‘I have to try it all’
Sheetal
After watching innumerable crime dramas and thrillers, it doesn’t take much brain to guess that there would be a good cop and a bad cop. Contrary to that, with Disney+Hotstar’s latest offering Bad Cop, director Aditya Datt has made his point clear — ‘there’s only bad policing and criminal activity involved’.
Datt has cast an unusual pair of actors, Anurag Kashyap and Gulshan Devaiah, who are at loggerheads on the screen. While director-actor Kashyap essays a gangster, Kazbe, Devaiah is seen in a double role.
When creating identical twin characters, it’s important to draw stark personality differences through acting skills. In Datt’s opinion, “Apart from acting, an actor needs to have lots of patience. Gulshan has shot with me for Commando 3 before, so he knew my madness and method of shooting more than anyone else. He ticked all the boxes required for the twin roles. With advancements in technology, things have become easier while shooting but as far as presenting twin characters on screen is concerned, the process is tedious. On top of that, the series involved action sequences, so it can be a nightmare for the director and actor concerned.”
Creative adaptation
On how Datt ended up making the Indian remake of German show Bad Cop, he elaborates, “My first contact was Aradhna Bhola, managing director of Fermantle India, who simply narrated the idea to me. I think she caught my attention with the word ‘twins’. Then the head writer, Renzil D’Silva, and his team, which had been working on the script, met me. I have used my own creative voice while making this series suitable for an Indian setting.”
According to Datt, the approach of a director does change with each project. “Especially when you know whether it’s long or short format, for theatre or OTT. For OTT film or series, you are less afraid of taking chances, be it the casting, which is not dictated by the box-office, or the content, which can be experimental, according to the director’s choice, and there are array of other factors. Karenjit Kaur – The Untold Story of Sunny Leone (Sunny Leone biopic) was my first long format content, but this series is very different. Bad Cop as a switch from feature film was easier for me, as far as the narrative format was concerned. Every episode for me is a short film in itself with different subplots leading the narrative forward.”
In times when social media marketing for any content is a must, Datt calls the trend a sad reality. “Social media is the only way to go in today’s world, the entire globe is on the phone. It’s sad in some way but it’s the truth. I try to be on social platforms too, but nowhere close to exploring and reaping its benefits as opposed to how many other people do.”
Family man
Other than being a hardcore film buff, Datt is a family man. “Life for me other than movies is all about family, honestly. I like to spend time with my sons, my pet and my wife when taking a break. My wife will kill me for keeping her third in the order,” he chuckles.
On his agenda as a director is to be known for his versatility. That’s why Datt wants to make a superhero film, a horror and romantic musical in the coming times. “I have to try it all,” he says. Datt doesn’t give away much on the plans to make a sequel of Bad Cop, but confirms he has the wits and means to revive it only on audiences’ demand. “You never know,” are Datt’s parting words.
Directing a director
I had never met Kashyap (Anurag) to begin with. Before I approached him for the show, I have only been a big follower of his cinema and obviously seen him through media over a period of time. So, when we were more than half-way through writing, Kashyap’s face popped up in my mind as I imagined certain mannerisms of Kazbe. Directing a director is the easiest is what I feel now, as one director understands the creative process of another and also respects the creative decisions taken on or prior to shooting days. With Kashyap, the beauty was that he did not ask for a script. As he never gives one to his actors as a director. — Aditya Datt
