I Think We Are Sitting on a Story-reserve That Will Never Get Over: Oni Sen

Asur 2 is one of the highly acclaimed web series which garnered record views on the OTT platform. In an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle, Asur 2 director Oni Sen talks about what went into the making of the most talked about show.

How did you come up with a thriller plot based on mythology?

The idea of Asur came from Gaurav Shukla (the creator and writer). He had written the story a long while back and I got involved in it when he had written most of Season 1.

What had appealed to me about the story was that the story intertwined the worlds of Forensic science, Mythology and Human Drama seamlessly, and the fact that Mythology was embedded into the narrative, and not just a forceful juxtaposition. And yet, at the core of it, it was a human drama.

Gaurav and I worked together on the screenplay thereafter, streamlining the structure and strengthening the human narrative.

The character of Shubh Joshi is being much talked about. However, he's not the stereotypical baddie. How did you sketch that?

Shubh Joshi is a character of contradiction. In the beginning of Season 1, I thought a lot about how to depict Shubh. He is meant to be a ‘villain’. But how can we feel for him… understand him… make him someone who stays in our head.
There was something I had written for him as a character trait… Shubh creates a storm, but he is static inside.

That was the inspiration. He is calm and gentle in his demeanour. Never raises his voice… there is a sense of monotony in the way he speaks. There is never a flutter. His eyes are still and never waivers. But he creates a storm and chaos all around him.

That was the magical bit about Shubh.

The other thing about him was his honesty. He was not trying to trick anyone … he believed in something (however delusional it may be) and acted honestly based on that. Those are the traits that helped me give Shubh a distinct presence in the narrative, much beyond a stereotypical baddie.

How about Anant and Atharv?

I wanted Anant to be a classic enlightened boy. The image I had mind was that of Bhakt Prahlad in an Amar Chitra Katha comic book that I read as a child. Big beautiful eyes… and air of serenity around him… a smile in his calm eyes and calmness in his voice.
And then we found Atharv after a lot of searching, and he was just perfect. Atharv and I did a lot of work together to get the tonality of Anant correct. And it worked beautifully.

How was it working with Arshad Warsi?

Before Asur, I had never worked with Arshad Warsi. I loved his work, of course. And as we all know, he was popular for a specific genre of work, which was humour. And his character in Asur was of a different polarity… it was dark, brooding and intense.

It was amazing to see Arshad get into DJ’s character effortlessly.
He would bring on the intensity on screen like a switch. In Season 2, his character moves from a zone of void and helplessness to that of vicious and vindictive aggression. He was again effortless in doing that. It was a pleasure working with him.

Did you expect this kind of success when you started work on the project?

Asur 1 was quite a unique concept. A psychological thriller rooted in the core of Indian mythology. A story intertwines the worlds of Forensic Science, Mythology and Human Drama. I was not sure how the viewers would react to a story like this. But the response was quite amazing. This was also during the initial days of OTT in India. While we knew Asur would surely be noticed as unique… the immense popularity did take us by surprise. And it was a pleasant surprise of course.

Did you feel any pressure in the making of the sequel because the first part was a runaway hit?

For any film/show where the First part/season becomes popular and appreciated, the Second one always becomes challenging. The expectations from the viewers are always very high. For us, Asur was the same. The First season became very popular and a lot of viewers were eagerly awaiting the Second Season. And we were very keen not to disappoint them. The narrative scope and the scale of Asur 2 is different from Asur 1. It is bigger, more complex and deals with a lot more characters. Therefore, yes, we were under some amount of pressure. However, I am so glad it was loved and appreciated by so many people.

Do you think the style of storytelling can impact the fortunes of a show?

Totally. The core strength of any show is the story and the way the story is narrated. We know that from our daily experience. There are people I know can hold our attention for a long time while narrating their story, and some who cannot.

And there is no ‘one way’ for this. If we look at all the shows that have been successful and we love, we will probably realise the reason for their success is not in the execution/production value/casting etc (while those must be fantastic as well)… The secret to their success lies in the way they tell their story. How they connect with the viewer… keep them engaged, entertained and excited. And it is not about always keeping the viewer on the edge. It is about making them feel a part of the narrative and relate to it (however outlandish the story might be). If one looks at two of my favourite shows (which are successful as well)… Ted Lasso and Money Heist Season 1… one would know what we are talking about. They are radically different from each other in terms of mood, story content and style of storytelling. But both work so beautifully... because both focus on the storytelling first and the rest thereafter.

Could you tell us about your favourite scenes from the series?

The most beautiful scenes for me, are the ones where one can make the viewer feel the most subtle emotions very deeply. It is not an easy task for the actors and the director. And the times when it works it is magical. There are two scenes in Asur 2 where I felt that happening when we were shooting it.

The first one was an interaction between Nikhil and Rasul in the interrogation room. Nikhil, who is furious with Rasul and wants to kill him, is standing behind a one-sided glass panel from where he can see Rasul, but Rasul cannot see him. The scene has no dialogues. It is one man staring at the other. And while Rasul is being stared at, he is seemingly oblivious to it and keeps looking ahead calmly. But there is a moment he slowly turns towards the direction of Nikhil (as if he can feel his presence) and smiles. No words… no eye contact… but that scene did for me what it was meant to do. The second one is the cold-open of the last episode where Shubh goes to meet his grandfather. That scene managed to walk through so many emotions… anger, hatred, love, warmth, affection, violence, regret, remorse… all in the span of a few minutes and with two men (one sitting and one lying down) in one room. Truly one of my favourite scenes.

Is it hard to keep the curiosity alive throughout the series, how did you manage that?

A story for me is never only about the events. It is about the journey of the characters who go through these events. In any story, the complexity or novelty of the events excite us only momentarily. When it draws us into the narrative, makes us connect, believe and empathise, is the human story. And that is what keeps the ‘curiosity and engagement’ alive.

I always ask myself,"How do I make people believe in these characters? And empathise with them? And identify with their triumphs and their losses at a personal level?”

During the making of Asur (both seasons) Gaurav and I had long discussions on this aspect. The trick was… how do we find that balance between emotion & pace… how can we keep the viewer on the edge but at the same time make them feel the emotions the characters are going through.

A lot of these were sorted during the writing process, and the rest while staging the scenes with the actors. I believe that in order to get the human dynamics right in a film, one has to make the actors feel the emotions and be the character. I had an amazing bunch of actors who were extremely invested in the narrative and made our work much easier.

And finally, a lot was achieved by our editor, Charu. She meticulously made sense of the complex narrative and found the right balance between emotional journey and the narrative chaos of the show.
And I think it is this balance that kept the ‘curiosity and engagement’ alive.

Even though filmmakers have run out of ideas and resorting to remakes, do you think there's still a lot of inspiration we can take from mythology?

India is an amazing country for many things… ‘stories’ is one of them. Every part of India has its own literature, stories, myths, folk-tales. I think we are sitting on a ‘story-reserve’ that will never get over. The Indian mythology is similar… it is vast… diverse… changes form and tonality in different parts of the country. One of the fascinating things about Indian Mythology is that it works in layers. You can read it simply as ‘children’s stories’… and once you go beyond the surface level it becomes deeper… more soulful… sometimes darker.
So, yes, I think there is still a lot of inspiration one can take from Indian Mythology.

Given the current social climate, were there concerns about potential backlash? Were any efforts made to censor or filter the content to avoid offending anyone's sentiments?

Well… Not really, because ours was a thriller and a human drama where there was no reference to any religion. There were only references to some stories from Indian Mythology. However one still made sure anything that was mentioned from the Mythology was researched thoroughly and it would not offend anyone. There were teams who looked into this.

When the content is good, the chances of piracy is that much higher as people get restless.

Well, historically, piracy has not only been about good content. Post 1990’s, piracy of films has been on the rise. I don’t think one can justify piracy by saying ‘the content is good’ or ‘people are restless’. Because piracy hurts the industry and the people who put in immense effort to create the content in a big way.

Has OTT opened up doors for filmmakers to experiment?

I think it has. The economics of Theatrical and OTT are very different. And that does allow makers to experiment with the content… the kind of narrative and style of storytelling.

Is Asur 3 on cards?

Gaurav and I are very clear that we will do Season 3 only if we get a fantastic idea. After Season 1, we all knew that a Season 2 was inevitable, but now just because this season is a massive hit, it doesn't mean we must continue.
I think another season will come only when we find a story that is exceptional, and is worth dedicating a couple of years of our life.

What next after Asur?

I love human stories… and that I was I will be working on in my next projects. There are a few projects that I'm currently working on.
A human drama/thriller set in Benaras; a story that moves between Japan and Chennai; and a psychological drama set in the Sunderbans. These projects are being developed and in the process of being pitched.