OTT has become an exciting space, especially over the last few years. And what I like about it is how it caters to all types of content under the same roof. With having something for everyone, its latest offering is the Zee 5 original series, Mithya starring Huma Qureshi and Avantika Dassani. The show is produced by Applause Entertainment and Rose Audio Visuals. Recently, I got into a conversation with producer Goldie Behl talking about this thriller and there were some amazing insights he had to share.
But before that, check out the show’s promo here:
Read the excerpts from the interview here:
How did the idea of Mithya come about…
A story chooses you, rather than you choosing it, Applause Entertainment had acquired the rights to this British show called Cheat. They reached out to me and once I saw the series, I felt that while we have explored the student perspective a lot in my stories, very rarely have we deep dived into the mindset of the professor. There is a layer of sophistication, and I found that very interesting.
On Huma Qureshi and Avantika Dassani…
Huma was somebody I was very clear about, I wanted to see her in this role. She is such a fine actor, although I know her personally I have not seen her in this kind of a role. For this role we wanted someone with a certain amount of stature, she had that depth in her. As for Avantika, we wanted someone with no expectations, for an unpredictable character, so it was best to go for a new or semi-new face, we needed to catch the people off-guard. While we were auditioning a lot of people, we didn’t know whose daughter she was when we gave her an audition call and I have to thank Sameer Nair for spotting her from the top 3. Web-series are very collaborative unlike films.
On director Rohan Sippy…
Rohan Sippy has put in a lot of effort with the actors. We are very dear friends, it was pleasure working with him. Casting a director is also very critical in a performance oriented project like this, and the relation I share as a producer with the director is very important. Rohan has done a remarkable job.
On making thrillers…
Thrillers are the need of the hour, as a filmmaker I have not done thrillers. My films have been more emotional and dramatic, but this format allows you to go into territories where you don’t have to be fearful of trying to please everybody. With OTT content, you have to align yourself mentally in a very different kind of way. Thrillers are something that keep you hooked on a episode to episode basis, the generation watching OTT is so restless, they look at the time line of the content before they start watching it. So, that plays a certain hand in selecting content. OTT gives the democracy to express yourself in ways you have not been able to.
On the final product of Mithya…
I am very proud of the show, very satisfied with the end product. The response has been overwhelming. We have explored a new format in Mithya, the narrative is broken down in a unique format, so I am curious about how will people enjoy that.
Mithya has started streaming from today and after knowing about the process of its creation, I am totally looking forward to seeing it over the weekend.