The latest Disney+ Hotstar Specials series Karmma Calling is a dream that producer-directors Ashutosh Shah and Taher Shabbir worked on relentlessly for more than a decade. The series, which premiered on the streamer on January 26, stars Raveena Tandon, Namrata Sheth and Varun Sood. We chatted with Ashutosh and Taher (who is also an actor) at a café in Mumbai about the show directed by Ruchi Narain, the challenges they faced and why Raveena Tandon was their first choice as Indrani Kothari.

Karmma Calling is an adaptation of the American show Revenge and you have been wanting to adapt it for a decade. How did it all start?

Ashutosh Shah: Almost a decade ago, Ruchi Narain — who’s the R in R.A.T. Films — wanted to tell this story. When she came up with this idea, we thought that it was apt for the Indian audience. OTT wasn’t there. We started our company with the idea of making this show. There was a writer’s room too.

Life OK channel was interested in doing this. We wanted the show to be an official adaptation, so we wanted the rights. So, it got into the whole circle of getting the rights. ABC Network had it back then. The international mergers happened. The rights didn’t happen and we put the show on the backburner.

We went forward doing multiple projects but Karmma Calling always kept on coming on our slate on top. We are very fortunate to partner with Disney+ Hotstar on this because Gaurav Banerjee (head of content, Hindi Entertainment, Disney+ Hotstar) has always believed in us. We did an experimental show with them called Hundred, starring Lara Dutta and Rinku Rajguru. We came to know that Disney had merged with STAR. And Disney had the rights. Taher will tell you the rest.

Taher Shabbir: It was impossible until Disney bought Fox and STAR. So, we made the call to Nikhil Madhok, who was with STAR back then. Gaurav sir has always been very supportive because he knows the journey. We finally got the chance to adapt it. We rewrote it to make it contemporary.

Why did you want to make it with Raveena Tandon only?

Ashutosh Shah: It was because of the way the protagonist Indrani Kothari’s character was written and the personality she has. As filmmakers, you have a vision that a particular person can do justice to a character. We had Raveena Tandon in our mind from the inception. When we approached her, she was also enthusiastic about it because she had not done anything like that for a while.

It was like glamming it up, playing that ‘out there, sharp’ lady. She took that in her stride. When we saw her at the reading, costume trials, look tests and finally performing on the set, it was like hand-in-glove. She was effortless. You can’t imagine anyone else playing Indrani Kothari other than Raveena Tandon.

Taher Shabbir: We were very sure that we wanted to cast somebody from the ’90s. Indrani Kothari is all raw power. If you look at Raveena ma’am’s contemporaries also, she has got the most power.

Also, what helped was that Ruchi (director) and Raveena ma’am are dear friends. It’s great fun when the creator and actor are friends. Plus, she had done us a favour by being part of Hanuman Da’ Damdaar (animation film). I don’t think we had to even look elsewhere. We were really blessed.

What was the first interaction with Raveena about Karmma Calling like?

Ashutosh Shah: Ten years ago when the first interaction happened, she had just become a mother for the second time. She wanted to spend more time there. When we revived the project and went to her, she was like, ‘Yeah, I’m on. Let’s just do this.’

She loves wildlife. I think when we went to tell her about the show, she was in a wildlife reserve. She was excited and she also showed some of her photographs of tigers. So, the first meeting on the revival of Revenge, that is Karmma Calling, happened in the wild. And Raveena was fully charged.

Over these 10 years, was there ever a moment when you lost faith in the show?

Taher Shabbir: It was not about losing faith. It was impossible, but Ashutosh and I are manifesting people. We’ve done a lot of work in the last 10 years – Guilty, Hanuman Da’ Damdaar, Hundred. But the first project we wanted to be made even though we knew it was impossible was Karmma Calling. If you truly want something, God gives it to you. What are the odds? Disney bought Hotstar and then the show came. The reason why the story is still relevant after 10 years is because it’s a simple story of revenge.

What were the challenges during the filming of Karmma Calling?

Ashutosh Shah: Firstly, the scale of the world that Ruchi had envisioned. It is set in Alibaug. It is the 0.01 per cent ultra-rich society of the Kotharis. There are no such mansions available for filming.

The second thing was to create that world, to find the right locations, to build those sets in the budget and in the turnaround time. And we are very fortunate to have an ensemble star cast led by Raveena ma’am. For all of them to come together to create that magic, we had to make sure that we worked like clockwork.

We were shooting a Karwa Chauth scene where a helicopter had to be brought in at night on location. We had to get special permission to fly the helicopter at night because in India helicopters cannot fly after sunset.

The director wanted the helicopter to be a six-seater instead of a four-seater. That had to be modified. Also, each costume was elaborate and grand. Hats off to the actors for wearing those costumes throughout the day.

Taher Shabbir: I think the biggest victory for a producer is if people watch the show and appreciate its scale. We shot at the race course with three helicopters — those polo matches and horses.

Ashutosh Shah: And it was not even the polo season. Our polo team came in from Jodhpur. Then you’re also shooting with animals and you have to be very considerate. You can’t just shoot round the clock. At the same time, there were sequences like choppers landing and all sorts of things happening. So, we were having our share of Hollywood movies, to be honest.