Arjun - BTS - Discussion on Kaali Billi

Arjun - BTS - Discussion on Kaali Billi Episode!: http://youtu.be/ct-nxW9Nw2k?a via @YouTube
A thriller is made in an interesting manner. We at Forum 32 were privy to one of the story right from the conception of it.

The Initial meeting

Raahil Qaazi, the writer of the episode met up with Nimisha Pandey Sinha, the creative director for the show and Gorky M the creative producer for a new story for upcoming episode based on what the channel was looking at in terms of story. In that discussion, the writer mentioned, why don't we make a cat as the murderer.

All of them had laughed to start with, but Gorky had said, "Sounds good." Now story to weave. Then came the brain storming session with plot that needs to be developed.

Plot

A billi is a murderer.

She is trained, (Ah! did she have to be a she-cat?) - But then gender specification was not required. But the cat had to be black. People believe in superstitions, at least there are plenty who do.

The next meeting was scheduled one Raahil wrote the story.

The Story

Again the same team met up and reading of the story happened and there was lot of action and more than one murder. Seemingly unrelated people, but of course, they need to be related. And what is the bottom line? An aggrieved woman who has been defrauded of her land by 4 people and now she who has no money to treat even her grandson who is ill or to fight the goons, one of whom is a politician; wants to seek revenge and get her land back.

The Tweaking

Of course, all actions are not possible due to permissions. The chase that Shree (Siddharth Sen) did of Satish, was to be done by Aayesha (Shital Shah) and the location was Marine Drive. Not possible to do the location so alternate was thought of and a ditch came into picture. Aayesha was on leave for that episode so Shree came into that scene. And yes there were other changes. The permissions for Billi was important and there are protocols and norms to be followed for using an animal in a TV show.

The Pre-Production Meet

Once the story is approved by Channel and episode is slated to go into production, there is a meeting with the Director, this time it was Arif Ali who was to shoot the episode, the Production Head, The Creative Director, The Creative Producer, The Creative team on the set, Assistant Screenplay Writer and Production team that has the Supervising Producer, the controller and scheduler. During the reading of the episode, which takes couple of hours to begin with goes into discussions, references and of course jokes to come up with a final screenplay that is then sent to the set for shoot.

A video of what type of discussion goes on is something we bring you now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-nxW9Nw2k

The Shoot

We brought you glimpses of the Billi Episode making in our behind the scene segment to showcase how an episode is shot. Here is the video again for your reference.

The Editing

We have not gotten you any footage of how an editing of an episode works and that is something we plan to do for you shortly. But editing is perhaps what makes an episode complete with music, cuts and effects. Yes, at times there are computer graphics that are used. We will try and get that as well.

The Episode

The episode is after all a team effort from conception to execution and it goes through many hands and heads before you see what you see on Television. It is a fascinating process and something we believe will make one understand how Television shows are made, or at least give you all an inkling for the experience on the set or in a meeting is something that one needs to be part of to get the whole picture.

At Forum 32, we try to bring you interesting facets of Television series making, especially one like Arjun - Har Yug Mein Aayega Ek, which has lot of action, location change, crime investigation and preparation that sometimes defies logic. And more often than not, Murphy's law is at play.

Tell us what aspect of Television series fascinates you most and we shall try and bring more of that for you all.

Stay tuned and keep watching Arjun - Har Yug Mein Aayega Ek for the series will bring you Khaufnaak Khooni, that will leave aghast at human frailties and how crimes occur. Of course, every bad deed comes with punishment and every crime has to be solved, time is the only factor.

Arjun airs every Saturday and Sunday at 8pm on Star Plus.