Writing a web series is tough: Sujay Dahake
Director-writer Sujay Dahake will be making his web directorial debut with Sex, Drugs and Theatre on ZEE5
Director-writer Sujay Dahake is excited about the current project he is working on. Sujay, who has won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Marathi at 59th national Awards, for Shaala (2010), will be making his web directorial debut with Sex, Drugs and Theatre. The Marathi web series will throw light on the socio-cultural texture of Pune and talk about young theatre groups in the city.
Sujay says that his team started work on this subject two years ago. He then pitched the idea to OTT platforms and one of them picked it up. It took them nine months to finalise everything. “Writing a web series is tough. You have to have a beginning, middle and end for each episode. There has to be a hook at the start and end of each episode. A total series is close to 300 minutes, which is 30 minutes each for 10 episodes. Now, that is equal to two feature films. So, the scope of work is a lot and also the scripting is approached differently.”
Talking about the subject of the Marathi series, he adds. “It is about the experimental theatre groups in Pune and how their life revolves around sex, theatre and drugs. The premise in mainly exploring the idea of theatre being used to revolt. The concept is slightly out-of-the-box.”
Sujay plans to have a 12-day shoot and will be announcing the cast soon. “I have been brought up in Pune and I have seen the theatre circuit closely. The series will give a platform to showcase the local theatre culture and also show to what level these groups go. It will be shot in the city.”
The director is also looking forward to 2019, as it will bring out two of his Marathi films and kick off with the launch of this web series. “Tujhya Aaila and Kesari will be ready for release next year. So, every three months, we will have something on offer.”