Exclusive: Sandeep Modi gets candid about his adaptation series The Night Manager and Aarya
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Adaptations are always tricky. One always runs the risk of producing a “sasta copy” of a beloved film or show. And yet, creators can’t help but capitalise on the popularity of international titles. So when British series The Night Manager and Dutch series Penoza were up for grabs, showrunner Sandeep Modi wanted in. The writer and director knew the apprehensions around the shows, but he was sure these stories needed to be told again in an Indian context. Preferably with ensemble casts led by the likes of Anil Kapoor, Aditya Roy Kapur and Sushmita Sen.
In an exclusive interview, Sandeep Modi opened up about his shows, the saturated OTT space, and more.
The Night Manager is a popular British show. What was the toughest part of adapting it?
Whether it’s Aarya or The Night Manager, we’re telling a popular tale. So many people have seen the original. Why would they come and watch this version that we’ve made? The toughest thing was to find a reason why this story should be told again. The answer came from the emotional anchor points of the story. I’m interested in knowing why this guy agreed to become a spy. The moment we found out that it was the guilt of not saving this little girl that became the fulcrum of the adaptation, it all started coming together. We also decided to do something unique for India, split the show into two parts.
Do you think the excitement for shows fizzles out when a series is split into two parts?
If you create a piece of narrative that has a huge impact, it sticks. We do come back to the second, third, or fourth season of so many shows. And those have even larger gaps. So I wasn’tworried about whether the audience would come back. An experiment for me is the idea of emotional continuity. How do I get you to feel the same way you felt at the end of episode 4 and at the start of episode 5? Having said that, this is a conundrum for every filmmaker on OTT because there’s no guarantee that the end of the first episode and the start of the second episode will be seen back-to-back.
Aarya has been adapted from the Dutch series Penoza. What’s the key to Indianising international content?
The only thing I always like to take from any adaptation is the plot. How the character hits the plot points depends completely on that slight alteration of the character that you’ve made. An Indian soldier will have different emotional baggage from an American or British soldier. An Indian will react differently to the idea of a friend. Talking of The Night Manager, we have Shelly Rungta and Brijpal. The original had Roper and Cocky. They never spoke about being friends, but I saw it as a friendly relationship. We never see them hug or shake hands. But I thought that was a strong basis for how we Indians are. We have a lot of strong emotions about a certain kind of equation. Our mothers are important, our friends are important and these are very different from the way a Brit would react. Shaan Sengupta is not looking for revenge. He’s looking for peace and redemption. Once you zero in to that point, it paves the way for the rest of his actions.
What goes into crafting the visuals in an adaptation?
While we were filming this, the House of Gucci came out. It has gorgeous, rich people who are so well dressed. I wanted our show to have that aura. We actually got the characters to wear only designer pieces. I would think this shirt is so normal, but there’s something right about it. That’s because it is a $12,000 shirt. I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to fashion. I have no idea what is trending. And I remember the team telling me Dietsabya was posting about the clothes of the show. I said, “Who’s that?” It is so much fun to create a vibe. When you say that money and style go easy on some people, it’s just there; there’s no effort to it. That’s what we were trying to do. Visually, Ben Jasper, who was the cinematographer of the show, is a fan of Roger Deakins. The look came from referencing a lot of advertisements and beauty commercials. We look through a lot of Cannes Film Festival-winning films from across the globe. We also looked at Chanel ads to set the tone. For Lipika’s world, we went grunge. We reference everything from Satyajit Ray to Ritwik Ghatak. We thought about how they would frame and look at the reality of the other side because, technically, this show is about the haves and the have-nots.
I think it’s the toughest thing to direct somebody who knows so much. But what I enjoyed is that Anil Kapoor was a man who realised that once he’s on set, the most experienced person is the director. He has an absolutely fantastic voice. Even the pauses that he takes before he speaks work so well for Shelly. I loved the collaboration with him and finding the rhythm. For each of these characters, my brief to them is that this show is not The Night Manager. For Anil Kapoor, the show is Shelly Rungta; for Lipika Saikiya, the show is Lipika. You are the hero. When we did the workshop with the actors, it was like a boxing game. We had the Anil Kapoor Gang, which is Anil Kapoor, Sobhita Dhulipala, and others.
They did 15 days and prepared themselves. On the other end of the ring, we had Aditya Roy Kapur and Tilottama Shome. These two teams never met before filming. We shot the first few days of just Shaan in Dhaka just to get the tone of his anger towards Shelly. This is said to be Aditya Roy Kapur’s finest performance. Aditya has an outstanding brain. The way he analyses the scripts. Many times we would have five drafts of the script and while performing a scene, he’d go, “In draft three, Sandeep, there was a line that I think you removed now. And he’ll then open his iPad, which we all dreaded because it had drafts with markings. The best thing that happened here was that he put his faith in me. Shaan and Aditya are very similar; they’re individualistic. And I told him to allow me to bring that side out—a vulnerable hero—and let’s make a flawed guy. It was one of my finest director-actor relationships.
What was your experience filming Aarya with Sushmita Sen?
Aarya is going to get more and more badass. What Ram Madhwani and Sushmita are now doing with it, and the whole team is delving into the darkest phase, This is going to be one of the finest seasons of the show. While I can’t say much, all I can say is that I hope the audience enjoyed it. Me and Ram enjoyed creating season one, but after that, it was Ram and Sushmita who took it ahead. But I’m absolutely in touch, I’m aware of the journeys, and I’m extremely proud. It’s like you’ve created something and now it has a life of its own. It can fly on its own. I’m extremely happy and I hope the audience is loving this new season too.
How challenging was it when Sushmita Sen had a heart attack?
The whole team realised that if Sushmita Sen says that she needs to take a
break, it really means she needs to take a break. She is absolutely strong, mentally and physically and absolutely fit. And the fact that it can happen to the best of people serves as a reminder that sometimes the best thing in life is to take a break. It’s okay to take a pause. It’s okay to understand what your body needs, listen to it, and come back stronger. And I think that’s what’s happened with the Aarya team.
Do you think the streaming wars are a good thing, or will they lead audiences back to piracy?
Everything has a graph, and everything has a curve. Eventually we will only have a handful of players; it’s not too many. There are four or five major players. It keeps all of us—the platforms and the creators—on the edge. You know that there’s competition and you never want a lack of competition. That’s so boring. You want to be on the edge. I will say it’s great for the consumer. They have a choice. It’s better than being forced to go with just two options, which used to be the norm earlier. There’s never a thing like overcrowding. There’s no crowd at the top. It’s quite lonely. That’s all I can say.
See Also: Cover Story: Aditya Roy Kapur On The Success Of The Night Manager & Pushing Himself With Every Role
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