iWorld
VidNet 2022: Why do narratives like ‘Gullak’ work on OTT?
Mumbai: SonyLiv web series “Gullak” produced by The Viral Fever, which concluded its third season recently, is a revelation for OTT platforms on creating franchises that span multiple seasons and do not lose their appeal. The simple premise of the show revolves around the interactions of a middle-class family ‘The Mishras’ including the father Santosh Mishra (played by Jameel Khan), mother Shanti Mishra (played by Geetanjali Kulkarni), elder son Anu Mishra (played by Vaibhav Raj Gupta) and younger son Aman Mishra (played by Harsh Mayar). The outstanding response to the web series in its third season highlights the importance of good writing when creating for OTT platforms.
At IndianTelevision.com’s VidNet Summit 2022, held recently, the director, writer and cast of the show for the third season of “Gullak” gave a masterclass on the making of the series. The creators spoke about sustaining the relatable middle-class aesthetic and narrative of the show and the cast spoke about the evolving traits of each character in successive seasons. The session was joined by director Palash Vaswani, writer Durgesh Singh, actor Vaibhav Raj Gupta, Geetanjali Kulkarni, and Jameel Khan.
The two-day industry event was supported by technology partners Dell Technologies and Synamedia, summit partners Applause Entertainment and Viewlift, industry support partners Gupshup, Lionsgate Play and Pallycon, community partners Screenwriters Association and Indian Film and Television Producers Council, and gifting partner The Ayurveda Co.
The director of the show Palash Vaswani started the masterclass session by stating that the content we see made for audiences in the Hindi-speaking belt depicts characters holding a gun or presented as caricatures. “Gullak is different because it is not a show about the ten per cent of the population but the other 90 per cent who are underrepresented in the media. This is a life that we’ve all lived and the show is a potent ground for telling stories that have not been heard before. I found the opportunity to tell that story exciting.”
Writer Durgesh Singh spoke about the moments that inspire the writing of the show. “I was in Bhopal two days back at an Indian coffee house. There were four uncles in their mid-fifties discussing Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky. Mind you, they were not talking about the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict but they were commenting on how fit Zelensky was at the age of 44,” he shared. “In this country, while infrastructure is developing fast, people’s mindsets and attitudes are changing more slowly. The reason small-town stories are working in cinema, TV and OTT is that people in small towns have migrated to big cities and they want to see the stories that take them to the space where they have spent their childhood. That’s the insight behind the success of ‘Gullak’.”
Actor Vaibhav Raj Gupta who plays the elder son in the Mishra household ‘Anu Mishra’ spoke about his character arc in the latest season. He said, “Whenever a new season of ‘Gullak’ launches, I go watch the previous season to understand the character arc. Earlier, Anu Mishra has been struggling to earn money and, in this season, he’s finally begun earning. That’s the new dynamic that we explored.”
Speaking about his inspiration for bringing out the character traits in Anu Mishra, he noted, “I also come from a middle-class household and I have a younger sibling. I’ve noticed how the people at home treat you if you’ve not excelled academically or are an earning member. For example, parents start treating you with respect once you become an earning member. I learned from those interactions and incorporated that experience into my character.”
Geetanjali Kulkarni, a Marathi theatre actor, who played the role of ‘Shanti Mishra,’ said that season three continues with the arc after her character is diagnosed with diabetes in season two. She reflects that there is a lot more sensitivity to the character interactions in season three, where the characters fight, but there’s also more making up. “There’s a maturity and wisdom in the characters of ‘Gullak’ because the characters are growing older. As a theatre actor, after doing 25-50 shows we start playing around with the material, not necessarily worrying about the lines or people’s responses. Similarly, in the third season of ‘Gullak’, we’ve become more playful with our characters.”
Jameel Khan, who plays Santosh Mishra, agreed with Kulkarni and affirmed, “There’s a lot less conflict and yelling in the third season of ‘Gullak’ as compared to season one and two. There was also sensitivity in the season where we paid close attention to every relationship in the family. There has always been a ‘dostana’ between the parents and children in the Mishra household but the third season also brought a sensitivity to the relationship between husband and wife. In a middle-class household, there is an attitude that we must suppress the womenfolk in the household and I find that disturbing. ‘Gullak’ takes a mirror to society in an entertaining manner and reflects their aspiration to move ahead in life.”
iWorld
WhatsApp may soon let users to pick who sees their status updates
The messaging giant is borrowing a page from Instagram’s playbook as it pushes to give users finer control over their social circles.
CALIFORNIA: WhatsApp is quietly working on a feature that could make its Status function considerably smarter and considerably more private.
According to reports from beta tracking platforms, the app is testing a tool called Status lists, which would allow users to create named groups such as close friends, family and colleagues, and control precisely which group sees each update. It is a meaningful step up from the platform’s current blunt instruments, which offer only three options: share with all contacts, exclude specific people, or manually select individuals each time.
The new feature draws an obvious comparison with Instagram’s Close Friends function, and the resemblance is unlikely to be accidental. Both platforms sit within Meta’s family, and the company has been nudging them toward a common logic of audience segmentation for some time.
The move also fits neatly into WhatsApp’s broader privacy push. The platform has been rolling out enhanced chat protections and is exploring the introduction of usernames, which would allow users to connect without exchanging phone numbers. Status lists extend that philosophy from messaging into broadcasting.
Meanwhile, Status itself has been evolving well beyond its origins as a simple photo-and-text slideshow. The feature now supports music stickers, collages, longer videos and interactive elements, pushing it closer to the social-media-style story format pioneered by Snapchat and refined by Instagram. In that context, finer audience controls are not merely a privacy feature. They are a precondition for people sharing more.
The feature remains in development and has not been confirmed for release. WhatsApp routinely tests tools that are later modified or quietly shelved. But the direction of travel is clear: the app wants Status to be a destination, not an afterthought. Letting users decide exactly who is in the audience is how it gets there.
