Is Shakun Batra’s series on Ma Anand Sheela shelved? Here’s what he says

Filmmaker Shakun Batra says he doesn’t focus on whether his projects, including this planned web show, are mainstream or niche.

The most discussed project, until some time back, was Shakun Batra’s web series on the life of controversial godman Osho and his disciple, Maa Anand Sheela. Alia Bhatt and Aamir Khan were rumoured to be headlining it, but the buzz fizzled out soon.

Filmmaker Sahkun Batra directed Gehraiyaan recently.

Ask him the current status of the project , and Batra says, “It’s a story very close to my heart. Of late, I didn’t have the time, as I was finishing Gehraiyaan. It is definitely something I do want to venture back. I don’t know the timing of it, I don’t know if it’s next or after that. But it remains close to me.”

Like this web series, the 39-year-old’s choice of film subjects has always been different. Ekk Main Aur Ek Tu, Kapoor & Sons and his most recent release, web only film Gehraiyaan. Does he get the advice to make more mainstream projects?

He says, “The idea is never to make mainstream, it’s always about what’s playing on my mind, what do I feel, the story I am keen to tell. I am fortunate enough to have people who will support me on my next. But I don’t know what’s next. Whether it becomes mainstream or not, I feel you don’t know it. You don’t really know when the mainstream changes. A film all of a sudden gets accepted, and that makes it mainstream.”

He cites the example of his own film Kapoor & Sons, which dealt with subjects like LGBTQI+ and infidelity.

“It was considered extremely independent, but did much better than some films considered mainstream. So I think we have to tell interesting stories. The films I make will never be massy, mass driven or entirely independent. I exist somewhere in between. With every film, I get surprised, which side the audience will put it on,” he ends.