‘There is a certain kind of entitlement among the youth today’

A musical with teenagers as protagonists has rarely been attempted in India. But thanks to the digital medium, several new forms of storytelling are being explored. Filmmaker Goldie Behl is making his digital debut with Rejctx, a musical web series aimed at youngsters. The 10-episode show is produced and directed by Goldie and will premiere on Zee5 on July 25.

The series focuses on high school students and their issues, and how they deal with it. “It’s about how they deal with rejection at a young age and turn it into a positive thing in their life,” says the filmmaker.

Going by the trailer, Rejctx looks like an extension of popular TV show Remix, which was produced by his production house in 2005. “They are very similar in a few ways but different in many aspects,” says Goldie. With Rejctx, says he, they are trying to put out the message that Indian kids are global citizens.“When you see international shows on with high school life, there is very little representation from India. So, we wanted to make a show which the global audiences will be able to identify with as well as Indians. The issues that the millennials are facing are universal like porn addiction, sexual performance, dysfunctional family, religion, body shaming and so on,” he points out.

He adds that though these issues are genuine, they have been told in an entertaining manner. “There are tons of stories attached to it along with thriller and mystery,” he says.      

The series features Sumeet Vyas, Kubra Sait along with newcomers like Masi Wali, Anisha Victor, Ayush Khurana, Prabhneet Singh, Ridhi Khakhar, Saadhika Syal and Pooja Shetty. 

The filmmaker, who has directed both films and TV serials, says that the responsibility doubles while directing newcomers. “They are going to listen to whatever you say and so the onus comes on you. With time, these young actors contribute to the show. They are well exposed and aware. If you guide them, they are more than willing to deliver.”  

Coming back to Rejctx, why did he choose musical as a genre? “Because music is the best way to express yourself without offending anyone and at the same time you can entertain people. We have a beautiful song called Love Life, which talks about the LGBTQ+ community. The song stays with you. We also have rap about the angst of a young boy who is not being able to fit in. Actually, not much music is happening on the web platform, so we wanted to do a grand musical,” says Goldie about the music, which has been composed by Sneha Khanwalkar. “I think Sneha has done a fantastic job with the music,” he adds.

Youngsters are considered to be confused about lot of things and understanding their problems isn’t any easy job for the older generation. But the fact that Goldie is father to a teenager boy must have come handy. He replies, “My son will be going to high school next year, but my nephew is 16 and he is already in high school. Fortunately, they can communicate with me and make me understand their points of view. I also get to communicate with their friends and talk about their issues. I had a close encounter with their belief system, which helped a lot.”   
 
Is there anything among the youth that amazes him the most? Goldie says, “There is a certain kind of entitlement among the youth today, which isn’t a bad thing. The entitlement comes from security, they don’t feel lesser than anyone or they don’t get affected by what people from the West say. They are very proud of who they are and where they come from. They have the courage to say no to things, which is incredible. When we were growing up, we had a lot of insecurities, much more fascination for the West.” 

After having worked in films, TV and web, the Drona director says that all three mediums are different and similar at the same time. “Web is the hybrid version of both because the kind of stories and narratives in it are closest to films, but the logistics involved in making web series is closest to television. We have to shoot 450 minutes in 60 days, which is a crazy task,” he says.