TVF the 1st content company in India, which started a brand in 2015, to tell women centric stories Girliyapa

 Arunabh Kumar with the cast and crew of Girls Hostel 2

Shreyasi, you joined TVF in 2015 and have seen Brand Girliyapa since its birth in 2015, to now being the writer of one of the most popular women-centric Show in India, Girls Hostel, How has your journey been?

SHREYASI (Writer & Creative Director of Girls Hostel & Interns): It's been 5 years for me in TVF and to be honest it's one of the best places for a content creator to work and learn at in any department, be it writing, editing, directing, production…just the process and culture is very nurturing, I have always felt that comfort level and am with people who want you to improve with every discussion and not to defeat your argument, the feedback culture and process at TVF is something that I don't think is there anywhere else in the country. Writers are encouraged to be on set unlike other places where you move on. Arunabh Sir has established a very unique culture at TVF and has always said, that "No one has spent more time with the story than writers and they should have the power as well as responsibility to make the final cut better".

Most of you have worked before with TVF-Girliyapa, What do you like the most about Girliyapa and its mission of telling Woman-centric stories?

AHSAAS: The best thing about TVF-Girliyapa is, this channel stands up for women, it tells their stories, they bring out the real side of women and do it all in a very entertaining and comic manner. I absolutely love Girliyapa, I feel am lucky to be associated with them.

My first memory of Girliyapa is the 1st video I ever did on YouTube in August 2015, 6 years back and I was already a huge fan of TVF and I was very excited to be a part of the sister channel. I had never done anything like that. It was an all-girls team from writer, director to entire crew and that too back then in 2015. For me, TVF never feels like a workplace, but it's actually like my 2nd family.

SHRITSTI: My association with them started back in 2016 with one of its 1st video called "Why should hot girls have all the fun" and I was so happy to see, woman director, woman writer, woman DoP and, everything was being run by women and that was bloody amazing much before the conversation of women-centric content became popular. The best thing about Girliyapa is (Much like its tagline, Not from Venus) its breaking stereotypes to tell what girls really are.

SIMRAN: Everything they show is real and they keep it serious as well as funny, which I like the most

PARUL: It empowers girls without endorsing fake feminism and I am glad to be working with Girliyapa… and thank god for Girliyapa and imbibing such strong values in their staff.

SHREYASI: It all started with three amazing women- Nidhi Bisht, Tracy Dsouza and Shruti Madan jamming over it under the guidance of Arunabh Sir. TVF was the 1 st content company which started a whole new brand & wing to tell women-centric stories, by the women for the women, in Girliyapa, and that too way back in 2015, much before the conversation of creating content for women became popular.

The Interns Poster

How special has it been for each one of you to be a part of Girls-Hostel and How special Are your characters in the show to you all?

AHSAAS: It's a character which is very close to me as Richa is closest to how I am in real life. Richa and Ahsaas are quiet similar and the storyline is so brilliant… and over the 2 seasons we have all become friends and actually bond like we would do if we were in a real hostel and, Chaitanya and Shreyasi are simply awesome.

SHREYA: I am waiting for the world to see it and I have tried to make Ramya as the baddest villain in the world. Ramya, my character has a major part and It was challenging for me and I hope audience enjoys it. The vibe of Girls hostel is so amazing and despite so many characters and all of them stand out. My first show as an antagonist, so can't even tell how special it is for me.

PARUL: First season kisi ne nahi socha tha logon ko itna pasand aa jayega and as an actor it encouraged me so much and having chatty (our director) was a blessing, as I went to him asking if I could add a lisp or add red hair and in season 2 green hair extensions, he was so supportive and working with Srishti was my favourite part we worked on our scenes together and were able to create some sort of magic.

SIMRAN: It's very special to me, because I got a lot of recognition because of my character Milee, as it's a fun character who doesn't bother about consequences and I am very grateful that I got this character.

SHRISTI: It's very special as I explored the character of Joe, Chatty our director had called me and then he said, it's very different from what you have done. And I did not want to play a funny character anymore, and I got very excited to hear this character and learnt the whole idea of "theharaao" (Pause) as an actor. I have a meaty part in the 2 nd season, and she has been pushed to the deep end.

CHAITANYA (The Director): For me, it's the magical vibe that I could create and with scripts from Shreyasi and Anant along with our Creative Producers Prerna and Sarjita who helped me in imagining this world being so on point, it was fulfilling.

GAGAN: We are all brought up with a sense of patriarchy in our society despite however evolved or feminist our point of views are, and as the only male character on the set seeing such powerful female characters unfold was mostly a learning for me as a human being and therapeutic in a certain way.

SHREYASI: Any girl who had lived in a hostel are going to find the show very relatable. We have all known how is the life inside and how there are boy giving you catcalls outside the gate. We have also tried to represent the slices of the women stories in a man's world and then take them to this world of women, where they have to make a career, they have to get a date, and trying to normalize all of these through these four girls and tried to do it very gracefully. Anant has been a great help in helping me in telling this story with a lot of structure

ANANT SINGH (Writer & Creative Director, Girls Hostel): I was mostly there as a coach than a player to help in structure and craft, but it was mostly Shreyasi along Swasti and Prashant who brought in beautiful moments and scenes to the show and have made the world of Girls hostel relatable as well as aspirational.

Girliyapa had another recent success with "The Interns" which ended up in the top 3 most viewed shows on YouTube in 2020. How it was and what more can we expect from the Brand?

Anandeshwar, (Head, TVF Channel Programming): It was great to deliver such a fun project in such challenging times, starring Ahsaas, Rashmiand Revathi and Khushboo. We wanted to take a peek inside the professional lives of female interns and their stories and it was also written, shot and released within 60 days flat. OurBrand Partnership team led by Vijay Sir and Whisper Brand Team deserve a special mention for believing in us in telling this story. Anant, who we call Bhatoo, our director, made something which everyone is waiting to see its 2nd season of and we are hoping to keep giving new sketches and shows on Girliyapa.

Anant Singh (Director of Interns): For me more than the views it was the comments on Interns that were really special.

All the love we got from people who felt like we were telling their story really made it special. I had a dream cast and crew and have started working on Interns season 2, so hopefully fans won't have to wait long. Anand, who we call DVD has been leading all channels from the front and made sure we keep doing premium short form sketches with storytelling in the world of Tiktok videos & vines.

How was it shooting in midst of corona in 2020, which is being considered such a tough Year for humanity and how did the creators, producer and director help in this:

PARUL: it was ethereal, there was a sense of gratitude from everyone's end, as we all were getting to work after such a long break. We were grateful to be again on a set with people we loved working with in season 1.

SHREYASI: None of us knew how it's going to happen, but I have seen the energy that usually TVF shooting floors have, and its inspiring and driven and everyone is prepared, all the actors were ready to give their best and have done a fabulous job. And thanks to the preparation of Chaitanya our director, our Supervising producer Smruti, and the production team of TVFled by Arun ji, the way they pulled this off so smoothly was really exemplary.

I was hopping around to read and rehearse with characters. While all of us were following the rules, wearing masks, having kadha, drinking hot water, having steam in vanity, but never losing the zeal for 21 days.

AHSAAS: It was not easy, but we all were geared up to do it… the production team of TVF were pretty careful, I was scared in the beginning, but then as we started, it grew on me. Also, due to Chatty, who is one of my most special directors, the amount of patience he has on the set and despite having so much on his plate, he still does it all with so much of ease and positivity and a smile on his face.

SHRISTI: It was mixed, I was very very grateful that I got to shoot this and was very excited to shoot for Girls Hostel. You had to be careful even before hugging someone, which was very weird, Chatty is a fantastic director who knows the final picture which gives all of us clarity and helps all of us perform better. He made it easy for all of us

SHREYA: I was frankly not scared at all, because I was very excited to go back on set and play Ramya Mantri.

CHAITANYA: This was not the easiest of the shoot for sure, as it took us almost 4-5 days to get used to the new ways and precautions and Sop's for shooting process. As a director, I got all the support from TVF's production team and Shreyansh, our TVF Originals Head, was always there to solve all problems and help us make a great show.

GAGAN: This show came as a big relief for me as I was dying to get back on sets and what better than doing it with a team which is more like family.

Ananth Singh & Anandeshwar Dwivedi

Most of you have worked a lot with TVF and some of you even started your career with?

The pioneers of Online Content in India. Its Founder Arunabh Kumar, literally started the culture of Web-Series in India with Permanent Roommates and Pitchers. What do you love the most about the work-culture that he has instilled at TVF?

SHRISTI: What I like about the work culture at TVF is writing and writers are given the most importance unlike others… actors are involved in a much more wholesome way while creation of show before its shot…I have made some very close friends and TVF is like family.

GAGAN: I have said this TVF is probably the only content company in India, who keep their scripts the most important and where everyone from an AD to a director, writer, editor and each and every department on the show want to create something passionately. There is a fine balance in the sense of casualty and sincerity in the work culture which doesn't exist anywhere else in the country.

SHREYA: I love TVF period. TVF is my film school, and I say this very proudly, because since 2015, whatever I have learnt I have learnt from here. They get the best out of you as an actor and I am super grateful that I have been a part of TVF.

CHAITANYA: It's been 6 years for me at TVF. Started as an Assistant on Pitchers and now directing my own shows, it's been a fun journey with so much of learning. I still remember the day I met Arunabh Sir, who was so expressive about his ideas to tell great stories. He has instilled the culture of welcoming fresh ideas and talents at TVF and continuously motivates all of us and lifts our spirit in telling simple stories in a great way. It's a meritocratic place where so many of us rose through the ranks under TVF's nurturing culture and I am an example of that.