Anatomy of a hit show
Together, they are a formidable team — Jaideep Ahlawat urf Hathi Ram Chaudhary of ‘Paatal Lok’ and Sudip Sharma, creator and writer of the fabulous web series. The show has created new benchmarks in acting and long-form storytelling. As the deafening applause shows no signs of waning, how is the creator-actor duo coping with the unstoppable adulation? While Ahlawat’s one-word answer is “happy”, Sharma is clearly overwhelmed: “I would have folded my hands in gratitude if I had not fractured my hand.” Now you know how his insightful writing is peppered with a great sense of humour.
Such is the power of the show that it has sparked a memefest around Hathi Ram, with even Amul endorsing his growing popularity by spinning a delightful ode. Ahlawat is tickled pink by the Amul ad. On Hathi Ram’s representation, he says, “I wish I was as cute.” While the world is trying to decode the character, Sharma admits there are only two persons who understand him best. One, of course, is he the creator; the other is Ahlawat. In fact, he thanks his stars that he thought of Ahlawat for the part some seven years ago, even though he had never met him before. For the star actor, who found his real place under the sun with ‘Paatal Lok’, saying ‘yes’ to the part was a no-brainer. After a gap of nearly four years, during which we saw him in ‘An Action Hero’, ‘Jaane Jaan’, ‘Broken News’, ‘Maharaj’ et al, reprising the part of Hathi Ram was not challenging at all. He shares, “I had been through his life physically and mentally, and after two readings, I was in the same space.”
So much so that whenever there were discussions in the writers’ room, especially around the climactic scene in which Hathi Ram takes only Rs 5 lakh out of the Rs 2 crore on platter, others were perplexed as to who in his sane mind would do that. But both Sharma and Ahlawat were on the same page and not for a moment doubted Hathi Ram’s decision. Sharma observes, “That is exactly who Hathi Ram is.”
If he conceived him as a spiritual being who goes by the doctrine of karma, Ahlawat utters the epic lines, ‘Karmanye Vadhikaraste Ma Phaleshu Kadachana’ (You have the right to perform your duties, but never to the fruits of your actions). Whether such righteous human beings exist in this real materialistic world, let alone in the grimy Paatal Lok envisioned by Sharma, Ahlawat nods: “I believe so.”
Sharma fashioned Hathi Ram after his scrupulous father. He feels that Hathi Ram’s value system is something we all aspire for. “Precisely why the emotion connected so well with the audiences.” At least Sharma would care to be like Hathi Ram in this life or the next and only take his due. And if you think here is a flawed, patriarchal character, who would not let his wife work, Ahlawat puts in a stoic defence of Hathi Ram and his brethren from the Jatland, Haryana, his home state too. On the now iconic dialogue, ‘Bina chaud ke bhi koi Chaudhary hove’, he argues, “What you think is attitude is actually his simplicity and straightforwardness. With Hathi Ram, what you see is what you get. He is not a conniving person, scheming behind the other’s back.”
And it’s this beauty and truth of the character which became a referral point for the second season. If the first season of ‘Paatal Lok’ was based on Tarun Tejpal’s book ‘The Story of My Assassins’, Sharma states, “For the second outing, the idea was to take Hathi Ram to uncharted territory.” Nagaland was a conscious choice for Sharma, who grew up in Assam, and knows the Northeast rather well. Besides, he wanted to “raise the stakes for Hathi Ram, take him very far away from the badlands of the first season, a place where the language and how he looks and talks is a barrier. Nagaland fit the bill”.
Among the many tropes that Sharma did not employ was also how he resisted the temptation of cliff-hangers. “I hate cliff-hangers. Also, I feel that it is insecure storytelling, which implies that you are not confident of your product and believe that people will come back to your show only if there is an artificial hook of suspense, of whether this character will survive or not. If the audiences have invested seven hours of their precious time, they deserve closure.”
But with Hathi Ram threatening to quit the police force, can we hope for another season of his adventures and travails? Ahlawat quips, “Now that is a cliff-hanger!” Sharma says, “For season 3 to happen, many things have to fall in place.”
For now, revel in Hathi Ram’s chaste Haryanvi. We ask him if the real-life Haryanvi has any message for the men and women of his state, and the reply is succinct, “Chha jao” (Conquer the world).