Suzhal's success proves collaboration is the way forward: Pushkar-Gayatri

This first Amazon original web series in Tamil dropped on June 17 and the astounding global success and accolades ‘ Suzhal -The Vortex ’ has had, proves that good content and storytelling – irrespective of the language - will be appreciated by everyone. Writers and producers of the show, Pushkar and Gayatri , are as elated as the lead actors Sriya Reddy and Kathir and directors Bramma and Anucharan.

Pushkar and Gayatri, the writing-directing husband-wife duo, have seen success with their previous work and ‘Suzhal – The Vortex’ is another feather in their cap, reinforcing the fact that, whether films or web series, the committed and hard-working couple can write and deliver good content. How does the success of a labour of love of three years feel? Pushkar replies, “Relieved more than anything else because this was a punt in the dark. To write the web series, then get directors on board and produce it – most people around us called us crazy for doing it because it would have been way easier for us to do a feature film and we have a script also for it. But long-form storytelling was itching us for quite some time and we thought we were in a stage where we could afford to take the time to do it so we did. It’s a relief that it’s working now."

The success of this series could set off a new trend where different directors and writers could collaborate rather than the director playing the writer as well. While this has been the norm in the Malayalam film industry, it is not so prevalent across other industries. But OTT platforms have slowly started to change the way in which collaborations work. “I think this is the way forward in this space because the quantum of work involved is too large for one person to handle it themselves. OTT is a medium of creative collaboration - to have a showrunner, directors who will do the execution of the script, etc. This system will gain more traction as the days go by when more people get invested in this platform. Having said that, the base essence is that you need a bunch of people to work together for the greater glory of the series. To find those co-creators would be the difficult part; so you better start looking now!,” smiles Pushkar.

When it comes to 2022, it is mostly films from south India and now OTT, that has been striking gold at the box office and on the digital medium. The success of ‘ Pushpa ’,’ RRR ’ and ‘ KGF ’ and Hindi films with big stars sinking at the box office records has had people sit up and take notice of the south Indian film industry. Is Bollywood losing its swag to south entertainment? “I don’t think so. I think it’s coming to a point where all across India we are going to be seeing content from all across India. This was not the equation before. I don’t think it’s the question of losing the numero uno tag, I think it will boil down to individual films and as to which film is working and which is not. Those are the only questions to be answered. Talking about the North-South divide, I think now we have platforms like Amazon which have exposed us to content from around the world. People will now choose films and content that they like and that’s going to be the ground reality going forward,” feels Pushkar.

The director duo also is working on the Hindi remake of their hit Tamil film ‘ Vikram Vedha ’ starring Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan . With the success of ‘Suzhal’, is there added pressure now? “I think the pressure was always there; it’s just how you handle the pressure. At the base level, we are trying to do good by the story, script and what that project is. We still want it to be the best version of what that film can be. Hope people like it; that’s what we will always take a stance on,” he smiles.

Latha Srinivasan is a senior journalist based in Chennai. Her passion is entertainment, travel, and dogs.

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