinash Arun directed the series
For the first time, Hirani didn’t direct his own script. Pritam Pedro was helmed by Avinash Arun, known for Paatal Lok. “I had written it. I know Avinash’s work. Mujhe laga Avinash will do it well. Aisa nahi hai ki main pura disconnect ho gaya tha - likha tha maine, aur phir editing bhi maine khud ki thi. Maine kisi ko nahi diya. Editing is also like you write and rewrite - maine kaafi waqt bitaya hai ispe. But of course, unless you have a good actor and a good director, it can go anywhere. So you have to be on the same page. I think I got lucky with Avinash doing it.”
Who wins creative disagreements? He says there usually aren’t any. “It’s a unanimous call. Ya toh main usko convince kar leta hoon, ya woh mujhe convince kar leta hai. Nahi toh kar ke dekh lete hain — kuch logon ko dikha lo, unke reactions mil jaate hain. Aisa conflict nahi hota hai kabhi. You arrive at a decision.”
Raj Kumar Hirani's son Vir Hirani was not part of the series initially
The six-episode series follows a tech-averse Goa police officer who teams up with a young hacker to solve cybercrimes. Hirani researched the roles by speaking not only to cybercrime officials but to hackers themselves. Arshad Warsi was cast first as the officer. “Arshad is such a fantastic actor. We were working together after so long, so it was good fun,” Hirani says.
Casting the hacker was less straightforward. Raj Kumar Hirani's son Vir Hirani plays the role of hacker. He shares, “Veer was not supposed to do the series at all. He always wanted to do films, and I also had this in mind that he will do a film. Mere paas bhi koi subject tha nahi jo uss age ka ho, toh maine kaha, tum dekho bahar - you read scripts, do auditions. And he was doing it.”
Vir heard the show was being made and approached the producer himself. He auditioned, and it was director Avinash Arun who suggested casting him. “We can take him because the age gap would be very interesting - a senior police officer and a young hacker,” Avinash Arun told Hirani.
Hirani says,“Earlier we were looking for people who were not as young.Luckily, now it has done extremely well and it is the most-watched show. He is also getting a lot of appreciation.”
He spoke to cybercrime officials and hackers in Mumbai and Delhi. And he felt that this material couldn't be contained within the duration of a film. That realisation led to Pritam and Pedro , his first series and his debut on streaming which he didn't direct. Months after its release, and now working on the second season, Raj Kumar Hirani admits he’s still a little paranoid about opening his mails.
In a recent conversation, Raj Kumar Hirani spoke about the world of cybercrime, and about what streaming taught him.
Ab samajh aaya OTT alag hai, cinema jaisa nahi hai. Par hai mazedaar!
Raj Kumar Hirani says that now he feels more equipped to work in OTT.
He shares,“Cinema mein itna depth mein nahi ja sakte kisi character ke andar. Do ghante mein, 2.5 ghante mein kahani kehni hoti hai. We compress the story a lot. While writing as well, we compress a lot - this scene can’t go in, so many pages. Here, in a series, we have the opportunity to go in depth. Aap khol sakte ho characters ki life. Yeh ek alag world hai. Alag dhang se bolni parti hai kahani yahan. I also found that in every episode you have to create some dynamic thing to keep people hooked.”
He says the process changed how he thinks about writing. “Likhte-likhte samajh aaya. Ab likhne ke baad aur (response) dekhne ke baad samajh aaya - in a way I’m better equipped now to do something better on OTT. Ab samajh aaya ki alag hai, cinema jaisa nahi hai. Par hai mazedaar! Kai kahaniyaan jo hum wahan nahi keh sakte, definitely yahan keh sakte hain.”
He also got feedback that the series never derails, which usually happens in longform storytelling. He shares,“Woh hua kyunki hamari cinema ki training thi. Main koshish kar raha tha ki main usko tight rakhoon, aur sab mujhse keh rahe thay - khol dete hain tracks, lamba-lamba rakh sakte hain. Par hamari training cinema ki hai toh lagta hai kyun khol rahe hain usko? Details mein batao, lekin dramatic nahi hai toh mat kholo tracks. I really kept it very tight. Tha bhi lamba, par mujhe laga yahan bore ho jayenge toh main kaatta gaya. Bahut kaata.Bade pyaar mohabbat se ban gayi woh series. Maza aa gaya,” he says, laughing.
'Every project that I start begins with a fascination to understand that world'
Hirani says every project of his begins with a fascination. “If it’s Three Idiots, then I am like - we should show college life, kahani bahut mazedaar hogi. For Munna Bhai, the concept was: what if an older guy goes to a medical school! So it’s a small trigger through which we jump into that world. PK was about religion, and in this series, the trigger was cybercrime. There is no clear-cut objective. And then you learn that world. Ab toh main mail bhi dar-dar ke kholta hoon,” he laughs.
He explains,“Finally, stories are of characters and their world. Like PK was of religion and God, and this was of cybercrime - but it is personal story of two characters. Humne educate karne ke hisaab se nahi banaya, par research strong hoti hai toh woh cheezein uske andar aa jati hain. Nahi toh surface pe hi reh jaati hai kahani.”
'If people don’t like something, aapka phone band ho chuka hota hai'
Hirani says the feedback for this show is unlike anything he experienced with films. “Whether film or show - one thing is numbers. In cinema you get to know via box office, and here you get to know by the number of views. Second is people’s reactions. If they don’t like something, aapka phone band ho chuka hota hai. Koi response nahi aata hai. Ya bahut courteous - nice, itna sa aa jayega ek message, ek smiley aa jayega. Kisi ko lagta hai isko bolna zaroori hai. You have to read between the lines and understand ye kaisa response raha.”
This time, the response surprised him. “Very strangely, none of my films got me these reactions. I got reactions from people I haven’t heard from in ages. Kahan kahan se gaon se hamare log message kar rahe hain. I think maybe it’s because it’s available immediately, everywhere, at the same time. I was totally shocked, ye ho kya raha hai. And that made me realise the power of OTT. Reach of OTT is- woh aapke ghar mein ghuss jata hai,” he says, laughing, “aur aapko ticket nahi lena parta.”
He adds,"Till now, the crimes we used to see were really hardcore - on-ground crime and on-ground investigation, like Sherlock Holmes. But cybercrime is a different world, where most crimes are committed by phones and solved by phones."
Avinash Arun directed the series
For the first time, Hirani didn’t direct his own script. Pritam Pedro was helmed by Avinash Arun, known for Paatal Lok. “I had written it. I know Avinash’s work. Mujhe laga Avinash will do it well. Aisa nahi hai ki main pura disconnect ho gaya tha - likha tha maine, aur phir editing bhi maine khud ki thi. Maine kisi ko nahi diya. Editing is also like you write and rewrite - maine kaafi waqt bitaya hai ispe. But of course, unless you have a good actor and a good director, it can go anywhere. So you have to be on the same page. I think I got lucky with Avinash doing it.”
Who wins creative disagreements? He says there usually aren’t any. “It’s a unanimous call. Ya toh main usko convince kar leta hoon, ya woh mujhe convince kar leta hai. Nahi toh kar ke dekh lete hain — kuch logon ko dikha lo, unke reactions mil jaate hain. Aisa conflict nahi hota hai kabhi. You arrive at a decision.”
Raj Kumar Hirani's son Vir Hirani was not part of the series initially
The six-episode series follows a tech-averse Goa police officer who teams up with a young hacker to solve cybercrimes. Hirani researched the roles by speaking not only to cybercrime officials but to hackers themselves. Arshad Warsi was cast first as the officer. “Arshad is such a fantastic actor. We were working together after so long, so it was good fun,” Hirani says.
Casting the hacker was less straightforward. Raj Kumar Hirani's son Vir Hirani plays the role of hacker. He shares, “Veer was not supposed to do the series at all. He always wanted to do films, and I also had this in mind that he will do a film. Mere paas bhi koi subject tha nahi jo uss age ka ho, toh maine kaha, tum dekho bahar - you read scripts, do auditions. And he was doing it.”
Vir heard the show was being made and approached the producer himself. He auditioned, and it was director Avinash Arun who suggested casting him. “We can take him because the age gap would be very interesting - a senior police officer and a young hacker,” Avinash Arun told Hirani.
Hirani says,“Earlier we were looking for people who were not as young.Luckily, now it has done extremely well and it is the most-watched show. He is also getting a lot of appreciation.”
Next Story