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INTERVIEW: ’21 years ago, I got Amitabh Bachchan on TV and now Ajay Devgn on OTT,’ says Sameer Nair
In conversation with the CEO of Applause Entertainment - Sameer Nair.
Sameer Nair is currently gearing up for the release of Rudra, which marks the digital debut of Ajay Devgn. As the CEO of Applause Entertainment, he initiated the conversation of remaking the international show, Luther in India, way back in 2017. “A year later, we started the process of discussing the rights and by early 2019, we got the deal done for Luther. By the end of 2019, we approached Ajay and things were on track,” he says.
Sameer adds, “Ajay was the first and only choice for the show. He is known to be an intense actor and I felt he would be the best fit for this dark world. He is the first big superstar to do a drama series on OTT. So much before the pandemic, we had it all in place. We were to shoot in July 2020, but eventually, it went on floors by July 2021.” What was the idea of bringing a superstar of big screen to mobile phones and tablets too?
“21 years ago, I got Amitabh Bachchan on KBC and now, Ajay Devgn on OTT. It’s all about big actors exploring new things in different formats. The right content will always attract the big stars. OTT is a very powerful medium and these shows are not been made at any lesser scale than a feature film,” he answers. Opening up about the plans of Rudra 2, the producer says, “Luther had a total of 20 episodes and that’s what we are planning as well. Though the future goals depend on how the first season fares for us.”
Applause entertainment has an exciting line up of series going forward. Sameer signs off giving an insight into their upcoming films. “There’s Undekhi 2, Bloody Brothers, Fauda, Avrodh 2 in the pipeline. We are working on City of Dreams 3 and Criminal Justice 3 as well. We are also making a couple of documentaries. There, we have got the rights to Amar Chitra Katha, so we are trying to create an animated series out of that. There's a lot of work in the pipeline and the streaming business is just going to grow. It’s an opportunity to tell wonderful stories to the audience,” he concludes.
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