There can be only one goonda on the show and I want to be him! - Anshuman K Singh

He is a ‘seasonal’ director who does not like working all the time. Anshuman Kishore Singh believes in setting new trends for the rest to follow and loves experimenting. He has been a television director for nine years now and given shows like Bhaskar Bharti, Left Right Left, Shree 420, Devi and Naa Aana Iss Des Laado. TellyChakkar caught up with Singh to know more about his work and his future plans.
Anshuman Kishore Singh

He is a ‘seasonal’ director who does not like working all the time. Anshuman Kishore Singh believes in setting new trends for the rest to follow and loves experimenting. He has been a television director for nine years now and given shows like Bhaskar Bharti, Left Right Left, Shree 420, Devi and Naa Aana Iss
Des Laado
.

TellyChakkar caught up with Singh to know more about his work and his future plans.

Which serials are you directing at present?
I was directing Naa Aana Iss Des Laado (Colors) till now but have taken a three month break from the serial.

Why?
I usually work for six months and take a three month break. That is my working style and as a creative head one needs to do a lot of home work and research on other subjects. So this three month period is some time for me to do some reading, watch movies and understand them in and out.

If you have seen the kind of work I have been doing on television it hasn't been the same. Every time I come up with a different subject, I try and do complete justice to it. To come up with a new subject and new ways of show casing it you need to do a lot of research and one needs time for that.

So, will you continue directing Laado after your break period?
I am a realistic person. I believe in being true to the audience and giving them the real stuff. But, TV somewhere down the line does not let you do that. At some point of time it gets stagnated and the moment that happens I lose my interest in that subject.

Laado no doubt has a beautiful story written by Kamal Pandey and one will see a lot of growth in the story but for me it’s time to move on. I like change and when things don’t I prefer moving out. The actors will no more change and I am not going to discover any new angles in the haveli Ammaji is living in. All these factors basically start boring me.

Were you always a director?
I was a journalist for three years before I got into direction. I was doing political journalism. I left it because I realized in spite of being a journalist I did not have the power to fight against the system or get the truth out. There is no support. When you cannot do what you want to in a profession what's the use of staying in it. So I got into direction. I also preferred this over journalism because here at least you can create your own goonda and bash him (laughs)!

How do you decide on a story?
Ninety per cent of the television shows come to me. I usually listen to the story and if it has potential I take it up.

Are you looking forward to coming up with some shows at present?
I might do a show after three or four months. But, when a producer gives me a show I would also need the entire authority on it. I don't like when others interfere in my way of working. I would want to do everything, finalize the script, casting and the locations. There can be only one goonda on a show and I want to be that goonda.

Do you think Indian television still has miles to cover when it comes to the kind of shows we have on television?
If we look at it from the international level, yes it definitely has. It is still very childish because people are scared to experiment here. They were happy with the saas-bahu drama for so long till something like Balika Vadhu came up and did well. But, now you will just see all gaonwala serials because the producers and the writers are sure it works on Indian television. But, till someone doesn't go ahead and do something else they will continue with it. At times I am scared and embarrassed to be a part of it!

I am very happy to see the way Ekta Kapoor has moved with Pavitra Rishta. She has made something that is out of the bungalows and does not have women dressed in expensive designer wear. You do not expect a woman to sleep with make-up on her face; that will be so unreal. Today the audience is accepting real stuff. Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Hi Kijo is a perfect example.

The current trend in the industry is to pay more attention to the story rather than the actors. Comment.
Yes, if we look at the industry at present it is the writer who is paid the highest, then the director and then finally it is the actor. It's the writer who creates the story and its characters if we have to look at Laado, its character Ammaji played by Meghna Malik is popular today because her character has been written so strongly. If it not had been for the character people wouldn't have related to her today. No doubt that the actors need to play the character well but the base of that character is the story.

What do you think is the right way of making television soaps?
One thing I don't like is most of our stories start from outside and then they restrict to a house or between two houses. When your story is restricted in a house how many new angles can you search for to shoot that story. While I was shooting for Laado in a particular hall I had discovered all the possible angles I could have. You do not expect that one place to give you 25 new angles! The right way of making films would be to make them like something that Yash Raj Films did with their serials on Sony. We should write at least 100 episodes for six months, shoot them for another six and then again do the same thing. People do not mind waiting for the second season of the show if it's interesting. Like what we did with Left Right Left. It had its first season with Rajeev Khandelwal and the second with Gaurav Chopra and both did extremely well.

When and how did you get your first direction break?
I came to Mumbai in 2000 and I was looking out for a job at that time. Bhavana Somaya, a journalist friend was making a show for Sahara and she asked me to help her. I was there on the sets to help but the director came late and I was asked to direct the show though the show did not go on air I was sure I wanted to be a director.

One day I was calling a friend from a PCO asking him to introduce me to some producers and a man tapped me from behind and told me that he would take me to MAD films. It was Sunil Manchanda’s film company and there I got Shree 420, a show on Zee.

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Submitted by TellychakkarTeam on Fri, 07/30/2010 - 19:50

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