Sohini Guha Roy, Shantilal Mukherjee, Indrasish Roy, Amlan Majumder, and Samiul Alam star in the new KLIKK series @Followers. Directed by Rajdeep Ghosh, the series follows Hiya Bose, a well-known face of the popular television serial Lakshmi. Desperate to grow her followers through shortcuts like bold shoots and Reels on social media, she entrusts all her social media responsibilities to Soumya. At his suggestion, Hiya becomes part of a bizarre game plan to boost her followers.
“We are living in a terrifying time where followers are a must. We are consumed by a strange, deadly obsession. I felt this needed to be addressed. My language is cinema, so as soon as I heard of the subject, I jumped into the fray. I strongly believe that we must ensure that the world remains livable for the children of future generations. KLIKK has now become like family to us. This is my third collaboration with them,” said Rajdeep.
“This is my first web series, and I’m extremely happy that my journey as a web series debutant has begun with KLIKK. The experience of shooting this series with my co-actors and the entire crew has been incredible. The content of this web series is extremely relevant. Social media has become a significant part of everyone’s life. But whether it is a blessing or a curse depends entirely on us. If we let social media take control of our lives and well-being, it becomes a serious concern. I am grateful to and thank our director, Rajdeep Ghosh, for giving me the freedom to shape this character according to my imagination. I am thankful to the creators of this series, who gave me the opportunity to work with talented artistes like Shantilal Mukherjee and Amlan Majumder, who helped me improve myself as an actor. There’s no better way to learn this craft, than on set. Hiya, the character I play, is an artiste who is a brilliant performer and has a heart of gold. She is extremely confident with her work, and the audience loves her for it. But she falls uncontrollably under the spell of social media and ends up paying the ultimate price. Fatally at that,” said Sohini.
“In today’s age, two things are extremely relevant: On one hand, your life and the dreams surrounding it, and on the other, the lure of social media. These two have now become inseparable. Social media has the power to transform lives, but it can also destroy them. This series revolves around that creation and destruction brought about by social media. While working is always fun, this project made me more serious. The subject truly made me think a lot. I won’t reveal what exactly made me think, but I’ll say this — after watching it, you’ll also find yourself thinking and feeling restless,” said Indrasish.
“I have had this habit of conveying a social message in every screenplay I work on. Similarly, this story, @Followers, carries a strong message. Today, everyone is intoxicated by a bizarre obsession with increasing followers. People don’t even hesitate to bare themselves daringly on social media. Work is no longer the benchmark for one’s worth — followers are. But have we ever stopped to think about the consequences? Through this story, I’ve tried to raise many such critical questions. If I can help even one person break free from the negative effects of this deadly obsession, I’ll consider myself blessed,” said screenplay writer and actor Amlan Majumder.
“The new year has commenced with new vigour and hope for all of us at KLIKK. We pledge to bring in more edge-of-the-seat thrillers, more engaging and evolved content, and as always, pioneer new formats and versions of presentation and storytelling. Myriad new talent also gets to springboard their spectrum of capabilities through our OTT platform. Our writer Amlan Majumder curated a socially relevant and critical subject of this new era craze,” said Niraj Tantiya, director, KLIKK.
“Back in my day, we measured worth by character, not clicks. Now, everyone is chasing ‘likes’ and ‘followers’ like they’re gold. It’s a strange world where a number on a screen defines your value. I see youngsters glued to their phones, missing out on real life. They’re so busy performing for an invisible audience, that they forget to just be. It’s an obsession in a way. A digital rat race with no real finish line. I’d rather have a good conversation with a friend than a thousand virtual likes. It was a pleasure working with a talented group of young co-actors with such a socially relevant issue,” said Shantilal Mukherjee.
