Aakhri Sach, a crime investigative thriller series directed by Robbie Grewal, created a buzz soon after it started streaming on Disney+ Hotstar. For the unversed, before Aakhri Sach, Robbie impressed the audience as well as the critics with his debut film Samay: When Time Strikes. His last project was John Abraham’s Romeo Akbar Walter: RAW, which was released back in 2019. In an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Robbie Grewal extensively spoke about the Tamannaah Bhatia-starrer show, his hiatus and what can the audience expect from him in the future. Here’s the excerpt:
Aakhri Sach was your debut in the OTT space. What was the most challenging part in the making of it?
To begin with, OTT is obviously a longer format. So, it's a bit of unlearning and learning. You've done films and ads and commercials, which are 1-minute-30-seconds. It was interesting to understand the arcs that you can create on OTT. And the twisted case, it was the first thing that pulled me to the story. The mystery, the intrigue and wanting to know what really happened to the family. We knew the basics, but we didn't really know exactly what happened. It was the story (of Burari Deaths) itself that propelled me towards it. I remember watching it on television. I was very intrigued, I got a chance to make a story on it, a fictional take on it.
In the 2 decades of your career, which project is the closest to your heart?
What you're doing at the moment, whatever you're in it, that becomes everything for you. So that all your passion is reignited in every project you do. Whatever I am working on, and I'm shooting becomes a project close to my heart. It's tough to say. But for me Samay: [When Time Strikes] being my first film, I began at another very young age, I remember that film very warmly, and it has completed 20 years. So to me, it's close to my heart in that sense.
Your first two projects bagged praises, however, your third film Aloo Chaat did not perform well. How did you manage to deal with the criticism?
Aloo Chaat actually did decent numbers when it came out. To be honest, mixed? I agree. It was not overwhelmingly all positive. But that's a fun parcel of the game. It's with everything. You're trying something new and what I've tried to do, knowingly or unknowingly, is different things in terms of the genres.
After Aloo Chat, you returned as a director for a film after 10 years. Would you like to speak about it?
I am an ad maker; that's my bread and butter. Features are long format, now it's odd also. They only happen when I really have something, or I want to tell a story. I don't have to do a film every year or two to run my kitchen. It's a good space to be in but at the same time, yeah, nine years is a long time. And I mean, it's too long, for whatever reason or whatever comfort level I met. I've been directing and producing commercials. But now, I'm very focused. Since RAW came in during 2019. The gaps will be very, very less. That's a personal thing to my own self that you know, can take such long breaks. And thankfully, I have a few stories to tell now.
What do you think is a driving force that attracts the audience towards the spy genre?
Spy films essentially have so much mystery action and intrigue. There are fantastic stories to tell. Spying intelligence is a part and parcel of our different services. So, it gets really emotional. I am sure in years to come, this genre is only going to grow and grow, because storytellers love telling these stories, and also the audience kind of enjoys watching them. So, it's a given take.
A former head of RAW stated a few months back that Bollywood films and web shows are not accurate depictions of a spy. What are your thoughts on it?
We have to understand that we make films for an audience. There is a compelling need. It's an art form, but it needs to be consumed by the right people and enjoyed by the people. So yes, liberties are taken in a very generic manner. And for the sake of making the story more interesting. And at that point, somebody will be right, you lose the essence of reality a bit. But then, at the end of the day, our job is to entertain the audience in a manner where they enjoy the story. So, for that reason, I believe you do take a leap of faith and fictionalise things and get away from reality a bit.
Any update you would like to share on your project with Saif Ali Khan and Siddharth Anand?
I am not at liberty to talk much about that. I can say that I'm starting to shoot for a Netflix-produced project in a few months. Yeah, so that's where I stand.
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