“We want to explore dark comedies, romantic comedies, great period pieces”

Amidst the pandemic, during which all shooting came to a standstill, Bodhitree Multimedia came up with the story and vision for ‘The Gone Game’ – a murder mystery with the pandemic as the backdrop. They roped Nikhil Nagesh as the director. This happens to be India’s first show that has been shot from beginning to end during the lockdown period, with the team and the actors meeting only virtually. 

The series stars Sanjay Kapoor, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Arjun Mathur, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rushkar Rehman, Lubna Salim and a few more.

In conversation with Adgully, Sukesh Motwani, Founder and Director, Bodhitree and Mautik Tolia, Director, Bodhitree, speak shooting a series with a lot of COVID restrictions, OTT content consumption during the lockdown, and more.

How did Bodhitree conceptualise the story plot for ‘The Gone Game’ amid the pandemic?

Sukesh Motwani: It is a thriller about a large family during the lockdown. The family gets a jolt when a major character gets affected by COVID-19, which in turn unravels into a thriller with dramatic turn of events. The inspiration for this idea came to us because we wanted to explore the ‘what if’ – a dysfunctional yet closely knit family scattered all over the country are faced with a huge crisis. However, this pandemic sets the background for this crisis and acts as a catalyst. 

The web series will primarily be promoted across all mediums by Voot. 

How was the casting done for the web series? Were there virtual auditions or you had these actors specifically in mind?

Sukesh Motwani: Mautik Tolia, Persis Siganporia and I spent considerable amount of time on choosing the actors who would do justice to the roles, and at the same time keeping in mind and comprehending the limitations that we were faced with during the lockdown. After much consideration, along with the director’s help, we narrowed down on our actors and we must say that each one has done a fabulous job in ‘The Gone Game’. 

With the actors performing from their own homes, could you elaborate on how the shooting was done? What were the challenges faced? Directing the cast remotely? Dubbing, music, editing – how were the various aspects of the production handled while working remotely?

Sukesh Motwani: It was a challenge from the word go. However, we had great team camaraderie and every one chipped in with their expertise. We held numerous workshops and rehearsals so that our actors were prepared when we finally started shooting. Our creative producer Persis, director Nikhil and Our DoP Piyush Puty helped the actors choose a location in their homes, create a block, light it and act in it. We were also constantly monitoring the progress via video calls and we used a few professional apps also. 

What are your observations on the OTT content consumption during the lockdown period? What genres saw the maximum traction?

Mautik Tolia: OTT consumption has gone up across all genres and more than that, a lot of traditional viewers have developed habit of non-linear streaming and are discovering older shows for the first time.

Sukesh Motwani: OTT consumption has definitely seen a spike. The audience is more aware of the various choices available to them. They are more discerning and demand to see quality productions which are engaging and topical. They are also exposed to also high budget international content. So, Indian content is truly striving in a good competitive way to serve these needs. 

What do you see as the film/ web/ TV shooting SOPs in the new normal? How will they impact the making of fresh content as well as budgets?

Mautik Tolia: Shootings have commenced more than a month back now, and with new SOPs in place, precautions are being taken across all sets to embrace the new normal. The volume of fresh content is lesser, but over a period of next 2-3 months things will slowly get back to normal volume of content. The budgets will see an increase to factor in costs incurred due to COVID measures.

Going forward, what will be the way ahead for Bodhitree? Are there some new areas that you are looking to foray into?

Sukesh Motwani: For us, dark comedies and romantic comedies and great period pieces are the next set of genres, apart from thrillers and dramatic shows.