Writer Gaurav Solanki’s web series Tandav is about collision of idealism with reality

Nonika Singh

Truth might be stranger than fiction and as writer Gaurav Solanki says, “Reality can be truly intriguing”. But he believes focusing on one truth or one incident can be rather limiting. What makes his upcoming web-series Tandav, a political drama, special is that it does draw from and reflect real life but not any one thing in particular. So much so that even he would not care to know/pinpoint what exactly was his inspiration.

Tandav, he insists, works more at a human level and brings out the relationship matrix of the political class. In the world of cinema politicians have been demonised for too long. Not that Gaurav portrays them in positive light, “For, human beings are rarely all good. Tandav is about collision of idealism with reality.”

In fact, the canvas of Tandav is vast and includes all kinds of characters the good, bad and the ugly. But whatever may be the shade, he promises none of them will be uni-dimensional.

The fact that stars like Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia are part of the mega series directed by successful director Ali Abbas Zafar could have weighed on his mind. But while writing the series he had no clue who would be starring in it. Today he is happy that the series indeed has an ensemble cast of some fantastic actors. Whether any one character in particular has an author-backed role or his personal favourite, he feels he has done justice to them all.

As OTT is being hailed as essentially a writer’s medium, he agrees that writing for even an average web series is more onerous than a regular film. He compares the experience to “writing a novel for the screen.”

Since more than anyone else the writer stays with the story for the longest span of time he says, “In the West, writers often are the show-runners.” He may not be turning one soon but director’s hat he sure will be wearing in very near future. The writing might behind the much acclaimed Article 15, he is currently busy writing a personal story about young people and relationships which he shares would be markedly different from the ones he has already penned. Besides, yet another political drama too is in the offing which he would like to helm himself.

Politics might be a volatile subject that could easily provoke certain sections of society, he believes, “There are enough reasonable people in this country. Only, often they are quiet and go about their life while the unreasonable ones are more voluble and have nuisance value.”

Nevertheless, unmindful of the pressure groups he adds, “I will take a stand for what I believe in. Only my stance should not come across as biased or unreasonable.” Right, left or centre, the line he deems is not so firmly drawn as we often imagine. “Within the same person different ideas can coexist.” And it’s this gamut of emotions and flux of thoughts we would get to see in Tandav.

Yet another project he is mighty proud of is Dibakar Banerjee’s film Freedom releasing on Netflix. Working for Dibakar whom he has been idolising much before he came to Mumbai nearly eight years ago was a dream come true. Writing for the film, personal yet political and social, which called for an altogether different skillset, was indeed a huge challenge.

Surviving in the industry too is easier said than done. “You write something, it gets stuck and you don’t know what hit you.” Luckily for him in 2019 Article 15, a sleeper hit happened. However, in the intervening period, he never stopped writing. And as he looks back he does think he has become better than he was in 2012. So, to all the aspiring writers out there his advice is simple, “Whatever may be the impediments, keep working on your craft.” His craft already evident in Article 15 is on test today once more as Tandav streams on Amazon Prime.

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