‘Some houses of Jamtara villagers bigger than Big B’s’

What made you take up a topic like phishing in Jamtara?
An article in an English daily on phishing in the town caught our attention. It spoke of how school dropouts from Jamtara duped tech-savvy people in big metros. The economy of the village is driven by phishing. Almost each and every villager is involved in the crime. It all began when shops started giving away SIM cards for free. Though the village has a population of 2,000, it accounts for 80 per cent of India’s cybercrime cases.
We always imagine this kind of crime to be based out of big, technologically advanced cities, but phishing was happening in a town as small as Jamtara. We thought it would be an amazing story to tell.
What is Jamtara like now?
The people of Jamtara have palatial homes. Some houses have remote-controlled gates and some are bigger than the Big B’s house. Earlier, there were only tiny mud houses. The town is extremely well-kept, clean and green. It feels like a village with zero crime. One wouldn’t have the slightest indication of it being the hub of cybercrime in India.
The crime has gone to another level in the past few years. It has spread like cancer. Now it is run like a family business.
Aren’t the youths scared of getting arrested or punished?
They don’t care about what’s happening outside Jamtara. They are willing to break the law and know there’s money to be made. The sense of morality is missing. People are making crores of rupees now. They think of it as their time to make it big. They enjoy political backing and some are even contesting elections. The local administration and police are not only aware of the crime, they are closely involved in the network.
The situation there is complex. The socio-political structure the youths grew up in pushed them towards crime. A large part of India, including the state of Jharkhand, is mired in poverty and runs on caste divisions. I think improving access to education in rural areas can be a game changer.
The ones making the calls are mostly below 18 and it’s a soft crime. So, registering a case or getting them arrested is not easy.
Do you think pro-active policing could have prevented the crime from occurring on such a large scale?
It could have lessened the intensity of the crime, but I don’t think pro-active policing would have stopped it. There is a breaking point for everyone. The youths of Jamtara have never seen this kind of money and they couldn’t care less about what rules they are breaking while making it. Somewhere, we all are guilty of complicity.
We have seen The Mahabharat being worked into the narrative. Why?
‘Lower’ caste groups didn’t have much access to mythology. Literature was always part of the upper caste. And India’s past and castes are still alive. Whatever little knowledge these people gathered of mythology was from unofficial sources. We wanted to show how caste controlled people’s lives.
What kind of cinematic liberties, if any, have you taken?
We didn’t show much of phishing as it involves very little use of technology. Anyone with a smart phone can do it. The youths involved in the crime aren’t hackers. The series is more on the characters than on the crime. I think minimalism was the key. The credit goes to the writing team. They did the research and mixed reality with fiction, without altering the essence of Jamtara. It was a team effort. There was a lot of freedom as well as challenges.
We see strong female leads in the series. Was that deliberate?
Women in Jamtara are extremely strong. I believe strong characters make their own story. It is a great time to be a story-teller in India. We have seen enough male-dominated stories and we are bored. The audience wants variety.
Small (town) is now big in web series and Hindi films, but Odisha’s towns and villages have stayed below the radar. Do you think it’s time to tell the Odisha story?
The transformation has begun. Big city stories have been exhausted. Small towns and villages have a lot to tell and show. Odisha will catch up, too. I am looking forward to telling stories from the state. I didn’t have the chance to explore it much, but I will soon.