Writers Raj and DK, and actor Gulshan Devaiah, actress Sayami Kher are not as serious as they are made out to be. Often times we wrongly equate brilliance with seriousness. The team got together for a web film, Unpaused, Gitch which is all set to release on Amazon Prime Video. All of them were at their casual best, cracking pathetic jokes, and laughing at the silliness of their own answers. Watch the video attached in this story to understand the candidness of the conversation. The transcript has been filed below.
Raj and DK, the duo has set a new standard for cinema, web content with Stree and The Family Man. You cannot come down. How does it feel like with Unpaused?
(One of them crosses finger) I hope we don't go down, I hope we are going up.
Oh you can NOT go down now, you know..
We are trying hard not to.. you know. We took that thought our initially in our career, saying that let us not worry about which way we are going to go, because there's no way we can make one film on Zombies, or a feminist ghost or a vada pav eating secret agent, or a Glitch that is a short film, we are going to stick very hard to the argue that cannot worry about which way can we go.
So why did you choose the name Unpaused, when for as many as three months we were in a paused mode.
Three months, I think it was six months,.. I thought it is a great idea to do something quick and small, and pull out something in these times, it was a challenge as a filmmaker,.. so yeah I thought as film makers we can only be quiet for some time, so the idea was to make something out of, so many restrictions, and put a smile on people's faces, so that was our effort in wanting to make Glitch.
As an actress you have established yourself in the alternative paradigm (of the Hindi cinema), that too in 2020 you have been relevant due to releases such as Choked, Breathed and now Unpaused. when most of the work was on hold. Do you feel pressurised?
Saiyami Kher: I'm someone who never really feels the pressure because I mean even if the films are not doing well, (these concerns) do not put pressure on me, I continue my work as an artist, to kind of find my esteem, whatever comes to me I try to put my best to it, so I have been a great admirer of Raj an DK's work and Gulshan's work, so just collaborating with these names was very exciting because everyone who is working towards a correct direction and on set it was a lot of fun there was Pankaj who was our Director or Photography, who is somebody we had loved because he shot Tumbaad so it was just a team that I really wanted to work with and about the character in Glitch it is not too much is out in the trailer but it was a character which I really wanted to play because she learns this extra curricular skill which you will learn once you watch the film and as an actor I really wanted to play this character at least once in my life so I'm very glad that it has come so early. So just exciting times and looking forward to doing more interesting things like this.
To Gulshan Deviyah: What prompted you to take this role?
Gulshan: Two things, I'm a fan of Raj and DK's work, and secondly they sent me a script which was unputdownable, I could not say, I would regret having said no to it was really so (good), I enjoyed reading it I was acting it out while reading it, it really just got me.... out of bed.
(laughs in a casual manner)
Laughs.. so the entire lockdown time you were in bed
Yeah, so you understand what I was saying right, you know I was all so, I was shooting in Rajasthan we had to pack up and everybody was sent home and there was uncertainty, and I was very prepared for it, and I was like I'm not going to do anything until and unless everything is back to normal and then we can work. In the midst of all this.. I mean nobody was working and then Raj and DK called it was amazing. I was surprised by the call. I wasn't surprised but then I thought let me have a look at it. I'm really glad that finally, we got to work with each other, I really get a lot of their films and I really enjoy their sensibility and I'm very glad that I could finally be a part of their works.
To Gulshan and Saiyami: You two were shooting in an empty bar. In lockdown, everything was shut down and you two were shooting in an empty bar, would you describe the experience.
Gulshan: Well, we pretended like nobody was there, because there was a camera, the camera crew, our assistants and people from the production house, it is our job to create the illusion no? About things that are there and not there. Hopefully we both have done a good job in that.
Krishna DK: There's a reason why the bar is empty, once you watch the film you will know.
Saiyami: As he said, there's a reason why the bar is empty the context is a little different which you will understand once you watch but just getting back on sets was so exciting because it was an eight months pause, so I'm just glad that we managed to unpause and get back on screen, facing a camera, all the excitement of doing a new project because of the long break.
Do you guys ever suffer from writer's block, creativity block? Since you weren't meeting any characters as actors were you facing any challenges?
Gulshan: Me, no..not so much , in the beginning, (this is for the actors right), I was shooting for something I didn't get closure and we couldn't finish the film for that, so I was a bit frustrated about that, but that was only the first week or so. Then I was like okay let's go with the flow because the whole world is in this situation so I can't whine about it. So then I just got comfortable with the situation and I decided to sit this one off like the rest of it. That was the situation I was in, I wasn't really expecting to get back to work until everything was normal, because I didn't really know when everything will be okay so I was as confused as everybody else. So I was keeping myself busy with things I do, being alone being with myself. So I'm an only child, the advantage of being an only child is that you know what to do with yourself.
Saiyami: For me actually it was an exiciting year because I had three releases,
(It was around this time, a young girl made a cameo in DK's web window, everyone started waving at her)
So it was a year where I was dying to get back to the team of Choked and celebrate because we didn't meet during the lockdown, so just small things like that where you want to spend time with people you worked with, but besides that like Gulshan said this was the time when I used to kind of gather with a few of my friends and we used to read plays and scripts together on Zoom but it was not fun because I'm somebody who likes to...even though I'm not very social, I like my five-six people and like to collaborate with them in whatever way possible so I definitely miss that and I mean I also wish we were not doing this over zoom right now. (smiles and waves at the little girl who appears on DK's screen.)
This is what I love about lockdown interviews... so what I was asking to the writers, do you suffer from the fear of writer's block?
Krishna: It was the contrary actually, I think, see, beginning of the year we realised that we have so much to do right? In the process of development, we had so many shows planned and we were continuously writing and when the lockdown started I think I can speak for Raj and me both and suddenly we were like okay this is giving us both a nice window to catch up and we can finish up all the writings we were supposed to do and we started doing that. That was for the first month or two months or so and that's when we started realising oh we are writing, writing writing, when are we actually going to make these stuff.
None of you were procrastinating?
DK: No no we were actually making use of the time and suddenly we were like three weeks you cannot do anything but sit at home so this is the time to finish all the writings.
Raj: Yeah, we got our structure for the day, after the first month of moping and feeling bad and all that but we got out of it, for me it got me a great structure. I mean there was a fear impending, gloom all around, but you have to begin and try and make yourself secure, and now there was a structure. I used to get up early and do all the stuff, write a lot and we wrote a hell of it.
So how did you all manage to co-ordinate during a lockdown?
Raj: That is on the set, we put it on the set. Like this, we had a couple of zoom calls,
Gulshan: (Sings)...zoom zoom zoom, I want you in my room.(Laughs) Calls, emails,text messages and video chats
Krishna: Once the pandemic and all is over I dont know if I will actually go and meet my actors anymore I'll just do this...(laughs) I dont know. Feels a lot easier.
Gulshan: And more precise. No chai chaiye, coffee chaiye kya loge, and all that.
Oh god, you guys are so serious (about your work) I have been procrastinating for the longest time.
Gulshan: I don't know what kind of work, you do, but I'm talking about our kind of work.
So Gulshan, you know since you have set a standard if you make a different choice people will be like why did he choose something like this.
That's already happened. I have done a couple of films where people have said, what the hell are you doing. My answer is that everybody has the right to make mistakes and it's like you know it's an experiment sometimes you get it right sometimes you get it wrong, and I dont want to take pressure that other people put on my head, it's not their fault if people have expectations from me I'm really glad that they do, because they really like me they love my work and very appreciative of the work that I have. I'm not going to let that be a pressure in my head, if I have to break the shackles and try something new maybe I will discover something and people will like that. That's exactly what I'm trying to do there's absolutely no pressure, I will make mistakes and hope that people will forget them quickly and remember the good side.
