Karan AnshumanWeb Star

The creator of the iconic Mirzapur and Inside Edge series tells Sumita Chakraborty why he dared to risk his filmi career to create web-series before anybody else had thought of it in India.

He is the one who is actually the pioneer of the web-series revolution in India. The creator of Inside Edge and Mirzapur, Karan Anshuman is indeed the enfant terrible of the film industry – the passionate film

Klove who dared to try out something

different. Guess what, the risk he took paid off, And, how! Read on as Karan Anshuman talks about pioneering the web era, films and more.

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You are the chosen one… the pioneer who kick-started the digital wave way back in 2014… What prompted you to step into this medium? Did you foresee it becoming so big in the future?

I’ve always enjoyed good international television. Given the two-and-a-half-hour time constraint, most films these days whittled down to formula; however, new age television courtesy Amazon Prime, HBO, and Netflix has reinvented story-telling with deeper characters and extended story arcs. Some of the best Hollywood talent including actors and writers in Hollywood have transitioned from films to produce cutting edge content here. By 2014, with the traditional barriers removed and with no pressure of box office numbers, streaming giants have given creators a platform open to innovation and disruption. It was only a matter of time that India would catch on. I just had happened to be in the right place at the right time. Inside Edge was an idea I had at hand which wouldn’t last the traditional TV model nor be contained in a film. And Amazon Prime, that had just entered the market, was the perfect platform to showcase it on. I think it was always evident that streaming would become big. The concept of television by appointment has lived well past its due-by date.

Your debut film Bangistan was a black comedy satire. On hindsight, do you think if released today, it would have been received better?

I think if Bangistan was to be released today, a couple of things would be different. Firstly yes, I do feel the audience has definitely matured when it comes to appreciating comedies and satire that go beyond slapstick and the relevance of the film is greater than ever before. Secondly, I think now I would have probably done a lot of things differently. It was my first film, and from there to now the learning curve has been immense. I am still proud of the film though and the message it delivers.

Mirzapur has received a lot of rave You’re also an author with Kashmirnareviews. How has the response been? ma. Are you planning to digitize this into Is there a Mirzapur 3 in the pipeline? Is a webseries too?

there an Inside Edge 3 in the pipeline? That’s the goal. The first season of Mirzapur received an astounding response and let’s not jump What are your fav web shows other the gun on 3 even before 2 is out. than yours? Inside Edge season 2 came out recently in Huge fan of the recent HBO shows SuccesDecember, the response has been hugely sion and Watchmen. Of the Indian shows - positive with universal acknowledgement I’d have to say Family Man and Delhi Crime. that it was even better than the first season, which was my only goal as showrunWhat are your future projects? ner. Yes, there are plans for a third season I’m setting up a couple of new shows in in the pipeline. varied genres. Overall the response received from both the shows has been creatively satisfying. You moved on to the web space with

Inside Edge and Mirzapur. What were Where do you see this medium going the challenges you faced when you first in the future? Do you think it’s easier started? Were the actors then a little dabbling in this medium because there skeptical about this medium?

is no censor board? Many actors were skeptical and cagey As I said earlier, this medium has been about audiences’ reaction when we first instrumental in redefining our traditional ventured into this medium. So yes one of form of storytelling that’s been here for the first few roadblocks that we faced was hundreds of years. This is just the beginthat of putting together a cast for Inside ning, going forward I see this taking differEdge. ent shapes and forms. Right now digital is It was the first big Indian show that would the buzzword, soon it’ll be VR, maybe then holograms? Who knows, we might just plug something into our heads and for a Matrix-like experience. Needless to say it’s an exciting time to be a storyteller, we could go anywhere from here in terms of the medium, but the world is always up for engaging in a good story. Yeah sure, at some point you might have AI telling those stories better than humans can but for now it’s just us. The streaming space explosion has given us a very good insight into the abundance of creativity and untapped potential available. Regarding the second part of the questions, as creators we always subject ourselves to self-censorship in deciding what should and shouldn’t go on screen and if anything we do is too gratuitos. Needless to say, the absence of a censor board has set us free from the shackles of a traditional approach to writing and filming. go on an OTT platform and we were pretty lucky to have the likes Vivek Oberoi and Richa Chadha, who were confident and open to trying out this new medium. After the success of Inside Edge was there for all to see, of course, casting was much smoother and I think everyone understood the potential of streaming. K 70