Exclusive! Teen Tigada actor Saqib Saleem and director Ruchir Arun say they didn't have to prepare for the film at all

Actor Saqib Saleem and director Ruchir Arun have worked on a share of their respective anthologies and now the two are teaming up along with Ashish Verma and Sam Mohan for the film Teen Tigada. The short is part of the Unpaused 2: Naya Safar, which tells the tales of hope and positivity during the times of the pandemic. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the team said the film is a lived experience and hence, they did not have to prepare for it. They also talked about how content overrules the medium and there will always be an audience for good content, irrespective of the medium or the format. Excerpts:

Could you tell us about the film?

Ruchir: The story is about three thieves who do a heist. They loot a lot of materials that can help them survive for several years and they were supposed to sell them to the handler the next day but the lockdown is announced. They can now neither stay nor leave. It is about their journey and if the three can survive each other.

Any particular incident that inspired you for the film?

Ruchir: The characters and their journey are inspired by what we faced during the lockdown. We felt hopeless at one point during the lockdown, like our life is over. I tried to put that feeling into those characters. The story is fictional but the journey they are going through and the feeling that they have become a lived experience. It can resonate with anybody's life.

Saqib, your character looks really raw in the film. How did you prepare for it?

Saqib: We did not have a lot of time to prepare. We did 3 to 4 readings. The location that Ruchir found for the film is an isolated cement factory that has not been operational for a while. So we were just picked from our houses in Juhu, Andheri and put in that factory. Over the course of those three days, we tried living those moments as honestly as we could. I felt like the writers Ruchir and the others have written an honest script. There is a lot of honesty in the script and that is what I wanted to bring to the table. I played this character with a lot of honesty. And I had a great team and a great bunch of actors with me, Ashish and Sam, whom I loved collaborating with. I play a raw character as you said. I come from UP who has done the heist. He does not want to do that again. He wants to start a family. His wife is pregnant. He wants to get back to his family. How every scene was written for me was very important for my character because there are a lot of layers to my character in every scene. With every character, I behave and enact differently. As an actor, it was making me do a lot of things that I have not done in a while. I feel like the OTT world and this space gives you an opportunity to play different parts. And this was a part waiting for me to do it.

You have already worked on several anthologies including Bombay Talkies. So do you still find it challenging to perform for short formats?

Saqib: I have been lucky to get good scripts. If you get a good script, you need not even have to draw a graph for your character because the writer has done it for you. You just have to go and play that moment honestly. That is what has been the case with Teen Tigada because it was a very good, sound and a tight script. It had all the kind of things that a character needs to justify - his angst and what he is going through. It gives me a scene where I can show my mental state. Because of the pandemic, we are isolated in this factory and we cannot get out. I am with people whom I don't necessarily like. Ruchir gave me scenes to play out those emotions.

Ruchir: Subconsciously, we have all lived that. Nobody had to prep for this film. Everybody has been prepping for it for the last two and a half years (laughs). The script came from our lived experiences during the pandemic - the cooking and the other everyday things.

So, what were the challenges you faced during filming?

Ruchir: Creatively, I had great collaborators - my writers, actors, producers, music directors. The challenge was to do the film in such a short period of time. Everybody chipped in. Logon ne kamartod mehenet ki. Nobody gave up. We had long hours of the shoot. No matter how tired people were, when the camera rolled, everyone was giving their 100 per cent. And that really shows on the screen.

Ruchir, you have mainly done OTT shows and anthologies, be it Little Things, Feels like Ishq, and now Unpaused. Was it a deliberate move to do more OTT projects as you predicted the scope it offers?

Ruchir: I am a new and young director. I came to Bombay in 2014. I was lucky that OTT platforms started entering from 2017-18 in the industry. It gives us so many work opportunities. And we have all been able to put our voices and stories out because of the OTT boom.

With the OTT boom, do you think the online platform will replace theatres?

Ruchir: People like to see good stories. Agar aap acche stories film ke hisab de, series de ya anthology, people will accept them.

Saqib: No. I hope not. When DVDs came, logon ne kaha tha ab DVDs aa gaye to log theatres kyun jayenge. But they co-exist. There is a market for every medium. There are certain films that should be watched in theatres. That experience of a theatre is something else. Then, there are films that need to be told on OTT so that the commercial obligation is not there and it flourishes on OTT.

There is also an ongoing debate about OTT censorship. What do you have to say about that?

Ruchir: I don't think censorship should exist. Theatres se bhi censorship nikaal de. Let's be progressive, not regress into censoring OTT also. People should be responsible for creating and people should be responsible when consuming the content.

Saqib: I think people should get to watch what they want to. They should be able to take that call. I am not a supporter of censorship. It should not be done.

Saqib, your film 83 is said to release on OTT now after its successful theatrical run. Are you expecting the same kind of response for the film once it releases on OTT as well?

Saqib: Audience sab bata deti hai. I feel it is a film that will get a lot of love on OTT. So, I am hoping whenever it comes out, more and more people watch it. It is a film that everybody should watch. It is the most glorious chapter in Indian sporting history. So it is an important film. I had a great time making it. I am excited for it to come on the OTT platform.