'We Don't Know India'

'I believe India is very different from Bombay, Delhi and Kolkata.'

Sooraj Barjatya enters the OTT space with Bada Naam Karenge.

Directed by Palash Vaswani of Gullak fame, the show tells the story of a small town romance.

Barjatya tells Patcy N/Rediff.com, "We are not showing youngsters who are just here to party and get into bad habits. Our youngsters are driven souls, they want to do something, they want to make the family proud."

OTT has been around for a while but you ventured only now, with Bada Naam Karenge.

We wanted to do an OTT series for some time now but the kind of stories we want to tell, especially wholesome family dramas, whenever we went to various platforms, they would tell us, 'SooraJji, this (platform) is for the younger, urban audience. This belongs to thrillers and action,' and that's very true.

Then I got a call from SonyLIV and they told us post-pandemic, there is a new audience of middle-aged and aged people, who are not too comfortable with the language and subtitles.

They said, 'We want a show which will take people out of their individual rooms and which they can watch together.'

They wanted the Hum Saath Saath Hai, Vivah audience to get on the platform.

I am grateful for this experiment because I feel there is a need for a Bharat story, a rooted, family story, which can work in the interiors, where the Rajshris actually belong.

With so much modernity, the meaning of love has changed, values have changed. Will a show with traditional values and old charm work?

We have a young crew, like Palash and (Writer) S Manasvi. The technicians are young too.

I believe India is very different from Bombay, Delhi and Kolkata.

We don't know India.

I have lived and moved in India as a director. My job is to observe.

I find youngsters are as connected to their parents as they are to their modern lives.

Our story speaks about today's kids. They have to move out of the house, go out, fit into a big city and yet remain rooted.

I don't need to look outside, I can see it in my own family.

We are not showing youngsters who are just here to party and get into bad habits.

Our youngsters are driven souls, they want to do something, they want to make the family proud.

How did Gullak Director Palash Vaswani come on board?

Because of Gullak.

The world that we show in Rajshri is a very typical one that not many people are in sync with, especially in today's scenario.

So when I saw Gullak, I felt this maker was so grounded. He was just what we wanted.

We contacted Palash and told him the story, I was so happy when he connected.

He is from Raipur, he knows this world. All credit to him that he's been able to take our world to the younger audience.

My only pitch to him was don't show youngsters who only want to party.

Let there be bholapan, and that feeling of wanting to make their families proud.

Our lead character's family is in Ratlam, Indore. They have a mithaai ki dulkan. He is restless and wants to take the franchise to Mumbai and Dubai.

Lead actors Ritik Ghanshani and Ayesha Kaduskar are fairly new while the supporting cast includes seniors like Kanwaljit Singh, Alka Amin, Rajesh Jais, Jameel Khan, Rajesh Tailang and Anjana Sukhani. Tell us about the casting process.

I was there throughout but the credit goes to Palash and our casting team at Rajshri, Rakhi Luthra and Valentyna Chopraa. They worked for six months on it.

My son Devansh, who heads the OTT platform, and I decided that we must cast a new pair.

This is a love story which requires saadghi and bholapan (simplicity and innocence).

A lot of kids were auditioned and finally, Ritik and Ayesha were chosen.

Like any Rajshri show, this is full of supporting actors.

They are experienced and such good human beings, that's where the spice comes in.

You started your career with Maine Pyaar Kiya in 1989. How would you describe your career as well as Salman Khan's who starred in it?

We have only grown in age, otherwise we are the same.

Even then, we were the elders of the family and felt responsible for everyone.

We had no airs.

You will find him sitting outside his van even today.

The AC didn't suit him then, it doesn't suit him now.

But you work a little more on yourself, understand the world a little deeper. That's part of ageing.

In an interview, you said you did not take Salman in Vivah because he looked older and not innocent. Did that upset him?

No. My relation with him is beyond cinema.

He understands that as a director, I have to go by what I want to make at that time.

When we were doing Vivah, the marketing people told me, 'Salman bhai is there, make the film with him.'

But I have never thought that I have a script and will make with Salmanbhai. It's wrong because it's not fair to him, not fair to us either.

Every director has to listen to his soul.

I tried to come up with various stories but nothing really touched me.

Vivah's story was given by my father.

When we wrote it, we realised Salmanbhai doesn't fit in.

I spoke to him and he said, 'Make a good film, that is most important.'

Shahid Kapoor had just started. He was young, there was innocence, and he fitted in.

This is the process of working, which doesn't bind me and Salmanbhai.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff.com