In an exclusive interaction with MediaBrief, Abhimanyu Singh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Contiloe Pictures, speaks about the significant recognition and admiration that Contiloe’s latest historical dramas, ‘Taj Divided by Blood’ and ‘Taj: Reign of Revenge,’ have garnered. He discusses how the team at Contiloe navigated through challenges such as the multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, the language barrier between the local and global crew, and the recreation of majestic battle sequences.
Singh emphasizes how Indian OTT shows are now gaining global popularity and discusses the enduring appeal of the historical genre. He also underscores the crucial role of partnerships in the success of a production house and highlights how Contiloe Pictures keeps up with evolving audience preferences.
Read on.
How does it feel to receive such a phenomenal response from viewers and have Taj Divided by Blood become the most-watched series on ZEE5?
It’s always reassuring when the viewer likes a piece of content that you’ve created. Luckily, we had shot two seasons together because somewhere we were confident that audiences would like it. While we dropped season one, within a span of three months, we were ready with season 2 as well.
With a historical like this, launching two seasons back-to-back is close to impossible if you’ve not planned it in advance. But we are glad the show has been well appreciated.
What were some of the challenges you encountered while producing season one and two of the show, and what are the key lessons or insights you have gained from the experience?
There were lots of challenges we faced because of COVID. That was the biggest variable that was staring us in the face because we started prepping for the show in the middle of 2021, which is when the Delta Wavehad hit. We got into filming by October 2021 and then Omicron hit. So, we’ve been hit by multiple waves of COVID while prepping and shooting for Taj.
We experienced our share of consequences of delays and halts. There were many senior actors on the show, so at the time, it was extremely crucial to keep the highest safety standards. We worked closely with Momentum India, who was responsible for health and safety. And they did a fantastic job.
We also worked with our global crew this time, we had various people from across the world come in to collaborate with us to tell the story so language was a barrier between a lot of the unit members and international crew. So that was another big challenge that we needed to work with.
We had close to 400 people on a normal day and around 800 people on days we had battle and war sequences. These were some of the major challenges we faced and had to prepare for but all of it was, at the end of the day, worth it. People are liking the show and are really enjoying what they’re watching.
Indian OTT shows are now going global. So when you’re creating a show, what specifically do you keep in mind when conceptualizing this for the global audiences?
We have beautiful stories; we have unique stories so it’s just a matter of time before Indian shows break out. Our story of Taj is a story of succession, which is global, which is also very relatable, even in today’s day. It’s a succession battle of an empire, which works well in any language. It’s about an era that the world doesn’t know much about – the Medieval times in India.
India was the richest country at that time and behind all the splendour and glory of the Mughals, there were a lot of cloaks and daggers. And that story obviously interests any audience – to see how empires rose and fell. These are the few important points that we kept an eye on while conceptualising the show for Indian as well as global audiences.
What factors do you believe contribute to the enduring popularity of the historical genre and historical shows among the Indian audience?
I think history is always relevant, and always will be relevant. Because it’s something that has happened, people will always want to watch. If you look at the U.S., they make so much (content) around the Second World War, the American War of Independence or the Vietnam War – those are the big historical incidents and work fantastically! Ours, on the other hand, is a far deeper, larger and bigger history.
There are so many stories in the historical space that are just waiting to be told to Indian as well as global audiences. Some will just have a local appeal, while some will have global appeal but that will vary from story to story. I guess that is something we see with content across the world and that’s to do with the culture or the story of any country or person.
The production quality of Taj has been highly praised by viewers. Can you shed some light into the efforts that were put into ensuring this higher standard for the show, and what are the key elements that you focused on to deliver such visually stunning experiences for the audience?
No matter how much money there is, it’s too little. It’s always about how you spend that money. To be able to deliver a high production value historically was a challenge, because obviously, we needed to put whatever money we had in the right department so that it showed on screen.
We focused on the casting which was very important and to ensure that we have a good mix of seasoned actors as well as fresh talent. To get the authenticity right, we got Omung Kumar to do the sets.
We even tried to keep the lighting as authentic as possible. It was all fire and all the sources of fire needed specialized lighting to be done – all controlled by panels to ensure that flickering feel through the show.
The costumes, war props and the wars are the areas that we really focused on. We designed it in a way where we could amortise this in the right manner across the episodes so the production values would be high, yet the builds will be as few as possible. Each build goes into crores of rupees so the more you build, the more expensive it becomes, and therefore you need to repurpose a lot of your visual effects.
Another thing that we focussed on was the VFX, because when you have limitations like time and space you need to rely on VFX. VFX can save you money in production, if you use it correctly, as opposed to people thinking it’s an expense. It can actually be a saviour, provided it’s used smartly and rightly. So, we focused on these areas, largely to be able to give a good cinematic experience of an epic.
What are the current trends that you’re observing in the Indian entertainment industry? How do you ensure that you stay ahead of the curve and adapt to changes in the industry? What efforts do you make to cater to evolving audience preferences and needs?
I think to stay ahead of the curve, you have to set trends, because the point is that if you’re following a trend, then you’re behind the curve. For example, most people might not be doing historicals, we’ve gone ahead and done a historical.
We’ve done State of Siege where very few people do military shows. We believe that military shows that are about counterinsurgency and the National Security Guard are stories that haven’t been told enough. We wanted to tell that story with high octane action and emotion at its core, that would captivate the Indian audiences.
These have really worked for us. We’ve tried to, as storytellers, believe in the stories that we are telling and try to follow that rather than following trends. I believe that you need to set your own trends, you need to set your uniqueness and sometimes you might follow a trend, because that’s the story that you are really passionate about telling, and so be it.
I have worked on a lot of horror and thrillers on television but I believe that at this moment, I’m better equipped to tell these stories, because I find them more challenging. As a storyteller, it gives me more latitude to play with characters. And obviously as I move on, I will keep expanding that expanse of the genres that I delve into.
Partnerships play a crucial role in success as a production house. Can you highlight some of Contiloe Pictures’ existing partnerships and how they’ve contributed to the growth of the company?
Lots of people that work with us have worked with us on not one, but multiple projects. Case in point, William and Simon, the showrunner and writer of Taj respectively, have also written State of Siege: Temple Attack. While they might be international writers, working with them to give a fresh perspective to the story is always very enriching and interesting.
Similarly with our partners like Sony, ZEE, Viacom to name a few, it’s always been good to partner with them and repeat successes with them. They believe in you, you believe in them, and when that trust is formed, it helps you open your stance. Which, in turn, helps you as a storyteller immensely.
We are eagerly looking at more international collaborations as far as production is concerned, because I really believe that some of the best stories might come out of India. And for that to happen, we will need to collaborate with the West. And we must do it.
Whether it’s the West or the East, whether it’s out of someplace in Indonesia, or Thailand, we must do it because that’s going to be key to creating a lot of content that can service the appetite of the world. Because as you can see that there’s already lots of it being created for servicing the appetite of India.
Apart from Taj Divided by Blood, are there any other historical or period dramas that Contiloe Pictures is working on?
Currently, we have Swaraj, which is already playing out, which follows the history of India, from the arrival of the Portuguese to the Independence of India. Basically 1598 to 1947, the whole story of the western invasion in India and how freedom fighters of India fought to gain its independence back. So that’s the story that we are currently producing. And apart from that, we are working on a couple of other historicals for television.