Bollywood celebrities are often a target of online abuse and trolling. However, they often ignore such messages or just give it back in their own style. Talking about the troll culture pertaining in India and especially among Generation Z, founder and creative producer of Boundless Media, Natasha Malpani Oswal, spoke in length about the same with India.com.
Talking about the Troll culture, she said, “We’re living in a strange time. It’s hard to get away from online hate and cyberbullying. Our online and online lives have also blurred.”
“The Class of 2020 and Gen Z are dealing with a perfect storm. Just as they were growing up, and leaving home to go to college or start their first jobs, they’ve been forced to move back home, instead of meeting new friends, starting new relationships and finding themselves. They’re spending most of their time online, and they’re beginning to question institutions-the media, the education system- when it’s clear no adult has the answers, in the midst of all this uncertainty. They’re also questioning age old beliefs: why should they get married? Is sexuality a spectrum? What does skin color and weight matter?”, she added.
Natasha is coming up with Gen Z series named ‘Cancelled’ which is based on social media trysts, taking inspiration from the now infamous ‘Cancel Culture’, the practice of boycotting and group shaming a person on social media if their actions are seen as objectionable. Opening about the series, she said, “Cancelled is the third series we’ve released in 2020! Unseen is a dark take on mental health during the pandemic, and Objectified is fun, high energy mixed-media series. At Boundless Media, we tell stories for a new India. We look for stories that are truly experimental or genre-bending, and also have an element of societal commentary. Our shows are contemporary and cutting-edge. We shine a light on what’s happening in the world in real-time. We work across formats- short form, film, series- and also genres- comedy, drama, fantasy, horror. ‘Cancelled’ is a fun and very relevant series. We follow the comic capers of three very different Gen Zers who come together online to save the world from online bullying and realize it’s not easy to be a hero.”
“We want to shine a light on how much damage trolling and cancel culture (a new phenomenon when a group of people on the internet choose to ‘cancel’ a person’s career and the work they’ve done over decades overnight) can cause- in a darkly comic way. Your online behavior can have real-world consequences- there is a dark side to social media. We all need to be careful how we engage. Cancelled will entertain you, but will also spark a real conversation”, she further added.
Speaking about the characters in her series, she said, “We wanted to highlight how Gen Z is dealing with change through our 3 main characters- Rishab, Anusha and Vidyut- in a very fun and relatable way. Along with most of the Gen Z generation, they’re all very vocal and savvy on social media, but often have to deal with online abuse. They are also deeply conflicted and insecure in the real world- one of them is dealing with body image issues and ghosting, the other is struggling with his identity and the third is questioning the value of school. it’s hard to tell which of their lives is more real to them.
Are You Excited to Watch Cancelled?