Director Randeep Jha discusses the need to blend sensitivity and objectivity when making a violent crime thriller like Kohrra
Still from Kohrra
Something big often starts with something small. That’s director Randeep Jha’s story, whose humble debut film, Halahal (2020), bagged him Kohrra. The crime thriller, created by Sudip Sharma, Gunjit Chopra and Diggi Sisodia, received rave reviews as it dropped on Netflix over the weekend. The director says it all started with a text from Sharma. “Sudip had messaged me in 2021 after watching Halahal. I didn’t believe it was him. So, I forwarded his text to a friend, asking whether the number was indeed Sudip’s. After that message, we directly spoke when I was working on Trial by Fire [as co-director]. We discussed Kohrra,” he begins.
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Randeep Jha with creator Sudip Sharma on the show’s set
On the surface, the Suvinder Vicky and Barun Sobti-starrer is a thriller centred on two Punjab cops who have to investigate the murder of an NRI groom. But Jha was blown away by how the series went beyond to explore themes of patriarchy and familial violence. His job then was to infuse the story with sensitivity and objectivity. “I look at violence and crime in a different way because as a filmmaker, I’m trying to find [answers]. Why does someone do it? If I am feeling [bad] about it, why does someone else not feel that way? As a filmmaker, you try to explore this difference. You have to be empathetic and retain objectivity.”
Jha is ecstatic that the OTT boom has enabled filmmakers like him to tell hard-hitting stories in an unconventional yet cinematic manner. He points to his previous offering to make the case. “You don’t have to get trapped in clichés. For instance, Trial by Fire showed a world that wasn’t explored before. Through it, we explored the mundane lives of people, and yet it hit you emotionally.”
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