After dabbling in non-fiction all his profession, creator Nishant Nayak harboured a dream of constructing a fiction present. He says it took him and his crew nearly 5 years to convey the present to display. The Amazon Prime Video sequence Do You Wanna Companion, starring Diana Penty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Jaaved Jaaferi, Nakuul Mehta, and Shweta Tiwari, amongst others, was, he shares, a product of the pandemic. In dialog with mid-day, Nayak discusses how he and Mithun Gangopadhyay developed the concept, did intense analysis of the beer trade, and the way a lot the script modified from begin to end.
Excerpts from the interview.
What made you progress from non-fiction to fiction?
To be sincere, I haven’t moved. It was simply one thing that I needed to check out. I nonetheless work as a non-fiction director. Truly, I wrote this story as a pandemic experiment. I used to be all the time eager to direct an authentic story. [I wanted] to both do a brief movie or a long-form content material. My cinematographer [Mithun Gangopadhyay, co-creator] had written a few ideas and that is the one which I actually appreciated. So, we determined to develop it collectively. We gave ourselves a month to write down the whole story. Then we shopped it round. It took us about 9 months to get via to Dharmatic Leisure after which they acquired Amazon [Prime Video] on board. Then we arrange a writers’ room. Non-fiction continues to be very thrilling and I get pleasure from it.
Jaaved Jaaferi in ‘Do You Wanna Companion’
How lengthy did it take so that you can persuade others — producers, platforms, and actors — in regards to the story?
I used to be really concerned in narrating it to plenty of the solid earlier than we lastly went on flooring in Could final yr. But it surely took us about eight to 9 months. The entire story of those two women, who wish to enter a male-dominated trade, having to create a fictitious male associate due to the circumstances, I feel caught everybody’s ear. Initially, it was set within the US and there was a little bit of a online game element. I needed to localise it, and craft beer is one thing that we each recognized with. In all, it has taken 5 years from the time we put pen to paper to you really seeing the episode right now.
How has the response been?
We’ve been getting a blended response from outsiders and associates from the trade. I feel the entire one-liner actually appealed to everybody. Folks have appreciated that we built-in a blended solid from throughout motion pictures and tv. Folks have discovered the heightened sense of disbelief. Some individuals needed one thing just a little nearer to realism. There’s been just a little little bit of critique on that. However largely I feel individuals have actually loved seeing Diana and Tamannaah in a sequence. The truth that Jaaved Jaaferi can be again in a really endearing position [has got love]. We additionally acquired plenty of constructive response to Jaaved Jaaferi’s position. I had directed Shark Tank India, so it’s type of persevering with the entire entrepreneur cycle. The music was additionally nicely appreciated.
(L-R) Diana Penty and Tamannaah Bhatia in ‘Do You Wanna Companion’
How a lot of the unique thought modified within the 5 years?
I feel the important plot of Vikram Walia [played by Neeraj Kabi] having a connection to Tamannaah’s father’s enterprise failing, and that turning into a mission for her to see via, stayed the identical. Laila [played by Shweta Tiwari] was initially a sketchy male financier. I’m glad Shweta ended up taking part in it. Just a few small characters and turning factors modified. I’ve no regrets about what modified. It had a military of fine hearts behind it.
How did you consider teaming up Penty and Bhatia for the present?
They each got here in chilly as a result of they’re from very totally different backgrounds. Tamannaah is a large star within the trade. For Diana, it was her first OTT present. We did readings and workshops collectively. They each liked the story. And it labored
on digicam.
How a lot analysis into the beer trade did you do for the present? And the way a lot beer did you devour whereas making it?
We wanted a cool product. Initially, we had been planning to go together with video video games. Nikhil [Madhok from Amazon] has been a house brewer, and we had labored collectively earlier than. We, after all, consumed plenty of beer whereas writing it. The story of Bira was an enormous inspiration. Dharma put us in contact with a really wonderful researcher, Dipti Kharude, who knew lots of people within the beer neighborhood. In the course of the analysis, we learnt that there have been not many feminine brewers within the Indian market. Then we acquired in contact with Lynette Pires [from the Women Brewers Collective], who relies in Bengaluru. That was an fascinating perception we got here throughout. Since then there have been about six to seven feminine grasp brewers. Two of them are consultants for a number of manufacturers. The truth is, Pratik Kansara [of Rolling Mills] was the principle consulting brewer who helped us on the shoot.
Nishant Nayak’s filmography
. ‘The Traitors’
. ‘Shark Tank India’
. ‘Worry Issue’
. ‘MTV Unplugged’
. ‘Masterchef’
. ‘Coke Studio’
. ‘High Mannequin’
Within the non-fiction house
Nishant Nayak is presently getting ready to shoot the following season of ‘Shark Tank India’. “I’m additionally fiction someday subsequent yr. However now, one thing thrilling in non-fiction is going on.”