A walkie-talkie connects two police officers across decades in an investigative drama that has as much mystery as mysticism. Director Umesh Bist speaks to The Telegraph on the sidelines of the launch in Mumbai of the web show Gyaarah Gyaarah, starring Raghav Juyal, Yug Arya and Krittika Kamra, that will start streaming this Friday on Zee5.
The story of Gyaarah Gyaarah is set in Uttarakhand. How important is the choice of the locale?
Very important. There are two elements in Gyaarah Gyaarah — mysticism and mystery. The whole attempt was to blend the two. Uttarakhand is known as devbhoomi, the land of the mystics. The hill station provided the mystery. I come from Uttarakhand and I am aware of the culture, it helped me write the screenplay, add detail to the characters, build the locations... it checked all the boxes. So we shot in Dehradun, Mussoorie and interiors of Garhwal.
You and Guneet (Monga Kapoor) had worked together in the 2021 film Pagglait. How did your paths cross?
A mutual friend asked me to meet her. She was already known for Gangs of Wasseypur and The Lunchbox. She had also produced Haramkhor. So I went to her and narrated the story. But she said she was winding up her company in India and shifting to America. So I realised the film would not happen with her. We were just chatting over a cup of tea when I mentioned the nascent idea of Pagglait — a widow who cannot grieve. Suddenly she said she was keen to do that film. I had still not written it and asked for a month. I wrote the screenplay and she loved it. Since then, I have worked a lot with Sikhya (Monga’s company). This story, Gyaarah Gyaarah, they came to me and asked me to direct it.
Isn’t it inspired by the American film Frequency?
No, not the American one. It is the official adaptation of the Korean series Signal. Guneet and Sikhya (Entertainment) have got the rights to Signal. But I had to work on it to bring in Indian philosophy of advaita. I had two brilliant writers — Sunjoy Shekhar and Puja Banerji. They worked with me on the screenplay.
In what way did you have to make changes?
The Korean series was for television and it was in 17 episodes. The storytelling was different — they had the leisure of time. I did not have that. Ours has eight. Reels ka zamana hai. So attention span is limited. You have to keep them engaged. The moment you change the location, a lot of other things change. Initially, we were planning to shoot in Punjab. We had even checked out locations. But something was missing. So I went to Uttarakhand. That meant the writing had to be done afresh.
Was the cast finalised or you chose these boys after you decided on Uttarakhand?
Once the screenplay was changed, the casting had to be changed too. It helped that Raghav is from Dehradun. Wahan Hindi bolne ka ek lehza hai, woh uss ke paas tha. The problem was in a recent film he did, Kill, he had played Funny, which was the name of his character. He is such a sensitive actor that he was unable to come out of that role. So I was not happy. There was so much of Kill in him that I was unable to see him in the character of Gyaarah Gyaarah. But he kept trying and finally he did crack the audition. Then we did a long workshop with all the actors, especially the three leads. Dhairya is a Jaat from Rajasthan. But he was in a boarding school in Dehradun, so he was familiar with the terrain and the people. Saurabh Sachdeva, who was in Animal, was the acting coach.
How have you handled the chronology?
There are three time periods in the story. We are starting the story in 1990, then we have 2001 and the present is set in 2016. One police officer, Yug Arya, played by Raghav, is in 2016. Another police officer Inspector Shourya, played by Dhairya, is in 1990. Shourya’s character travels from 1990 to 2001, after which he disappears. You have to watch the series to see where and how the walkie-talkie is found.
In Pagglait, music had a role and you had roped in Arijit Singh. How important is music here?
Arijit has done a song for us (in Gyaarah Gyaarah). It’s a background song. It has three beautiful songs. There is a young music director, Karan. He has done excellent work.
How difficult was art direction, given you had to show different periods which are not exactly that old?
Yes. It was a big challenge. There is one corridor in which I wanted a character to go from 2001 to 2016 in one shot. You have to see how our production designer Sandeep Meher has created a feeling of time changing in a single shot. Chhoti chhoti cheezein badal jati hai — furniture, cars and so on change. We had to create visual differentiation through minute details.
Raghav had got typecast as a funnyman and a dancing star. What made you choose him?
It is my ignorance that I had not heard of him. My kids laughed at me when I said that. They told me about his slow-motion dance. The only thing I noticed in his audition is he had not come out of his last role in Kill. And I was not liking it. But Guneet and Achin (Jain, the co-producers) were shooting with him in Kill and they believed in this actor. But he was not my Yug. In the workshop, we had to take the rhythm out of his body. It cannot be a police officer’s body language.
What is your assessment of him now?
He reminds me of Satish Gujral, the painter. I asked him: “You have made a name doing watercolour, oil... why are you getting into burnt wood, architecture?” He said he wanted to experiment. “Unless I jump into a new lake I will not be able to discover more in myself. I will stagnate,” he had said. I find the same streak in Raghav. He will do dance, crack it, leave it. He will become a host, get bored. Then he starts acting. I hope acting keeps him busy and involved. But he is very inquisitive, an actor who wants to give his best. It was fun working with him. The climax was shot in sub-zero temperature. The last action sequence was on top of the hill. So cold it was that actors were shivering. He was not only pushing his co-actors, he was giving his cues even when he had no lines. He has that dedication.
Why the name Gyaarah Gyaarah?
You will get to know in the series. It is a magical number. It is a number of angels in numerology. If you make a wish at 11.11, it comes true. In psychology, there is a theory of synchronicity propounded by the philosopher Carl Jung. It is when internal factors like dreams and external factors, that is what is happening outside, align without any cause and give you the desired results. Today, when I sat in the car to leave for the press launch and looked at the watch, the time was 11.11. These are signs that the universe is sending you. I thought chalo, thik chal raha hai.
On a lighter note, did you consider releasing the series on November 11?
There were very serious talks to release it on November 11 at 11.11. But there were so many things at play that we realised that we could not wait that long.