Apart from actors, even directors also known as filmmakers play an important role to make any web series, daily soap show or movies a huge success. Therefore, Mumbai Live indulged in an exclusive interview with the director Santosh Singh where he spoke shared about “long fruitful journey full with of lots of learning,” as he mentions.
Elaborating further, Singh shared: “I have come a long. Stared my career as an AD from a popular daily TV show Kusum, then I got an opportunity to work with Goldie Behl in the series Remix. I requested him to work in his film Drona and that’s how I switched from serial to movies. Later, I worked for Wake Up Sid, YJHD and various other popular films. After several years of learning from veteran and big wigs directors, I realized that I am ready to be a director and start a journey of my own and tell my stories. Finally, I made my directorial debut with web series Broken but Beautiful.”
Santosh Singh was assistant director for Bollywood movies such as Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), Wake Up Sid (2009), Brothers (2015), Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (2016), and several others.
Recently released Apharan 2, helmed by Santosh Singh, has gained a lot attraction from viewers to critics for its comical yet embittered dialogues as it takes you through the unscrupulous world of corruption, high-intensity action, powerful dialogues, unexpected twists, and never-before-seen stunts.
“This series is not inspired by real life incidents. But the characters are real and relatable just like anyone amongst us, who must have crossed our paths at some point of life, Singh exclaimed while explaining about the non-fictionality of the show.
On being asked whether he faced any obstacles or difficulty while shooting amid the pandemic, he jokingly relates the tagline of the Apaharan 2 which is Sabka Katega. Talking about the struggles of shooting during COVID-19 pandemic, he expressed, “This novel coronavirus has harassed each one of us. It was a terrifying journey dealing with pandemic. In February 2020, we started our work with great enthusiasm. We were about to leave for Serbia in March and last moment it got cancelled due to lockdown. Though after relaxations announced few months ago, we commenced the shoot again in Uttarakhand. as soon as we reached there, we got to know the lead actor was detected with COVID. It created a lot of hassle.”
“As we shot the whole season during the COVID-era, everyone was petrified as it was the first time experience dealing with something like this. However, we took all precautions such facemasks, sanitization and every possible means. It took long procedure of nearly 2 years, to make a series, which is not usually the case. Along with health issues, the shoot would be massively impacted as it takes a lot to halt shoots and reschedule dates, conducting RT-PCR test of all cast and crew, keep them in a bubble. Now finally things are coming back which is a major relief. We learned a lot such we could work from home, however, we never stopped working even in pandemic that is a big learning,” he added.
This series is the sequel of the 2018 action thriller web series Apharan directed and co-produced by Sidharth Sengupta. The series is set in current times and revolves around kidnapping, suspense, mystery and never ending action. “It was big hit and got a cult status too. I was blown by it and expressed my desire to do such kind of work someday. Surprisingly, two years later my dream came true, when I got an offer to direct Apaharan 2. It was surreal moment for me. It was a huge responsibility to take forward this legacy and to keep the soul intact of this series,” he concluded.
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