"People today are hungry for good and different kinds of content"

Watching the film ‘Vadh’, which released on December 9, 2022, one might be reminded of ‘Drishyam’ and that excellent web series, ‘Tabbar’. A killing at the heat of the moment forms the core and there is a lot of moral ambiguity around that incident. The perpetrator is not a criminal, hence the audience is invested in how he struggles to get out of the terrible situation he finds himself in.

Many might say that ‘Vadh’ justifies a murder, but the events leading up to that incident leaves a lot of grey areas. Without any A-list stars, veteran actors Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta ably carry the film on their shoulders as the elderly married couple struggling with financial problems, an ingrate son and a goon that torments them regularly.

Written by Diwakar Kumar, ‘Vadh’ is directed by Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal. The film is presented by Luv Films’ Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg and produced by J Studio and Next Level Productions.

Adgully spoke to the director duo of ‘Vadh’ – Jaspal Singh Sandhu and Rajeev Barnwal – to know more about the making of the film, the huger for good stories, the changing dynamics of the entertainment industry in the post-pandemic times, and more.

These are edited excerpts. For the complete interaction, watch below:

How has the year 2022 been for the overall entertainment ecosystem in India?

Jaspal Singh Sandhu: 2022 has been a very rough ride. There have been some really good as well as not so good moments. Post-Covid, the dynamics have been changed because there has been the growing influence of OTT. Earlier, the Box Office was an entity in itself, but now it the shift has been in favour of OTT. People are preferring to stay at home. However, if the product is good, they will definitely go to the theatre to watch it. The bottomline is people now have choices.

Rajeev Barnwal: The dynamics have changed and people can choose whether to go to the theatre or watch content on their phone or iPad. I feel people will still go and watch a film in the theatre if a good story is told. Watching a film in a theatre is a different experience all together. We as filmmakers work on that a lot – the proper sound effects, the cinematography, and the proper feel to make the audience feel like a part of the story. You obviously don’t get tat kind of an experience on the small phone screen.

2022 has been a challenging year, but we saw a lot of good content work. Good films were made and people did go to the theatres to see them – so, it’s a mixed thing. I think gradually good stories will gain and survive and bring the audience back to the theatres. There are all kinds of audiences today. People may watch a film in the theatre and then binge on it on OTT.

While writing a story, what do you prefer more:  A realistic pinch or a made-up dish from your imagination?

Jaspal Singh Sandhu: Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. In ‘Vadh’, we wanted to capture the lead characters and the situation they find themselves in a very realistic way on the screen. I think we have been able to do that successfully.

Rajeev Barnwal: We wanted to tell the story with honesty. We wanted to project the story and the screenplay that we wrote as real as possible. If you see the film, you feel that you can connect with the characters and their plight and their pain. You will even sympathise with them. ‘Vadh’s screenplay and story include the Navras of life. We have tried to achieve all of this in the thriller and deeply emotional drama that is ‘Vadh’.

What are the key trends that you see dominating M&E in 2023? How do you see them impacting this industry?

Jaspal Singh Sandhu: Nowadays, we are seeing good content cinema and not mega movie stars that are pulling the crowd to the theatres. Take ‘Kantara’, for example, how it has been able to pull the audiences to the theatre with the strong story and acting. There is no pause button in the theatre, so nobody can interrupt your viewing. Hence, I feel that in 2023 good content and good acting performances will be able to pull people back to the theatres.

Rajeev Barnwal: People today are hungry for good and different kinds of content. Entertainment will always work. ‘Kantara’ was a good commercial movie, but now people want more. However, it is not like no matter what you serve them, they will accept it. So, the condition is that if the audience comes to the theatre, they should be mesmerised with the content till the end.

People have vast options today and there is a lot of good content out there on OTT. Very often short films are also a good hit. People watch them on a large scale. Therefore, regardless of the duration or the format, the storytelling should be beautiful. That is what people want.