Asur series has become a favorite. The mind-boggling web series starring Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobti and others is as interesting as it can be as it perfectly blends mythology and science to create an intriguing story. While Asur 2 still dominates the top trending OTT series chart, we reached out to the director Oni Sen. He spoke candidly about the series, the fears, the audience reaction, the casting and much more. So here are the excerpts from the interview.
Did you expect a thunderous response to Asur 2 given the long gap between two seasons?
Well, we hoped we would. But we were apprehensive, as we all would be if season one works. And also season 2, the story, we were quite changed in the way the story is told. You know, it was much more complicated. The vastness of the story was much more. So we were somewhat apprehensive. But when the responses started coming in, I think we were all really happy that all the hard work paid off.
What prompted you to choose Asur?
Well, when Asur season 1 was conceived and written by Gaurav Shukla, he had thought about this a little bit and written a whole series of episodes and then he contacted me. And of course when I read it, I’ve always known him and I knew he has a very, very crazy mind. He writes a lot of interesting, ready-made things. But when I was reading it, what really grabbed me is that there are three streams of the story, which are mythology, forensics, and the human characters and the human drama, they were intertwined so beautifully that you out and the other two will fall. So it wasn’t really transposed over the other one. And I think that’s what appealed to me the most. And when I initially read it, my only thought was, how do we make the human story believable? So that people can empathize and it appeals to them. Because you always forget events in stories, right? It’s a human story that stays with you forever. And we tried that in Asur 2 as well. And the other two couple of little things are that, you know, if you look at mythology, is there’s actually a lot of technology in it. You know, whether you’re looking at chariots flying and whether you’re looking at, you know, one arrow, which will break into 2,000 arrows and or mind control will take place. There’s actually a lot of hidden technology in there, which we take for granted, which always seems magical when you read as a kid. But when I look at them these days, they’re all becoming reality now. So I think that makes it very relevant in a lot of ways.
How the characters in Asur 2 have developed from season one?
If you look at season one, it ends at a point where there’s a small win, but actually the loss is much deeper than the win. So all the characters, whether it’s DJ, Nikhil, Naina, Nusrat, everyone is in a kind of void and in a void that deals with their own losses, their own personal losses, right? Like DJ lost his wife, lost his job. You know, he’s a complete mess. Nikhil, we think about, you know, someone who has to make a choice like that, you know, about his daughter and he loses his daughter and his, you know, there’s an extreme relationship with his wife. And Naina, of course, you know, a devastated mother and in many ways the same with Nusrat. So I think we wanted season two to be to start with that void where everyone is spinning in their own little hole. And from there, they all take off in different ways, whether it’s a DJ in a monastery, whether it’s Nikhil dealing with his depression, whether it’s Naina who’s on another mission. As they say, you know, in an animal or a human, never mess with a cub. You know, your mom’s anger is something you can’t handle. So all the characters, we actually started with that season one resonance. And then they slowly go to the new journey and their own way. And that’s one of the reasons why in season two we deliberately tried to have each character go into their own little dark side in their head in more ways than one. So that was the intention.
How did the casting of Arshad Warsi take place?
Arshad Warsi and Barun Sobti were two characters who were, I mean, two actors who were already more or less locked into the project. I have been a big fan of Arshad’s. I mean, we’ve all seen him in so many movies. And Barun, of course, I didn’t know much about his work because I haven’t seen much of his work before. But when I talked to them, they were both amazing and very, very receptive because I had a very clear idea of where I wanted to go with these two characters. And, you know, what would they like for Arshad, there is a sense of darkness and a gloomy man. So everything is very measured. He never loses it except occasionally. On the other hand, Nikhil as a character, Barun’s character, has a tremendous amount of nervous energy. So, you know, he thinks faster than he talks. And so they were both extremely receptive and worked really hard to get the mannerisms right. And Arshad, in that way, I think, it’s the way our industry is in a lot of ways that we tend to compartmentalize people. But he’s like a chameleon. He can change shape and color and demeanor at any time. And it’s scary how awesome they both are.
Were you concerned and extra careful when dealing with a subject that also appears in mythology?
Careful, absolutely. I think, especially in our country, you have to be careful and respectful when dealing with anything related to mythology. And I think that’s only fair. And we’ve been extremely careful to make sure we don’t misquote anything. We don’t hurt anyone, no feeling. And everything we’ve put out there has been researched and correct. Because you see, the difference between mythology and documented history, there is a line where you can say that this is mythology, this is correct. And you can’t refute it. Contrary to documented history. But we made sure in many ways that whatever was entered, it was all validated in different sources and that it was all correct. And when you look at it, it’s very simple. The fact that a person who believes that he is like an incarnation of Kali, who is the dark side. Now, if you take out the word Kali, I’m sure a lot of people in this world believe that, you know, they believe in the dark side. And that’s why people do things that aren’t very nice, I think. So, I think a little bit, because it was so rooted in human behavior and the human mind, I think that’s what worked with the mythological thing.
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