It started with Amazon Prime’s Putham Pudhu Kaalai. Then, Netflix followed suit with Paava Kadhaigal, releasing in a couple of weeks. With Disney+ Hotstar too announcing a series of titles, it appears that Tamil cinema’s who’s who are embracing OTT platforms with open arms.
Triples, a comedy series produced by filmmaker Karthik Subbaraj’s production firm Stone Bench, is next up for release on Disney+ Hotstar on December 11.
Starring Jai, Vani Bhojan, Vivek Prasanna, Rajkumar and Madhuri, the series, directed by Charukesh Sekar, has already caught the attention of netizens with its witty one-liners and situational comedy, as seen in a trailer that was released recently.
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In a virtual press meet to release a song from the show titled ‘Nee En Kannadi’, Karthik Subbaraj drew parallels with the late Crazy Mohan’s writings to explain the show’s comedy quotient.
Jai and Vani Bhojan in ‘Triples’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“Growing up, we have all been fans of Crazy Mohan sir. This show is a dedication to him and his style of writing,” says Karthik, adding, “When I was pitched the idea, I thought it was funny and interesting because it had good humour and romance quotient as well.”
Two characters in the show — that of Vivek Prasanna’s and Rajkumar’s — have been named Madhu and Cheenu, a reference to Crazy Mohan’s theatre sketches.
“The two characters are iconic creations of Crazy Mohan. When the show’s writer (Balaji) narrated these characters to me, I was sold. The show plays out like a comedy of errors and has lots of wordplay, just like in the style of Crazy Mohan,” says the show’s director Charukesh.
Karthik pitches in: “It has the qualities of a clean comedy... the serious situations the actors in the show face will appear funny to us. The story will play out like it is chaotic situation unfolding for the actors.”
Jai, who marks his debut on streaming platforms with this project, says that Stone Bench left no stone unturned in terms of production value. “I have heard that usually web series are shot on a tight budget. I had no such feeling with Triples. It felt like I was shooting for a film,” he says.