'Television audience is bored of Saas-Bahu drama': Sanjay Nath
What's the story
Even before Netflix arrived in India, Sanjay Nath had already begun working in the web space with international makers. He decided to quit television and expand his horizons. He then worked with the Matrix trilogy makers - The Wachowskis.
Cut to the present, Nath told NewsBytes that the Indian audience today has moved from television dramas to sensible content on the web.
Read excerpts.
#1
How different is the making of an international series?
Their style of working is entirely different from ours. When I worked with The Wachowskis for Sense8, nobody had even heard of Netflix in India; nobody knew what a web series was.
I felt completely lost and had to unlearn because their format is different and more internalized than ours. It was a big learning experience for me.
#2
How have international projects helped you grow?
I was well ahead of time. I had started doing web series and had quit television, a lot of unlearning had happened by then.
When I started doing web series in India with good directors such as Bandish Bandits with Anand Tiwari, it became easier for me to adapt. However, many actors are still learning to unlearn now.
#3
Do you think the Indian audience has evolved?
The audience is bored with Saas-Bahu dramas. I interact a lot with rickshaw-walas, domestic help, and watchmen. They say they're bored of it. Then which audience is wanting to watch TV dramas? Why are TV dramas not lasting more than four months on average?
Today's audience wants to watch fresh content. Television audiences have migrated to the web. People want to see sensible content.
#4
Is India consuming a lot of international content?
Even the domestic help wants to watch Korean films in their dubbed language today. I've been a voice artist for dubbing international projects in regional languages.
These films/series are being dubbed in Telugu, Tamil, or other languages, meaning, there is an audience for it. It's also why Fox and Disney are spending so much money to re-dub it and release it in local languages.