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Actress Lara Dutta made her streaming debut in 2020 with the action-comedy series ‘Hundred’. Four years later, the actress has another show, 'Ranneeti: Balakot &amp; Beyond', streaming on OTT.Having spent close to half a decade in the streaming medium, the actress shared insights regarding OTT.The actress said that the streaming medium today is growing tremendously, with many platforms coming into the picture. With numerous platforms available, there are greater avenues to explore different characters.Lara emphasised that OTT inspires a greater representation of characters, particularly bringing “real” characters to the forefront.Elaborating on this, the actress told IANS: “The wonderful thing about OTT is that because there are so many platforms, you are addressing different segments of an audience. You have to create content that speaks to all of them.” &nbsp;"It has resulted in not just greater representation of characters from different walks of life but also ones that are 'real'. OTT is a complete game-changer and has tremendous growth in the future," she said.Lara also spoke about her character in ‘Ranneeti: Balakot &amp; Beyond’, describing her as a lone wolf - someone who is ready to give her all for the country.The actress said: “Manisha doesn’t have a military background, but there are some similarities between us. I think the script is your starting point for a character. Manisha is a lone wolf, and she’s very straightforward. It was interesting and fascinating to build out this kind of character for me. She's kind of careless about people and stuff, but when it comes to the country, she's ready to give everything.”Having spent close to half a decade in the streaming medium, the actress shared insights regarding OTT.The actress said that the streaming medium today is growing tremendously, with many platforms coming into the picture. With numerous platforms available, there are greater avenues to explore different characters.Lara emphasised that OTT inspires a greater representation of characters, particularly bringing “real” characters to the forefront.Elaborating on this, the actress told IANS: "The wonderful thing about OTT is that because there are so many platforms, you are addressing different segments of an audience. You have to create content that speaks to all of them.""It has resulted in not just greater representation of characters from different walks of life but also ones that are 'real'. OTT is a complete game-changer and has tremendous growth in the future," she said.Lara also spoke about her character in ‘Ranneeti: Balakot &amp; Beyond’, describing her as a lone wolf - someone who is ready to give her all for the country.The actress said: “Manisha doesn’t have a military background, but there are some similarities between us. I think the script is your starting point for a character. Manisha is a lone wolf, and she’s very straightforward. It was interesting and fascinating to build out this kind of character for me. She's kind of careless about people and stuff, but when it comes to the country, she's ready to give everything.”"My approach to the character is to flesh out what you have never seen in the character, like the background story of the character. To create a character like Manisha Sehgal, I prepared from scratch. I’m sure when the audience watches this series, it will keep them on the edge of excitement," she added.'Ranneeti: Balakot &amp; Beyond’ streams on JioCinema.

Lara Dutta: OTT Has Led To A Greater Representation Of 'Real' Characters

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Ranneeti: Balakot And Beyond veers between intriguing and boring, observes Deepa Gahlot.Had Ranneeti: Balakot And Beyond been a film running in a theatre, some of the Pak-bashing dialogue would have elicited cheers.'When Sachin Tendulkar used to hit sixers, your prime minister used to fetch the ball from the boundary,' says an Indian to a Pakistani arguing about 'auqaat'.Of course, Santosh Singh's Ranneeti: Balakot And Beyond is jingoistic, and the aim is to make India shine. But interestingly, the focus is on the 'Beyond' part of the narrative.At various points in the nine-part show, the point is made that today, wars are not fought on battlefields but on the Internet, where the truth is easily manipulated. It is a battle of perception, of controlling social media and the international media.The series is a tribute to the armed forces, and deservedly so.The aftermath of the suicide attack on a bus full of Indian soldiers that killed several was the stealthy bombing of a Jaish-e-Mohammad training camp in Balakot. In spite of the fact that Pakistan shifted its camp from Bahawalpur to Balakot, the diligent work of an undercover asset, Iqbal (Satyajeet Dubey), led to a successful mission.On the Indian side, are Kashyap Sinha (Jimmy Shergill), a strategist who suffers from PTSD after a failed mission in Serbia, that has left him without taste buds, and a twitchy, intense demeanour; Madhusudan Dutta (Ashish Vidyarthi), head of the National Security Bureau, Manisha Bharadwaj (Lara Dutta), a social media spin doctor and several earnest people slogging away on computers.The Pakistani team has a hawkish Raqib Askani (Ashutosh Rana), his media expert Shireen (Samvedna Suwalka), Jaish's Yakub (Umar Sharif) and his crew of terrorists.India has managed to get two undercover agents into Yakub's inner circle, who risk their lives to get intel to India. The Americans and Chinese drop by to add authenticity to the goings-on.Pakistan famously claimed the Balakot attack never happened and that only a few trees and crows were killed by the Indian Air Force.Once the episodes of the Pulwama attack and the retaliation at Balakot are done, the director and his large team of writers remind viewers with short memories about Pakistan's failed attempt to bomb the Nowshera ammunition depot and the shooting down of an Indian plane and capturing of the impressively moustachioed Wing Commander Abhimanyu Vardhan (Prasanna Venkatesan), who was returned to India after a social media uproar and international pressure.Pakistan again denied that a F-16 fighter plane was used to shoot down the outdated 'museum piece' that Abhimanyu was piloting.India drags Pakistan all the way to the international forum, Financial Action Task Force, where Pakistan was grey-listed due to India's strong presentation of the requite proof, painstakingly collected. (In reality, the grey list was subsequently withdrawn.)Ashutosh Rana, in dapper suits and a sneer, steals every scene he is in.Never mind that is the despicable enemy, he brings to the table equal amount of wit and menace. He also gets some of the best lines when he verbally spars with Jimmy Shergill, who always has the right comeback, but looks too tightly wound.Ashish Vidyarthi makes the best of his bossman role and Lara Dutta adds the glamour.The aerial sorties in the early episodes of the series are choreographed (Stephen Moth) and shot (Tanveer Mir) efficiently.Ravi Varma's action sequences are directed well too.On the one hand, the series engage in certain areas, like the planning and execution of missions. But in the other areas, it is either simplistic or unnecessarily convoluted.So much of the show involves groups of men jabbering away in conference rooms and command centres with their banks of computer screens.Only Kashyap is given an extended back story and a personal life. The other characters are more or less chess pieces being maneuvered on an oversized board.Some trimming at the script level, if not later, might have helped the pace of Ranneeti to be brisk and the show much more gripping.As it is now, it veers between intriguing and boring, the background music (Joel Crasto) often whips up more excitement than the scene on screen requires or deserves.&nbsp;Ranneeti: Balakot And Beyond streams on Jio Cinema.

Ranneeti: Balakot And Beyond Review: India Shines Again

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Doing good research before shooting makes life easier.MUMBAI: Sony LIV’s latest drama-thriller, Your Honor produced for Applause Entertainment by Sphereorigins, is all set to release. In a special interaction with indiantelevision.com, Sphereorigins founder Sunjoy Waddhwa shed light on the making of the series.The original Israeli series was created by Ron Ninio and Shlomo Mashiach and distributed by Yes Studios. The Indian adaptation is helmed by Shool fame, E Niwas.The series is headlined in India by popular Bollywood actor Jimmy Sheirgill. The makers decided to cast Sheirgill because they wanted a face who can look more relatable to the audiences, who looks like a family man and not just a judge.The series was shot in 2019. It took 65 days to shoot the entire series, but seven months went into research, followed by four to five recce of the location. While in reality most of the mafias were based out of North India and Mumbai, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are usually shown as the crime capital. Hence, Waddhwa decided to take a different route and chose the backdrop of Ludhiana, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai believing it will give a different tone, texture and colour to the series. Around 60 to 70 per cent of the series was shot in Punjab. More than 125 people were involved in creating this drama thriller.Waddhwa says, “A lot of effort went into the pre-production and designing the look and character of actors, giving authentic touch in terms of language and costume. The director, writer, production designer, they all worked collectively to give the show a more rustic feel.”In the series, Bishan Khosla (Jimmy Sheirgill), is a reputed judge whose teenage son Abeer (Pulkit Makol) is involved in a hit and run case. The victim of the accident is the son of a gangster. So, a lot of time went into the legalities. Waddhwa sought help from advocates and legal advisers to understand the details.He mentions, “My takeaway from this has been that the importance of having the script in hand and working properly as per the script and doing good research makes life easier.”As the shooting took place in the months of December and January, it was extremely cold. Apart from that, technicians and technical crew and fight master contributed to make it a scaled up version of television. As it is not a VFX-heavy series, the makers relied more on shoot material.“The entire shot taking and story thought process is very different as compared to a normal series. It is more like an extended film rather than a series. Most importantly, there was no set of rules, that it has to be made like an OTT show,” he further adds.When asked about dealing with comparison to the US adaption, Waddhwa quips, “For a Hindi-speaking audience it is a completely different show. Because this is in the dynamics of our situation. What value you add to the adaptation makes all the difference.”The original rights of the series belong to Applause Entertainment. Waddhwa also hints at making the sequel of the series after gauging audiences’ response.

Sunjoy Waddhwa on the making of 'Your Honor'

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Close on the heels of successful drama series like Criminal Justice, City of Dreams and Hostages, Applause Entertainment, the content studio from the Aditya Birla Group, led by Sameer Nair, announced the completion of their latest drama-thriller, Your Honor. Adapted from the Israeli series Kvodo, distributed by Yes Studios, Your Honor has been produced for Applause Entertainment by Sphereorigins.&nbsp;Dark, gripping and morally complex, it tells the story of Bishan Khosla (Jimmy Sheirgill), a judge known for his uncompromising honesty. His attempt to protect his son Abeer Khosla (Pulkit Makol) who is involved in a hit-and-run accident triggers a disturbing downward spiral of events, as Bishan uncharacteristically obstructs justice to hide the truth.The series, directed by E Niwas, is adapted by writer Ishan Trivedi and produced by Sunjoy Waddhwa. It also features Mita Vashisht, Varun Badola, Yashpal Sharma, Parul Gulati, Suhasini Mulay, Richa Pallod, Kunj Anand, Pulkit Makol, Mahabir Bhullar in key roles.Sameer Nair, CEO, Applause Entertainment says, "At Applause, we aim to create premium content that will appeal to the discerning mass audience in India and across the world, and Your Honor is a perfect example of this vision. E Niwas has helped us craft a stunning thriller, and we are excited to have on board a dazzling array of talented actors, led by Jimmy Sheirgill".Jimmy Sheirgill adds, “The substance of the story is what convinced me to take up the part. The length an individual can go, burning all the bridges and principles for the ones he loves, is truly compelling.”Director E Niwas says, “I am excited to mark my digital journey with Your Honor, a show packed with intense emotions and depth of characters. I am glad to have worked with creative minds like Sameer, Deepak and Sunjoy to re-create this adaptation.”Sunjoy Waddhwa, CMD of the production house Sphereorigins says, "E Niwas has helmed the Indian adaptation brilliantly which has resulted in a truly gripping drama. Our entire team is very thrilled to have associated with Sameer Nair and Applause Entertainment."Your Honor will be streaming soon on a leading OTT platform.&nbsp;

Applause Entertainment announces a dark thriller drama series, Your Honor

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