'Bandon Mein Tha Dum', a docu-series by filmmaker Neeraj Pandey, depicts India's historic test series victory against Australia in 2021. The filmmaker, for whom this will be his first docu-series, says the process of making a documentary is "editorial" in nature because he needs to sift through a lot of videos while making sure it doesn't have the "vocabulary" of a fiction work.
The Voot Select non-fiction docu-series will focus on the challenges and tribulations that the Indian cricket team encountered leading up to their victory against Australia at their home ground of Gabba stadium. The Indian team won the test 2-1 and retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy with their victory at Brisbane's Gabba cricket field.
Pandey, director of acclaimed drama-thrillers like ‘Baby’, ‘Special 26’ and the series ‘Special OPS’, told PTI that making ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’ after making movies came in handy as he knew what not to do in the new format.
"One form of storytelling definitely helps you in the other. Either in a positive way or in a way that you learn what not to do. It helped me big time. You have to study a lot to make documentaries. The vocabulary of a fictional work and a documentary is different. So I had to be aware to not apply those rules while making this one, because it is a completely different format of storytelling. But you still want it to be as thrilling and exhilarating as any fiction work. The basic principle remains the same," he said.
Pandey recalls watching the series live and feeling that India's win against Australia was "truly cinematic". The victory was an "impossible story", the filmmaker said, calling it "resilience, tenacity and the biggest fight back in the history of test cricket".
"I knew this was a fantastic story to tell. But there was a lot of learning, constantly. Documentaries have a different vocabulary, a different language. It looks easy but it is not. There are tons of material, it is very editorial in nature, so to go through that and carve out a story from there is a challenge".
The filmmaker started working on the project right after India's victory, contacting the Australian cricket board for footage, contacting players, and putting together a "amazing ensemble" to tell the story.
Behind-the-scenes footage, honest stories from players Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant, and Hanuma Vihari, as well as coaches and journalists who covered the India-Australia series, are included in the four-part series.
The filmmaker stated that getting the actors to be candid about the events was difficult.
"It was extremely difficult. If you talk to their managers, you will get to know," the 48-year-old quipped.
"But on a serious note, once they got to know the team that wanted to tell the story, that helped. We had a positive response from them," he added.
Pandey also said the country never had a robust culture of mainstream docu-series as many didn't even know where to watch them.
"Earlier, we didn't know where to watch these documentaries, forget about making them. Now with the OTT coming in, there is more awareness, accessibility and even the audience is warming up to the format. A lot of people now prefer to watch documentaries and the trend is good. We will see a huge change in the way people are going to make documentaries and consume them. It is good time for this format," he added.
'Bandon Mein Tha Dum' will premiere on Voot Select on June 16.
[With Inputs From PTI]
