Exclusive: Bhram Director Sangeeth Sivan, ‘I Wouldn’t Get To Make Bhram In Bollywood’

Bhram director has made a name for himself in the Malyalam and Hindi film industry. His films in the Hindi film industry have usually been all-out entertainers like Yamla Pagla Deewana 2, Apna Sapna Money Money, Kya Kool Hai Hum among others. However, with Bhram he wants to show a different side to his work while hoping it remains equally entertaining. For Bhram, he collaborated with friend and writer, K Hari Kumar. We had a quick chat with this cult movie director making his digital debut with Bhram which is now streaming on ZEE5.

Watch the trailer for Bhram here.

Int: When we spoke to Hari Kumar, he mentioned that you were part of making this film a novel and then now turning it into a web series. How has that journey been?

Sangeeth: We were first trying to develop this into a movie, then it became a novel and now a web series. When it started as a film it was a basic concept. We needed one hour forty minutes so it was focused on the main character. When it became a novel he added a few more details to the story. When it became a web series – a major, major change happened. The whole PTSD angle happened in the web series. It was always there but never explored at all. We even took a major twist, which makes it more than an psychological thriller.

Int: So did you plan on making it a web series when the novel was being written or after that? 

Sangeeth: What happened was after the novel we (Sangeeth and Hari) were at a small village called Haripad in Kerala. We were just generally talking and then these little angles came in that made us feel we could flesh out this story into different episodes. That’s when we started writing again. So we just took the basics from the book but added onto it.

Int: Even Hari said something similar…

Sangeeth: Yes. So the backbone is from the book but the web series is where we added the rib cage and everything else, if you want to look at it that way (chuckles)

Int: So you’ve directed multiple movies, but this is your first web series. So did you approach it differently? 

Sangeeth: Actually I worked on this like a film only, because I have never done TV. So I don’t know how the episodes work. So I always saw this as a film and even approached it as a film.

Int: So your brother Santosh is also an acclaimed cinematographer. Do you collaborate with each other when you take up a project? 

Sangeeth: No, no. So our relationship is I tell what I’m working on and he tells me what he is working on. We don’t go beyond that to tell each other what to do.

Int: Since it is a horror show what was the mood like on the sets?

Sangeeth: So we were supposed to shoot in Kerala. The web series was written with Kerala in mind and we had picked locations and everything. But then the monsoons started in Kerala and we went all they way to Shimla. So it was a jump for me not just the threefold increase in cost, but because I have not been to that place, na. Even then Shimla was really overcast. This kind of set the mood for the series but you will see there’s no sunshine. In other shoots I used to wait for the sun to come to start the shoot. Here I was waiting for the sun to hide.

Int: What were some of the other challenges on the shoot? 

Sangeeth: It was overcast and gloomy but it was very mild. Everyone was fresh, no one sweated so everyone wanted to work well. One thing is a lot of scenes were shot in forests where we needed level ground to shoot. But to reach that we needed to trek every time we had to shoot. To do that after a shoot was a pain and everyone did that trek including the artists. So without their co-operation nothing would happen

Int: So what was it like shooting with actors like Kalki and Sanjay among others? 

Sangeeth: So this was the first time I was shooting with a cast I had not worked with at all before. With Kalki, she said yes after reading the script. I insisted on reading the script to her before she read it herself. When I narrated it, she was hooked and she wanted to do it. Bhumika (Chawla) and Sanjay (Suri) I knew from before and liked them but never worked with them.

But it was great shooting with them. I would say the actors are the soul of this show, because it was not the easiest of shoots. If it rains in Shimla the whole forest becomes mushy. Kalki would have a scene where she had to lie down on the ground in the muck but she never resisted which made us feel we could take it in our stride.

Int: Were there any spooky incidents on set?

Sangeeth: Well. we were in the forests so there were always some leopard-spottings. I think, people have seen a few animals. Plus Shimla is one of the most famously haunted place. But we were too tired to find anything. I just slept off in room. So no real spooky incidents as such.

Int: Compared to your other Hindi projects this is quite different from the all-out entertainers…

Sangeeth: (laughs) I hope this is an entertainer too. But no, I know this is very different from what I’ve done. I wanted to make something in the look and feel of the Scandanavian and Norwegian shows which I am personally inspired by for a long time. I don’t think I could have done something like this in Bollywood.

Int: What have you watched recently on ZEE5? 

Sangeeth: Well on ZEE5… I’ve watched Parchhayee because it is based on Ruskin Bond’s horror stories which was interesting.

Int: What’s your next project?

Sangeeth: I’m working on a comedy film next. I also have two more web series lined up. But as you know, if this one works then the next two will happen otherwise, let’s see.

Show some love to this major director on his digital debut and watch Bhram on 24th of October on ZEE5. Kick off your scare-fest by watching Parchhayee, also streaming on ZEE5.