Anubhuti Kashyap: It was a great learning experience to be working on Doctor G

As part of its talk show, Box Office Careers, Bennett University invited Anubhuti Kashyap to talk about opportunities that await young professionals hoping to enter the industry. The talk show, which aims to promote BA / PGD programs in Films, TV and Web Series, witnessed the perfect speaker who spoke about her experience when she started her journey, difference in making films and web series and her experience of working on Junglee Pictures’ Doctor G.
Along with Anubhuti, Anup Pandey from Junglee Pictures was a panellist for the talk show as the curriculum for BA Film, Television and Web Series course has been designed by the production house.
‘Mine has not been a simple, clear-cut journey’
Encouraging students that it is not always an easy journey, Anubhuti shared her story when she started out and shared that she was never sure about joining the industry. “Mine has not been a simple, clear-cut journey. In school and in college, I have been interested in theatre and performing arts, but I used to pursue it as a hobby and thought I did not have any other creative bone in me. Plus, I come from a small town and in those days, the belief was still strong that people from good families don’t join the industry so I always had this pressure on me to not go join in the footsteps of my brothers. My brothers are in the film industry and by the time it was time for me to pursue a career, they had not made it big by then. So, I did my MBA, joined an IT industry and pursued a management career for seven-eight years, I did that hoping this is my Plan B in my life but that became my Plan A and thought maybe I’ll pursue something in the media as a hobby along with my job which never happened. At that stage in life when I was doing really well in my career, I thought this is the time for me to think whether I want to change my profession. That time I took a short sabbatical for work which was like four-five months work,” she shared and added, “I started spending time with my brother since I happened to be in Mumbai at that time and my brother has always encouraged me to do something because he always thought that I had a great writer in me. I had done a little bit of writing so he kind of pushed into writing, researching for a film. And when I had taken a break, I never thought that I'd do something in the film industry and have a career in it but then since I was not sure of becoming a writer, I thought I could pursue some technical stuff. I had an experience of sitting into edit rooms before as an observer and I liked that. I bought myself a good computer, and started begging amateur filmmakers to give me footage which I could edit and teach myself some editing. I managed to do a bit of it but I realised that this job demands too much and it is an interesting process but you have to be very patient. I got an opportunity, I met Raj Kumar Gupta in one of the social gatherings when he was just about to be filming Aamir as a film and he told me that he has a position of an assistant director and asked me if I would like to join as an intern AD. I said I would love to and that was really one film when I observed all aspects of filmmaking while being on the shoot and I felt like that I fit in seamlessly. I did not feel out of place. From then on, my journey started.”

‘I made my move into the industry in 2007-2008 and I am making my feature film now’
Anubhuti Kashyap, who has worked as an Assistant Director in Gangs of Wasseypur, is now directing Doctor G. She also shared with students that she has learnt from all the people around her, those who made it and those who did not as well. “I have had a band of supporters and filmmakers and without whom it is difficult to exist. I made my move into the film industry at the end of 2007-2008 and I am making my feature film debut now. It’s quite a tough task to maintain certain faith and confidence that you will make it one day. It is impossible without the band of supporters and well-wishers. People who are examples to you, people who started with you and have been able to reach somewhere, people who have also not reached somewhere and have been disheartened and quit midway, they are also important sources of learning for you. You learn from everybody’s journey,” she explained.
‘It was a great learning experience to be working on Doctor G’
Talking about her next, she shared that it was an amazing experience to work on the film. “There was a long wait involved in it but it really paid off. I am still a part of the process but it was a great learning experience. Before this, I had only seen directors go through this experience from a distance, it was a great learning experience and I had fun along the way,” she said.
Films are seen in its entirety while on OTT, each episode is seen as a film
Anubhuti, who has had the experience of working on both platforms – films and web series, also spoke about the difference of working in both mediums. She pointed out, “It’s quite different, the entire approach to it is very different. Right from scripting, you are looking at an episode as a film. The episodes have a beginning and an end. The structuring of the episode is entirely different and so is the making. One key difference is that these are seen on OTT platforms, you don’t worry so much about the cinematic visuals. You do if you have the budget for it and if you have a great timeline but often you don’t have to worry that much about it but more about getting the performance right, getting the right edits and script is the king. In terms of structure once you have shot, there are things about web series that are far more important. You don’t see it in its entirety like the pilot episode is the most important. That’s like the pressure that will come from the OTT platforms and even within the pilot episodes, the first 10 minutes is most important because that’s when you engage the viewers otherwise, they leave you. These kinds of pressures and dynamics you don’t have in Indian films. Indian films are looked at as an entire package so the approach of looking at films is completely different. Depending on the budget and the scale you are making the film on, if it is a theatrical release, there are many other aspects to it. You have box office pressures which means you have to draw stars to it, you have to put in masala to draw the audience whereas on the web, the content is the king.”

‘This is the best time for young talent to join the industry’
While Anubhuti focussed on her personal journey and answered questions posed by students on the opportunities available for the young talent in the industry, Anup Pandey from Junglee Pictures encouraged students and shared that this is the right time for young people to join the industry. “This is the right time for anyone who wants to join the industry. There are so many OTT platforms coming in and everyone wants to consume a lot of material. And there is a lot of good work happening. Major part of my job is always to be on the lookout for young talent in terms of writing, directing and acting. Everyone is getting their moments to shine right now. We want the creative energy to be flowing in our writers’ room, where a lot of young writers are jamming in and that’s also the target audience that’s watching. It may seem intimidating but if you are talented, you will shine. And production houses need dedicated people and institutes like BU can help students in giving a prior training which can help have more creative producers in the industry,” he said.