Vaibhav Modi and Tabassum Modi have made several shows like 'Times Of Music', 'Tripling', 'Bekaboo' among others. Their next 'Mukhbir' is set to premiere on November 11. ETimes had an in depth chat with Vaibhav who spoke about the kind of content they want to create, and further plans and projects of their company, how OTT is such a boon today amidst lots more. Read on...
What are the factors that you consider while creating a web show?From a music show to an erotic thriller, we've done multiple shows and not stuck to any genre, that has been a major aim. As a storyteller you don't want to be limited by a genre. If it's a story that makes you give it your all, the medium or genre doesn't matter. I have three parameters - it should have a lasting impact. At least in half of the shows we've made, we've been able to create something that's memorable. People should perhaps remember the character or the emotions that they went through while watching something. We also want to create some sort of a value because we want to move towards creating our own IP. It has to be a win-win for everyone involved. No stake holder should be left wanting for anything. Making sure that the project is profitable for everyone is important. So, these are some of the factors which we consider.
Do you think the advent of OTT has played a huge part in creating path-breaking content or giving opportunities to new content houses or script writers or actors?Look at a show like 'Mirzapur' which gave a stellar actor like Pankaj Tripathi his due. He was a star all through, but OTT got him the recognition he deserved and then everything fell into place. Honestly, if OTT hadn't appeared on the horizon, people like me would have ended up doing stuff that we don't want to do. We would have just kept doing television and aspired to do films. Look at 'Bekaboo', it is an erotic show but it never got spoken of in the same way as say 'Gandi Baat'. It did very well for the platform and it was something I could do only because of OTT. Television was probably a little hesitant to do this kind of stuff. Despite the unstable nature of it, because revenues will start coming in a lot later, but the fact that today I'm empowered to tell richer, deeper stories better than television, it's only because of OTT.
Do you ever plan to move into the business of theatrical from OTT?I'm already working on it. There's a script in discussion with another producer. I'm clear that one of the two-three scripts we have, will go into production next year. We want to step out of the commissioned series kind of a model - because when a series is commissioned, you're creating it but not owning a part of it. So, owning what we make is a part of our agenda which will happen when we get into the business of theatrical movies, or series you're not limiting up to just commissioning. So, I'm working on both. I've been at Cannes recently, and I'm in talks with a lot of international players to look at our non-fiction ideas to try and make them for international territories. If you make something and the impact of it is limited then it defeats the purpose.
Tell us about your next project 'Mukhbir' and other upcoming projects.'Mukhbir' is our labour of love for the last year and a half. It's a show that has let me do the things I like doing. It had a lot of research because we've created the 1960s. Sometimes the writing is good but because it doesn't have those layers or nuances, the execution doesn't have the ability to take it a notch higher. We've unveiled the character poster of Prakash Raj as a spy recruiter from the 1960s, if you see it carefully, there are so many small details we've worked on. The other thing 'Mukhbir' allowed me to do is that I've written the songs for the show. There's another show we're working on which is a very different kind of a cop drama. Then, I have a fully-written series which I'm keen on co-producing with an international partner.
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