‘Tumhari Sulu’ director Suresh Triveni was ‘reluctant’ to step into OTT with 'Daldal'

Acclaimed filmmaker Suresh Triveni, the creative force behind 'Tumhari Sulu' and 'Jalsa', said he was initially reluctant to step into long format with the series "Daldal", but the depth of the characters eventually drew him in.

Amazon Prime Video original features Bhumi Pednekar in the role of a cop on the lookout for a serial killer in Mumbai.




The crime-thriller series, based on author Vish Dhamija's bestselling novel 'Bhendi Bazaar', has been developed by Triveni and directed by Amrit Raj Gupta. It made its debut on the platform on January 30.

"When he (Vikram Malhotra, producer) shared the material with me, saying he wants to explore this, I was reluctant to get into the series purely because there is too much work in it. But then due to COVID, we had a lot of time, so we formed a battery of writers.

"As we started, I had not committed myself, but then as we began discussing, I got fascinated. The start off point was the book, but then from there we just took off, and then you just get sucked into it," Triveni told PTI in an interview.

The filmmaker cited 'Mindhunter' series and the film 'Monster' as significant influences, particularly in understanding the mind of serial killers.

"All of us are also consumers, before we are makers, we watch a lot of things and naturally (get) sucked into this world. There are so many tropes of how you can go around, but it is the characters, and the series gives you that freedom to delve deeper when you compare a film to a series. I think that is what excited me, and to understand the mind behind violence," Triveni said.

In his role as a showrunner, the filmmaker described himself as a "shepherd" and said he allowed the creative team a room to breathe.

The writing process was rigorous, spanning four years, multiple drafts and at least six major rehashes, he said.

The seven-episode series is written by Priya Saggi, Rohan D'Souza, Sreekanth Agneeswaran, and Hussain Haidry contributed as a dialogue writer.

Triveni said they found a young efficient director in Gupta and then began work on getting actors on board including Samara Tijori, Aditya Rawal in key roles, via auditions.

"This is the first time I'm being a showrunner and that too a reluctant one. My job was to shepherd this entire journey and there are efficient people to do their craft. My job was purely setting it up, in key sequences I'd be there and then at the edit, just to shepherd it because then I can have a bird's eye view on it."

Triveni is also awaiting the release of two of his OTT films, 'Subedar', an action-drama with Anil Kapoor, and dark-comedy, "Maa Behen" starring Madhuri Dixit Nene, Triptii Dimri and Ravi Kishan.

For him working with both Kapoor and Dixit Nene has indeed been a great experience and added that he admires their dedication towards their craft.

"There is a reason why they (Dixit Nene and Kapoor) are who they are... If you show up, they just show up, and that's incredible, and unfortunately, that's a rarity in our times," the filmmaker said.