- today
Mumbai,Maharashtra: In an engaging conversation with IANS, Actress Surveen Chawla, Actress Priya Bapat, and Director and Writer Raghav Dhar talks about their new series ‘Andhera’. Surveen reflects on a fulfilling 2025, balancing detachment and growth, while Priya opens up about her cross-industry experiences and the creative freedom OTT offers. Raghav shares insights into the technical and emotional layers of horror.
#Andhera #SurveenChawla #PriyaBapat #RaghavDhar #IndianHorror #OTT2025 #IANSExclusive #HorrorSeries #IndianWebSeries #BollywoodActor #IANSExclusive #IANSInterview
#Andhera #SurveenChawla #PriyaBapat #RaghavDhar #IndianHorror #OTT2025 #IANSExclusive #HorrorSeries #IndianWebSeries #BollywoodActor #IANSExclusive #IANSInterview
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00:00So, hello everyone, welcome to Anis and congratulations for Andhir Adhattar.
00:04When Gaurav came to you with the idea you know you bounced off you know how it could
00:09be done you know what could be the day-to-day unfolding on the set could be like when you
00:14got the actors on board from there on how was his journey like you know to bring it
00:19what was there on paper to bring it to life in flesh and blood how was that?
00:22So, actually when Gaurav came with the idea I was also a part of the writers room and I was already trying to understand the issue from that point and we had already started talking about the actor so we had a good idea about the kind of people we wanted so then when the casting agency came on board and the talk started it was very I would say
00:52our good fortune that we were able to get actors like Priya, Suvi, Prajakta you know and Karanthi because they so did justice to the parts at the end of the day that our jobs became easy and especially in a challenging format or challenging genre horror you really look fantastic actor.
01:20Yeah.
01:21Yeah.
01:22Yeah.
01:23Yeah.
01:24And because it is much more challenging than your healer every day after you know.
01:27Yeah.
01:28Yeah.
01:29And we got very lucky there.
01:30Okay.
01:31And Surveen I suppose you are playing a healer in this series that is what I have deduced from Atma healing.
01:37I am just the founder of a wellness centre.
01:41Okay.
01:42Okay.
01:43The rest is that you say.
01:45Okay.
01:46So tell me when you got into the mind space of this character first what was the brief given to your the source material that you had and apart from that the brief he would give you on each day that you have to do it broadly how did you sketch this character in your mind.
02:02This is the way I would like to go into.
02:03See to begin with I think the one line that I said was the broadest that I can do in this interview.
02:07Okay.
02:08Apart from that I think we guys had lots of conversations.
02:09I remember you know when we met at the excel office.
02:10Yes.
02:11And you were standing outside.
02:12I think we had in depth detailed conversations and chats in general about how we perceive this story about the supernatural part of it about the science part of it about the amalgamation of it.
02:25And what the key part is every actor playing in terms of the story and how they are being the catalyst and navigating it forward.
02:50So I think that for us and sharing our opinions and to have a team and to have for example Gaurav, Raghav, I have had some amazing conversations with them and it has always been about give and take.
03:06And I think that collaboration makes a show like especially a show like this very very special because one is the story, one is the vision, one is the vision.
03:17But the way that the horror is in which there is a psychological element and it is not investigative.
03:24Some things on paper are the same.
03:26But when you change the perception or the lens change, it is very personal.
03:33Yeah.
03:34So I think that give and take was very special for me and it really helped me because it gave me different different perspectives.
03:41So I think that went a long way in finally finding the Ayesha.
03:47Ayesha is my past name in Andhira.
03:51Just one little piece of information that I added.
03:54Okay.
03:55But yeah, it's like I said, I mean it's a very very interesting role and Andhira is a horror that is going to give you far more than just horror.
04:08It's going to give you perspective, it's going to make you die within.
04:12Because Andhira is not only talking about the outside, we are talking about it.
04:15We are talking about it symbolically.
04:17You are talking about yourself and finding the light within that Andhira.
04:23Okay.
04:24And Priya, with regards to your character, you play a cop.
04:27Now, cop is just a profession.
04:28You know, the person behind that uniform mentally can be very different.
04:33So if you could break down the character for us, what is the world that she comes from?
04:38No, I can't.
04:39Sorry, I mean if I'll start breaking that down.
04:40What's the world you like in totality?
04:42Then I probably will have to give you a lot of nuances about the storyline and the performance and everything which I can't believe right now.
04:50But for that you have to watch Andhira from voting performance on Prime Video.
04:55And you can talk about the fairness aspect of it.
05:01I can.
05:02I mean I can't talk about her inner journey, like what she has felt as a person.
05:06No, in broad strokes.
05:07Yeah.
05:08But definitely because it's along with everything that Surveen said, supernatural, horror, science, space, it's also an investigation, investigative drama.
05:20Jahave Ikkov is going and finding out truth about a case.
05:25So through her also you realise and you understand few things.
05:29Like Raghav sir also said that and Surveen also mentioned that Andhira is within you.
05:36We all have those dark spaces within us.
05:39It could be fear, it could be regret, it could be any emotion that is half explored, not fully explored.
05:51Apathy perhaps also.
05:52Yeah.
05:53Anything that you can't confront with and I think that comes at a surface, it surfaces at some point in your life and it just haunts you.
06:08I think every person goes through that journey at some or the other point.
06:11Yeah.
06:12In the story, in the show, every character is feeling that, going through that.
06:16Whereas all of us in our personal lives also go through that holo-coaster of ups and downs and yeh
06:21I think it's okay or not.
06:22I feel bad today.
06:23I feel bad today.
06:24I feel depressed today.
06:25I feel very happy today.
06:26All of that.
06:27Yeah.
06:28So finding that emotional space of Kalpana and understanding that was a very important part.
06:37More than this, I really cannot tell you what Kalpana goes through and what she has to experience.
06:43It's a story about that.
06:46Okay.
06:47Fine.
06:48So with regards to now I've seen the trailer it says that you know it's about bringing as abstract thing as a darkness to life.
06:56You know what happens when it attains a life form.
06:59Andhira essentially means the absence of light.
07:02So when you're making a show like this, I want to understand the technicals of it, the colour palette, how it was lit, the texture of the lighting, was it very harsh lighting, how it was lit.
07:11So it was very challenging, the entire technical aspect of it, I mean you can talk about it at length on a different kind of a show like because we need to get into details and I need to get my technical team on board.
07:26So representing darkness on the screen is not as easy.
07:29Yeah, definitely.
07:30Yeah.
07:31And we had to work very hard, we had to make use of shadows, moving shadows, we had to make use of textures that you don't normally see on OTT or in Indian cinema.
07:47And we are mostly playing in cool colours like teal, black, blues.
07:56No, not necessarily.
07:57There are also parts.
07:59It has the full gamut of emotions, but it's definitely atmospheric.
08:06It's and because it's a series, we had to do it very quickly.
08:11And therefore my VP who's a young guy called Yuen San Mahopatra and very talented gentleman and he did a beautiful, he really managed to achieve what our vision was and it was great working.
08:29And the lenses were cook lenses, hey Alexa I am assuming or something else.
08:32The exact lenses I will have to confirm with him because I don't remember all that but it's a short amount of airy camera.
08:45Every frame looks very creepy and beautiful at the same time.
08:48Yeah.
08:49That's the fun of it.
08:50Yeah, really really beautiful.
08:52Okay and Savine coming to you, I was reading the comments below the trailer and unanimously they call you
08:59the queen of OTT.
09:00Some go on to call you like the Pedro Pascal of Bollywood.
09:03You are everywhere, like every platform.
09:05Wow.
09:06Bollywood.
09:07Bye guys.
09:08It's over.
09:09Bye.
09:10You should be angry about that.
09:16Yeah.
09:17I've just been working in the middle stream and all that now.
09:20Anyway, whatever it is, I'm not generalised.
09:23So that's fine.
09:24Then we go home.
09:26So now tell me in 2025 when you are working, your work is coming out across platforms.
09:31We had criminal justice, mandala murders, now we have a Nera.
09:34So how do you define 2020 for you so far as an actor, as an artist?
09:43Does it have a sense of accomplishment or is there still more hunger to, there has to be there?
09:48This is a reward of a long night that lasted 20 years.
09:53And it's just the beginning.
09:54I think what also tends to happen, and this is very realistically speaking, I'm honestly saying
10:03this, when you get technology and when you get recognition, whether it's the industry you're
10:06working with, it could be across fields, right?
10:07Yeah.
10:08It's not just in the cinema or the movie or whatever.
10:10I think what it does is something else which is not tangible to your own confidence.
10:24It does that thing.
10:25Yeah.
10:26It's not the success part of it.
10:27It's the recognition part of it.
10:28Yeah.
10:29It's the acceptance part of it that does something to you.
10:34And I'm also a little aware of the fact that, you know, anything here in this industry changes
10:47at any time.
10:48It's very fleeting.
10:49Very, very fleeting, very fragile, very fickle and which is why it's so difficult.
10:54Yeah.
10:55So the idea is just to take this as that leaping board, as that spring board to just go further
11:03and keep at it.
11:04That's it.
11:05Really.
11:06I mean, idea is to just keep it very simple and forget about this and just move on and
11:10take every project that you do on face value and just think about that project and nothing
11:16before and nothing after.
11:17Really that.
11:18I hope I'm able to achieve that because it's, you know, this whole three, four months has
11:22gotten me into a very introspective, self-reflective kind of space and I've been very detached
11:31in a way with the outcome of all of these projects.
11:35I don't know why it happened that way.
11:37But I want to remain that detached with the outcome and focus on only what I do.
11:43And is detachment your strength as an artist?
11:46Maybe, maybe, maybe currently yes, because I know what happened when I was too attached.
11:59It's not, it's not what that you're attached to a part, it's the attachment to the outcome
12:05of a part.
12:06So you can't keep thinking about, oh, I have to succeed, I have to succeed and get obsessive
12:12about it, right?
12:13Because that's when it moves further away.
12:15It's a little philosophical that way.
12:17But I think that's how you grow in terms of your own understanding as an individual,
12:23as just a being.
12:25And that has created some kind of inner shift in me.
12:30And I just want to work very hard to keep it that way.
12:33So I want to, going forward now, I want to forget about it.
12:36This was work.
12:37I did my best.
12:38I was rewarded.
12:39I want to go on doing whatever comes next, exactly like this.
12:44And yeah, just help me.
12:47And Piyashi spoke about, you know, this journey has been, you know, because of the past 20
12:52years that have led to it.
12:54I remember you're watching in Munna bhai MBBS first, the lecture, Burma Nirani sir.
13:00I want to know that, you know, in these 20 years, you have worked in Marathi cinema bangers
13:03after bangers, then you have worked in Hindi cinema as well.
13:06When you switch across the industries, as an artist, how does it enrich you?
13:11How does it give you a new perspective to look at stories through a very fresh view, perhaps?
13:15How does it all happen?
13:18I see that I think I've got more meaty parts and more challenging roles in the space of
13:29OTT now, even from the time I started, be it City of Dreams or I'm sorry, I don't
13:36want to take names, but be it every show that I've done so far.
13:40And I think, yeah, I think that has given me a lot more with and because of everything I did and
13:53learnt in my Marathi industry and from the cinema that I did.
13:58I think more than a box office, OTT really has been challenging, experimenting and it's a great space to be in.
14:06Is it liberating to work on OTT as an artist?
14:08It is, it is liberating and also for an actor like me, it's a, like I was saying, it's a great time because people are trusting you with more different parts, more women characters have been written in a good way, in a good space.
14:23Yeah, yeah.
14:24So, yes.
14:25Okay, okay.
14:26Perfect.
14:27And for my last question, Raghav, we see the trailer, you know, it has its moments, you know,
14:30final moments, there are jump scares as well.
14:32I want to know the kind of horror that has influenced the storyteller in you.
14:36Is it more of jump scare or is it more of very atmospheric, something like a hereditary or what is your general taste like in horror?
14:42I watch all kinds of, like so there's nothing, it's as a genre it really interesting and I've seen hereditary, I've seen a lot of Korean horror, Japanese horror, you know.
15:01Which would be your favourite?
15:02American horror, one of the best films I've seen is a movie called, have you seen Wind?
15:14I've seen the Japanese one and the.
15:16No.
15:17Yeah.
15:18And so Shutter, so that kind of work really interests me because of the crafting world as well as the emotional layer of the story.
15:29Or have you seen something like audition a lot of Korean horror does that.
15:34So, worldwide there is a lot of resurgence in horror that is there.
15:40Yeah.
15:41And I think India has been lagging behind for a while in terms of, there is one, every once in a while a nice horror project comes.
15:48Yeah, once in a generation perhaps.
15:49Yeah, but people have tended to not back for whatever fear, like the budget or you know, whatever, they fear backing.
15:58You know, there is a very cutting edge kind of horror.
16:03But I think with this project certain things will change.
16:08Okay.
16:09And you said that you know India is lagging behind.
16:11Why is that happening despite we have countless folklore, we have countless urban legends also.
16:16So, the audience is privy to you know horror basically.
16:19But why would you say that you know India is lagging behind, what could be the reason?
16:23Lagging behind in the sense that not enough such projects are being backed.
16:26The audience have a taste for it.
16:28The audience have a taste for it.
16:29The audience is watching such projects from all over the world.
16:33And it is only now that people have woken up to the potential of horror in a series.
16:41Otherwise horror comedies are done maybe once in a while.
16:44But horror because horror allows us to explore you know the dark facet of life.
16:49Yeah.
16:50You know.
16:51And not in a breachy way.
16:53It is in an entertaining way.
16:55Yeah.
16:56It is in an exciting way.
16:57It is in a thrilling way.
16:58It makes your heart race.
17:00I would even say it is good for your health.
17:03You know.
17:04You get exercise sitting at home.
17:07So, I think it is changing.
17:09But lagging behind I say from the perspective of serious psychological horror and really funding it.
17:17Okay.
17:18Okay.
17:19Perfect.
17:20So, with that we have reached the end of this conversation.
17:21If there is anything that I may have missed asking as a question or something that you would
17:24have love to talk about.
17:25So, please speak to me.
17:26No, that was great.
17:27I think the plan we missed you.
17:28The project that was backed is Andhera.
17:30Andhera.
17:31Which is coming.
17:32Andhera.
17:33So, thank you for the August.
17:34So, 14th August please.
17:35Mark your calendars.
17:36Don't go anywhere for vacations and holidays.
17:39Because it is Independence Day around the corner.
17:42And if you plan to do then find a place where you are going to make the mahal, make the mood
17:47and ultimately watch Andhera on Prime Video 14th of August.
17:53Perfect.
17:54So, on that note, thank you.
17:56She said it all.
17:57She said it all.
17:58She said it all.
17:59She said it all.
18:00She said it all.
18:01She said it all.
18:02Perfect.
18:03So, thank you so much.