Interview | 'Romil and Jugal' would never have passed the censors had it been a film: Nupur Asthana

After exploring the world of Television with hatke shows like Hip Hip Hurray and Mahi Way, directing two Yash Raj films (Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge and Bewakoofiyaan), Nupur Asthana has already made her maiden attempt to tap the expanse of Web Series with Romil & Jugal. The web series is a contemporary adaptation of William Shakespeare's acclaimed play Romeo and Juliet, where two boys play the romantic leads. Here, Nupur gets candid on the difference between the three mediums of filmmaking, the potential of web series, stepping out of her comfort zone and more...

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Where do you see the future of web series? Do you think it has the potential to overtake the TV audience?

Well, we’ve all seen the reach and addiction to international platforms like Netflix which have wonderful original programming of various genres of fiction series, documentaries, films, short films…Since watching something online is such an individual experience as opposed to say films or even television, various kinds of fiction/non-fiction series can be made and streamed. So yes, this medium will pull audiences towards it for sure. But TV has its own strengths. So I don’t think one can take over the other. All mediums will co-exist.

What are the things that you had to keep in mind while directing Romil and Jugal?

I was adapting Shakespeare’s classic love story, Romeo & Juliet, which is a challenge for any director. So I didn’t want to screw it up, you know! Also, I graduated in English Literature (Hons). So there was, even more, self-inflicted pressure to treat the material with the respect it deserves. On top of all that, we were turning the story on its head by making it a same-sex love story. I didn’t want to get trolled by the LGBT community if I got it wrong. These were all thoughts that were swimming in my head from time to time.

But I decided to simply go with my gut and trust my instincts on everything. And once I did that, the process became easier. My decision to treat the two boys as human beings even before their gender came into play, made it easier for me to deal with their emotions and conflicts through the show. I mean, at the end of the day, emotions are universal and they transcend gender. There was a deliberate effort to not stereotype the boys simply because they are gay.

Also neither did I want to make the series heavy-handed and pretentious nor did I want to make it simply fluffy and light weight. So it was a tough line for me to walk. There is an overriding theme of acceptance running through the show… Romil’s journey is the toughest - as a player in college in denial of his own sexuality he learns to face up to it and accept himself as a man who likes another man.

Jugal and Romil both come out to their parents at different points and the way their families journey from denial and anger and rejection to finally accepting their kids the way they are is a very important arc in the show. These individual journeys of the characters within the framework of the love story between the two boys was crucial to execute with empathy and poignancy and depth. My writers and I were clear that while this was a drama, we were going to have a layer of funny running through it strongly. So the show actually has a lot of laugh despite its seriousness and strong emotional quotient.

What difference do you find (in terms of direction and other aspects) between Movies, TV Show and a Web series?

First of all, at the writing stage, there is a huge difference in the structuring of the material. With a film, you’re pacing the narrative inexorably in a way that it peaks at the end/climax/resolution. In a series, each episode has its own little peak at the end of 20 or 40 minutes within a larger framework or arc of the entire show/season. You need to leave it at a point which induces one to move on to the next episode.

While directing, there are just too many little details that have to be remembered since I shoot location-wise not episode-wise. I actually find shooting a series more arduous, more challenging and more difficult than shooting a movie. There is more attention to detail and more time taken over a movie than a series. So in a movie, you have a little more time to reflect, correct, and execute than in a series. A series is also usually (in India) constrained by lack of budget. This needs to change.

The stakes are also very different. The fate of a film is unfortunately decided within a weekend or two… and then it’s out of theatres. But a series will keep finding new audiences because of the sheer convenience of it always being digitally available on whatever platform it’s on.

Would you be open to directing short films?

Absolutely! But only when I come up with a story that I feel can be told best in a short film.

Is light-hearted humour/comedy your genre, since your movies and shows till now are in that space?

The funny thing is that I have always considered drama to be my forte but unfortunately, I’ve been slotted as someone good with ‘youth’, light-hearted humour! I’ve directed a couple of drama mini-series in the past. But both my films have been about young people and dealt with questions of identity, the tussle between the virtual world and the real world; consumerism and it impacts on relationships today. These stories have been told in a quirky light hearted manner. So perhaps some people choose to overlook the underlying depth or drama in them and see only the romance and fun layer.

Would you like to step out of it?

I want to be able to tell all the stories in my head. And they don’t conform to a specific genre. But I’m a director who has no godfather. I write I pitch, some stories get rejected, some get greenlit, I get offered material; and because I’m a director who works not just for the sake of art but also as a means of living, I sometimes end up doing projects that I may have declined otherwise. So yes, it’s wonderful to have the power to choose only those projects that are perfect in terms of material and budgets and hopefully I’m inching there bit by bit.

Do you think no censorship on the web gives it an edge over cinema, hence topics that are a taboo or that are sensitive, can be explored better on a digital platform?

Well, we are at a stage in India where the fact that there’s no censorship is being mostly used for cuss words and sex. Hopefully, it’s changing and more and more stories will be told that can be explored better/more in detail on the digital platform. For example, Romil and Jugal could not have been made on film. It would never have passed the censors simply because of the storyline. Despite the fact that there is no nudity or any graphic scene on screen.

Are there some stories that need more than two hours to tell?

Sure. Characters and conflicts and the storyline can be fleshed out in detail and the digital long format lends itself wonderfully to it. That’s why we get hooked on to certain shows and certain characters. In India, we have various kinds of audiences who demand different kinds of entertainment. Until recently, many of us felt there was nothing for us to watch on TV, because we weren’t the audience soaps cater to. But now with the rise of digital, I’m confident we will have indigenous platforms available to us giving us content that speaks to us and draws us in.

I want to reiterate that I don’t think that any medium has an edge over another. I think that all have their individual strengths and it’s really up to viewers to choose what they want to watch and when solo or with family/friends.

What are the web series or TV series that you follow?

I’m waiting for the next season of The Crown, Game of Thrones and am starting on the new season of House of Cards next week.

What are your next projects after Romil and Jugal?

I’m working on a film script, another series ….let's see what gets green-lit first!