Ahead of its release, directors reflect on Netflix series, Kaala Paani

Actor-director Ashutosh Gowarikar makes his OTT debut with a show that pits an island against humans, and survives to tell the tale

A big rock has a rope criss-crossing its surface as it hovers, suspended over a pipeline in mid-air. Boom! boom! boom! goes the sound of the rock as the indigenous residents—fictitiously named the Oraka tribe—of the Andaman and Nicobar Island, who are holding on to the unbound and free end of the rope let it go, then pull it up, and repeat this exercise until the final boom! smashes the pipeline. The water gushes out onto the greenest grass you may have ever seen.

It’s an impactful scene, and it opens the first episode of the Netflix series, Kaala Paani, which drops on October 18. The multi-starrer is touted to be India’s first survival series, that also touches upon how indigenous people continue to be misunderstood even as their homes are endangered. The series is set in December 2027 and is about an evil entity, that in the form of a disease, is slowly killing the residents. The island is also cut off from the rest of the world and the residents are trying to find their way out before disaster befalls them. It stars Ashutosh Gowariker, Amey Wagh, Sukant Goel and Mona Singh, and has been directed by Sameer Saxena and Amit Golani.

Sameer Saxena (left) and Amit Golani, the directors of the show, talk about why they feel the story has never been told before. 

We must linger a bit on the fact that the last time we saw Gowariker in an acting role was in his critically acclaimed Marathi movie, Ventilator, back in 2016. Here, Gowarikar plays Lieutenant Admiral Zibran Qadri, lieutenant governor of Andaman and Nicobar, who has to figure a way to protect the public. How did he feel flexing his acting muscles once again? “It’s been wonderful,” he says. The Swades director initially started his career as an actor and played the role of Ranjeet Prakash in the 1984 Amir Khan starrer Holi. “Acting is my first love. I was given a lot of offers but I don’t participate in projects that don’t appeal to me. I just enjoyed being on the set because I can focus on this one thing and don’t have to think about anything else,” he says, parting the air with both hands.

Gowariker confesses that the fact that Kaala Paani is a thriller wrapped up in a survival drama is what drew him to the project. “I also loved working in a web series because the format gives an actor time to flesh out the character, and really enjoy the craft which is appealing in itself. It was an additional bonus that I got a chance to work with two directors whom I never thought I would ever be able to work with,” he adds shifting his gaze towards the couch on his left, where the directors are seated. 

Both Saxena and Golani respond with a smile and that allows us to ask the question that’s been on our mind since we saw the episode—Did the story give birth to the location or did the location give birth to the story? “The location gave birth to the story,” quip both almost in unison and chuckle looking at each other.
Saxena, whose other Netflix series Kota Factory has got its very own cult following, says, “One of the writers, Biswapati Sarkar, had gone to Andaman and Nicobar islands for a vacation. It made him think, what if he was stuck on an island? How would he get out? The answer ended up in this 
beautiful screenplay.” 

Kaala Paani is the colloquial name of the Cellular Jail in Port Blair, which housed Indian freedom fighters under one of the most brutal conditions. Being a multi-starrer, the characters have their own parallel story lines that converge when they are trying to evacuate the island. Dr Soudamini Singh is played by Mona Singh the chief medical officer at Port Blair, and the first one to notice something is amiss, when 11 patients are admitted into the hospital with a fever and rash on the back of their necks. Meanwhile, Gowariker and Amey Wagh—the latter plays the role of Ketan Kamat, the sub divisional police officer of the island—are looking at tackling the health emergency while trying to put up a new festival, “Swaraj Mahautsav”, that will bring in some much-needed revenue for the island’s economy. 

One of the parallel story lines is that of Chiranjeevi or Chiru, the character played by Sukant Goel—the ultimate hustler who is a taxi driver and tourist. “I had gone to the islands to see them for myself as I had never been there and didn’t know much. That’s when I met this taxi driver, who had this crazy hustle-energy. You  could tell he was just trying to make it,” says Goel on striking the perfect balance between apathetic and vulnerable.

At a time when a show releases every week on multiple platforms, how did they aim to be different from the clutter. Saxena says the point was to find their own space, and add, “I think the script was well drafted and we knew we would be able to carve out our own niche, but additionally, in the creative process, it’s important that you just keep working on your own vision and cut out the noise. At the end of the day, it is all up to the audience. They will always have the last word.” 

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