Chutzpah creators talk about shooting the entire show during lockdown!

Ever since SonyLIV and Maddock Outsider have launched the fascinating trailer of their highly-anticipated web show ‘Chutzpah’, it has created a sense of intrigue and excitement among the audience, wanting more!

Living up to the title, the new-age web show showcases the relevance of internet and social media in everyone’s life, which has caught the fancy of the viewers. Featuring Gen-X popular actors Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Gautam Mehra, Tanya Maniktala, Elnaaz Norouzi and Kshitij Chauhan amongst others, ‘Chutzpah’ gives a sneak peak into the digital transformation of human identity in today’s era. In short, it’s like a slice of cake, layered with 5 differently flavoured stories tied together with the fine cream called 'the internet'.

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Sharing his experience of shooting the entire show during lockdown, Simarpreet Singh explains, “We started discussing and prepping for the show with cast, costume and set designers on video calls. We did script reading sessions with the actors on video calls only wherein we had to face internet issues too. Facing this challenge, Mrighdeep sir (co-writer) and I realised that we have to be every character for them. For instance, we had to romance with Varun Sharma’s character pretending to be his girlfriend in the show played by Tanya Maniktala. The tricky one was the on-the-girl-cam kind of a story between Manjot Singh and Elnaaz Norouzi’s characters. While acting, we were the screen for these actors. Even while shooting, no one could meet anyone. But everyone worked very well just on video calls and it’s a miracle that everyone was Covid negative when I shouted wrap.”

“The challenge was also to ensure that the backdrop of each of the characters doesn’t look monotonous. There were no live locations available, either in Mumbai or Goa because of Covid. We had to build 6 massive sets for each character. To be able to build the sets and not been able to shoot there was another challenge. For example, Manoj and Elnaaz’s set were created adjacently and they were separated by a wall and that wall became a screen for the show. It was an eye-opener kind of a situation because there were so many restrictions but we still managed to pull off. All the actors never came under one roof. We started shooting for the show in October, January and February since there were location restrictions. The show has been majorly shot in Mumbai and Goa,” Simarpreet adds.

Co-writer Mrighdeep Singh Lamba informs, “Since the show talks about internet and social media, the bottom line is that we are connected yet a bit disconnected with each other. We don’t want to comment on internet being good or bad, but just want the audience to experience and relate to the stories depicted in the show. The audience will be able to resonate with the interesting characters because it actually comes from us only. The show features actors talking to their computer screens rather than talking to a person sitting next to them. Interestingly, the show got greenlit with SonyLIV online only. The show about internet was approved on internet.”

Produced by Dinesh Vijan and created and written by Amit Babbar and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba, 'Chutzpah' is directed by Simarpreet Singh. An out-and-out entertainer, ‘Chutzpah’ will premiere on SonyLIV from 23rd July.