Tripling 3 EXCLUSIVE! Kunal Roy Kapoor: Quality will come to the forefront, people will become more selective thanks to OTT

Kunal Roy Kapoor, who ventured on OTT long before OTT became a thing, is back with the new season of Tripling. He once again plays the role of Pranay in Tripling season 3. The actor talks to OTTplay about the boom, if that affected Tripling and what the future holds for him, among many other things.

Excerpts from the interview…

Tell about coming back to the series after so long in the role of Pranav.

The problem is that when you come back to a character after so long, you have to find out who he is and what he has been like. That was the biggest challenge. The first season we shot back in 2015-16 and the second was a fleeting appearance for Pranav. This season, he is much more involved in the proceedings. It is about the things that made him tick. He had already undergone a lot of changes from when he started off as a blue blood, royal man. He shed that image by first season and by the end of second season, he's gone with another identity crisis. He ran away to the hills and now he's back in the world of royalty and his own family issues and how that plays out in the whole season and how it's intertwined with the problems that these three siblings have with their own parents. It was challenging but a lot of fun at the same time because you get to play with the character that people have liked in the past. You get to do something new, make new changes to him and see how he holds. That was fun.

Has Pranav changed in any way from the previous seasons?

He's sort of comfortable in a blend of his family heritage as well as not putting on the airs about the crazy royalty. He doesn't come with the chauvinism. He's been softened by Maanvi's Chanchal. He's changed in that sense but is very much a part of the royal family.

This season, the change is in his attitude towards things happening through the season - the events that take place in the family. You get to see that change - towards his attitude and what his problem is. That's his arc through the season.

Tripling is a show that was popular even before OTT boom. So, in a way, you have been associated with the digital world even before it became what it is today. Tell me, how have times changed, if they have.

There's a massive change in the sense that seeing the number of cinemagoers and conventional TV consumption reducing. It's all on-demand now. Even the TV shows are on demand. Even the TV soaps are being consumed more on the streaming platforms because it is so flexible with our time and schedule. People are moving towards OTT because it's more cost-effective, convenient and of course, COVID has made it much clearer about how people will be consuming content. That's a massive change. One thing that never changes and will never change is that you need good writers, directors and scripts. That won't change at all, whether it's a film, show or series. The success of it would depend on the quality of work itself. It's the consistency that rest assured, is not going to change. That's the confidence the industry is moving forward with. We have so many wonderful directors, writers and actors. It's great that people want to watch quirky comedy and international stuff. Quality will come more on the forefront and people will become more selective since they have access to stuff from everywhere, not just Indian content. Whether Korean content, Japanese anime or American sitcoms, we're now competing the world and thus, need to up our game.

Tripling had set a benchmark when it released. Now, with so much competition on OTT, did it have to raise the bar even further?

Tripling has always been a quality show. You cannot up the mark in some shows because the story only allows for that much. It's shot well. The costumes, make-up and locations are nice. It doesn't need more than that in terms of scale. There are stories that don't need to be scaled up. Ultimately, it's a story of siblings on a road trip. Even the locations are lovely. There's Rajasthan, Manali and Mumbai. They never cut down on their production value even back then. I remember people talking about the quality of the show (that it was looking like a movie) when the first season itself came out. Now it's very normal but even previously, these shows pushed towards getting the scale right. Certain stories only need certain scale, not more than that otherwise it becomes a mindless expense. I want the next season to be in Argentina, South America or Brazil, why not? But the story should allow for that.

Why do you think Tripling 3 took so much time? The first two seasons came out almost back-to-back but this took years. Any idea why?

(Laughs) I don't know. It was probably the writing. We always intended to do the season. Even season 2 did pretty well, so we were sure about season 3 but the writing took time. Sumeet was pursuing his own acting career while being the lead writer on it. He probably had limited time to write the series and so, it took so long.

You have become an integral part of the family and are on a trip with them this time. Was this idea always in the pipeline?

It's something that evolved, probably out of the final episode of season one. There we see the family together for the first time. You get to see the vibe between the family. It is about those relationships playing out. The dynamics between Shehnaz and Kumud's characters and the children or even me, it just played out.

I don't think it was planned. Sumeet or any of the writers probably didn't plan how season three would pan out. It evolves after seeing the show. You need to see where you can take the characters, what problems you can give them, how you plan to evolve the story forward. It wasn't in 2015-16 because that would be too long an arc to follow.

What about Tripling keeps pulling you back to do the series?

It's the characters and the dynamics between the characters - three siblings, the brother-in-law with his wife, the parents - they are quite interesting. That's predominantly what brings people back. Also, not much is made about siblings. Very few explore sibling relationships. This show celebrates that and speaks about the problems with the relationship. People will relate to seeing their own dynamics play out on screen. They will enjoy watching that.

Does Pranav also have a solution for the divorce situation?

He has a perspective. The incident changes him too. He has a personality that changes. He's affected and is very much a part of the proceedings. He'll also be resolving his own family issues. That is also there. It's going to be as quirky and crazy as previous seasons but also heartwarming at the same time. It's funny and silly but also touching.

If not Pranav, which character would you have loved to play in Tripling?

I honestly cannot imagine myself as anyone other than Pranay. The thing is that everybody plays it so perfectly that it's totally them. I feel very comfortable as Pranav and they are too perfect for the role.

Your upcoming projects?

The next season of a series I shot last year. There's another comedy sitcom which we finished shooting recently. I've got another film with four stories and dogs as well.