Chit-chat with co-directors Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat on web series ”˜Aarya’

Director Sandeep Modi with Sushmita Sen

By Neeru Saluja

The latest web series ”˜Aarya’ on Disney Hotstar is hitting headlines as one of the most gripping and racy thrillers on Indian television. Co-directed by Ram Madhvani, Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat, the series marks the comeback of actors Chandrachur Singh and Sushmita Sen after many years.

Co-Directors Vinod Rawat (above) and Ram Madhvani (below)

 

As part of a series of interviews for Aarya, we also talked to the co-directors Sandeep Modi and Vinod Rawat just before the release of the series. Pumped and enthusiastic about the series, they told us about what involved making Aarya and the post production challenges.

“Aarya is a 9 episode series and spans around five seasons. We initially wanted to release it during the IPL and therefore the biggest challenge we had was time. The pressure we took to release this series was humungous. We didn’t know that this would be the biggest boon as it was just before lockdown. We did a lot of the post production within the lockdown, and we took the challenge and learnt how to do it”, say Sandeep and Vinod.

The journey to make the show in post-production became a story in itself. “All of the post production has been done from the home. Editing was easier but dubbing was quite complicated. After several attempts we realised the closet is the best place for dubbing! Namit (who plays Jawahar) had to dub his lines after 2am because that’s when a dog in his lane would stop barking after the whole day! Another challenge was most of our actors were in different corners of the world. For example, Ankur Bhatia was in New York, Vishwajeet Pradhan was in Australia and rest were in different cities of India. For one scene we tried dubbing a scene 7 times but in the end we got it right, tell the directors.

As Sushmita Sen leads the ensemble cast with a strong performance, the directors could not stop praising her. “She removed all the airs of stardom and connected with us on a human level. The moment we started shooting in Rajasthan, people started shouting. That’s when we realised we are shooting with a big star. She doesn’t wear stardom on her sleeve. She owns every scene and that is what is amazing about her. Whenever she comes on sets, she has a beautiful aura around her. She is a collaborator and that’s what makes her special.”

As Aarya Sareen, a supremely fit, still-stunning mother of three, Sushmita’s character seems to have everything, a loving husband, luxury and all, a woman catapulted into taking charge to protect her children as things go awfully awry her being placed in the hot seat of a dodgy family business. With her the viewers stay glued to this gripping series about a woman who is forced to pick up even, yes a gun, Sush carries the role with aplomb.

And that’s what has made Aarya so special that the directors are now talking about making the next season!

 

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