00:00To relate it, it's more like, have you, if you have seen X-Files, the series X-Files,
00:12it's in that kind of mood and feeling.
00:14But of course, not that.
00:16I'm just telling you somewhere closely related to it.
00:20It has its own way of genre.
00:23It's a psychological thriller.
00:24All that is apart.
00:26But the way it is made, like my friend Faiz, he's a cinematographer of Thousand Babies,
00:32and he had a tough work, like all what he spoke was really true, because now only I'm
00:37thinking about it, because all the tough terrains and the climate conditions, everything, plus
00:42keeping the continuity, the mood of the film, the mood of the film, all that was a big challenge
00:47for him, for us, all things.
00:50And expectations of this movie, see, me, in this experience of my career, story is
00:59something that we all look for, all actors listen to the story first, and then we say
01:04yes or no.
01:05And for me, being a web series, more than everybody sitting here, or the director, or
01:11the producer, I was more worried, because I'm taking a huge step from a bigger screen
01:16to a smaller screen, and how will this react and affect my career in the future, or how,
01:23but I know today is the future of me, digital world, and this is the future, and so when
01:31I am doing one, what will be the quality of it, how will people look at it?
01:37So I and my director spoke a lot.
01:39I said it should be internationally, you know, will it be viewed?
01:42But hearing the story itself is an intriguing story, it's an international story, subject,
01:47and then the making is another part.
01:49So of course, there's a fantastic writer, Aroz Irfan, and Najim Koya were the writers,
01:55so they had a beautiful writing on the script, because I believe in writing more than acting.
02:01If my writing is good, then naturally you become a better actor.
02:05And then the magic moments from the cinematographer, where the director's vision was beautifully
02:14narrated through his lenses, because I saw it yesterday on a big screen, and I was totally
02:19amazed, because I've never seen something so good, even in bigger movies also, bigger
02:24spent movies, so it was fantastic.
02:26And of course, it's going to be a treat, like we say, it's a psychological crime thriller.
02:32People from any part of the country, any part of the world can relate to it.
02:37Even if it's a Tamilian watching, or a Marathi person watching, or a Punjabi, or a Bengali,
02:43whoever watches it, they'll relate to it, language barrier to hai hi nahi isme, because
02:48the subject is very universal, universal matlab universally unfamiliar, universally unfamiliar
02:53and there are certain elements that you wouldn't have heard of it before.
03:00So everyone will relate to it, everyone will enjoy it, and this is made for everyone.
03:06And that's what the response that we have got from, yeah, even from Hotstar side, they
03:11planned it, this was, this is supposed to be a Kerala, Kerala content, regional content.
03:16So regional content is treated a little different.
03:18So it is not presented in the, in the national market, or beyond that particular region.
03:23But when it came to this, we heard that, I mean, like, even Hotstar, the North one, or
03:31the main Hotstar pan-Indian one, they wanted this to be a national series.
03:36So that's the first award that we got, that's the first recognition that we got, because
03:40it was a regional content and they wanted it to be portrayed as, or to be presented
03:44to the national audience.
03:48And it is being dubbed in other languages and because Neenaji is there, and even presenting
03:54it in Hindi languages is not very difficult.
03:58And the star cast, I mean, coming from, I mainly do Malayalam films, Raman sir is familiar
04:03across South, he's familiar in every language, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, he's a star everywhere.
04:09And again, when Neenaji coming, the North part is taken care of you.
04:12But that came very organically.
04:14It wasn't planned or anything, that was very organic.
04:18So yeah, everyone would love it and enjoy it.
04:25Regarding safety of women, I think it's not a concern just in film industry, it's a concern
04:31all over the country or all over the world, for that matter.
04:34If you ask me, I don't think any place is safe.
04:37We have the safety issues everywhere, be it a school, be it a railway station, be it a
04:43hospital, anywhere, any public place or wherever, they're not taken care of, they're not protected,
04:49they have this issue, they face this issue.
04:51But in Malayalam industry, this thing came up and many women fought for it.
04:57They wanted the study to be done, they wanted this investigation to be done, a report to
05:01be made on it.
05:02And that was a brave act from the women that we have in our industry and we are very proud
05:07of it and they should get justice.
05:13Those whoever face such kind of atrocities should get their justice.
05:19And also you can't blame a particular industry for that.
05:22If I ask you, be it in media or be it in other industry, the same thing happens, these things
05:28happens everywhere.
05:29But people pinpoint on film industry and now many people say that it has happened in Malayalam
05:35film industry.
05:36Someone bolo hai.
05:37No, this happened everywhere.
05:39There are women, you know, who has been working in the industry for the last twenty, twenty-five,
05:43thirty years.
05:44Yeah, and some people they manage it, some people they handle it.
05:49Even the other day we were talking to this, I mean, previous interview we were talking
05:53to Neena ji and she was, she had some similar experiences and she handled it.
05:58She handled it.
05:59Because and even if you ask men, they also have these kind of, many kind of, such kind
06:03of issues.
06:04But we have to handle it.
06:05Some people they cannot handle it, so they need help, they need to be supported.
06:09So you can't blame this industry for that matter.
06:14My opinions on that is also the same as Mr. Sanju's is, I appreciate the women come forward
06:21in this generation being taking bold steps, though they want to make it big in the industry,
06:26but they come out with this, this kind of Me Too movement and all that.
06:32I deeply appreciate that, the boldness that they've taken and I wish they get justice.
06:38At the same time, the people who are at the wrong should be punished, all that I accept.
06:43But I hope this won't, they won't make it as a mockery out of it.
06:48I hope the government realizes this.
06:50My only concern and worries are, it is only blaming one particular industry and I feel
06:56sad for it.
06:57So it shouldn't be that way, it should not be biased.
07:01Because this happens everywhere, not only in the industry, everywhere.
07:06Women's safety is a real thing to be asked, because I think more than the industry, it
07:11is even in the local train stations, trains, buses, wherever you go.
07:16We've heard a lot of rape cases in the channels, what has happened in Delhi and in North India
07:21and all that.
07:22So, you know, all this, where is the safety for women?
07:25If you ask that, it's not only the film industry, it is everywhere.
07:28So that, the government has to take some measures and do it for the whole safety of
07:33women in India, not only just by preaching and talking on stages and, you know, there's
07:37nothing there.
07:38At the law enforcement, you also, you have to have a lot of ladies recruited, you know,
07:43for a lady to go give a complaint.
07:45Rarely, there is nothing much, you know, done in that.
07:49So I think if those, everything is, you know, corrected slowly, slowly, I think we will
07:53have even women, everyone walking, safety, because in some states of India, I don't
07:58want to name any, women cannot walk, especially in the north, women cannot walk after 12 o'clock
08:03or something like that, even on the beach and all that stuff.
08:06It's becoming that bad.
08:08So safety is a questionable thing for women everywhere.
08:13So I hope the government takes a proper and the right decision and the law enforcement
08:17must also take a deep measures to do all that, you know, for the safety.
08:21And also recently, if you ask me, a certain unfortunate case happened in a hospital, in
08:28a state, in a state where it was supposed to be the most safest place in India.
08:33I used to live there.
08:34My mother was there, my sister was there, my sister lived there, my mother lived there
08:37for forty plus years and my sister lived her entire childhood there and that was supposed
08:42to be the most safest state.
08:44I love that place.
08:46But you know, this unfortunate incident happened in this century and, you know, that's very
08:51unfortunate.
08:52That happened in a hospital where there is enough security, enough, you know, enough
08:56people to take care of things and just imagine.
08:59So in that case, I will still say cinema is much better.
09:02We, you know, we handle it much better way, in a democratic way, more than.
09:11You know, it will give questions, people will start asking questions, people will start
09:19having doubts on certain things.
09:21This will change the series, if you watch the series, it will change your perspective
09:26on certain things.
09:28You know, we take an essay, we straight away consume it, yeah, this is supposed to be what
09:33we get and we just consume it, I mean, we are happy about it.
09:36But from now on, if you, after watching this, you will start having one small doubt like
09:42about, you know, what has happened or such kind of questions will come up and there is
09:47no such message as such.
09:53If you ask me if there is a moral message, sorry, there is a moral message, there is
09:58a message after watching it will create a lot of awareness.
10:05Due to that, many people will, you know, take it serious on their work, on their
10:11profession and clear out many things, you know, so there is an awareness.
10:17It's not that it is a fantasy driven subject or a fiction driven, it is not.
10:22It is fighting with reality of life.
10:25And as things are growing, we are seeing so many things now, the invasion of AI, all those
10:30kind of things have come, right?
10:31So it is imposing, somebody can impose on your voice or impose on your face and do many
10:36things in that way, in reality of life, that what we are trying to implement here is also
10:40create awareness in the future.
10:42So it should not happen and have an eye on everything.
10:47So I cannot reveal when, you know, maybe we can talk.
10:51The characters don't have any good messages.
10:56So there is a lot in it.
10:58It's not just running around the bush or anything like that.
11:02So Thousand Babies is a serious drama and I'm sure if people watch the first episode
11:09itself, they will all love it.
11:12We are not mimicking anything.
11:14We are not fantasizing anything about how it is, but it's a serious one.
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