'Aarya' creator Ram Madhvani says he doesn't view the Sushmita Sen-starrer series as a crime drama but as the story of a family whose matriarch is forced to make certain choices to protect her children.
The writer-director said in the world of his show, no crime will go unpunished, which is why they were careful about how they depict violence.
"We are very careful about making sure that the violence is not gratuitous or just for the sake of it. She (Aarya) is doing certain things because she wants to protect her children. She is going to get justice at the end of it," Madhvani told PTI in an interview.
"What used to happen in the climax of Hindi films... At the end, you would see the shot of the Central Jail... the hero would have to suffer punishment and so would Aarya. That's the value system for the family audience that we put into the show. You can't do bad things and get away with it. Even though there are tropes of thriller, crime, noir, I'm interested in family dynamics," he added.
According to Madhvani, it's fitting that Sen's Aarya gets shot at by an unseen assailant in the trailer of the third season, the first part of which started streaming on Disney+ Hotstar in November.
The first season of the show, which is the official Hindi adaptation of the Dutch series 'Penoza', co-created by Sandeep Modi, released in 2020 and followed the journey of the titular character getting pulled into the world of crime and drugs after her husband Tej Sareen (Chadrachud Singh) is murdered.
Aarya was full of laughter and joy but in season two, she wanted to run away and in season three, she doesn't laugh, observed the director.
"She's not doing it because she wants to, or wants revenge, or likes bloodshed. She's doing this because that's the only way to protect the children. What we are looking at is not violence, we are looking at a story about a character. In this case, Aarya is doing certain things for a greater reason and unfortunately, nothing is going right," Madhvani added.
According to the creator, the moral choices the characters in 'Aarya' are being forced to make is what keeps the viewers interested in the drama.
"You need to put your character through all of this. The conversation is not that she is enjoying the violence, it's about is she right or wrong? Should she be doing this or not? Was she forced into this? That's what keeps you interested."
What also keeps fans hooked is the catchphrase "Apne panje baahar nikalo". This one-liner is spoken by Daulat, Aarya's confidant played by Sikandar Kher, in every season of the show each time in a different context.
Madhvani, whose roots lie in advertising, described the popular dialogue as a "war cry".
"We all need this kind of a slogan. Coming from advertising, it's very important to have a baseline. A lot of times we are in the room because we are also such Hindi film fans from Manmohan Desai to Mukul Anand.
"We are fans of dialogue 'baazi'. When we are writing, we put a dialogue 'baazi' audit, that every episode should at least have such two-three lines which we can also use in the trailers. Not all lines hit you, but those that do are called 'T-shirt slogans'," he explained.
Like her character, Sen too went through a lot while working on the third season of "Aarya". The actor suffered a massive heart attack and underwent angioplasty last March.
The director, a self-confessed Sen fan, said he has huge respect for her.
"Just to have spent time with her, hung out with her, chatted with her has been one of the milestones of my life. I'm grateful she's back, she's healthy. She was on the ramp two weeks after what she went through. Hats off to her energy and strength."
Madhvani said many fans of the show, including his friends, were not happy when the makers premiered only the first four episodes of the series. The decision, he said, was made by Disney+ Hotstar.
"Even my eye doctor said 'What is this? Why have you only released four episodes?' I had a chat with Gaurav Banerjee (from Disney+ Hotstar) and some people felt that we should have released all eight. They have done it in the past and found that it helps in sustaining interest and longevity."
Asked if 'Aarya' will return for another run, the producer said the greenlighting power of more seasons rests with the audience.
"Please love the show. Please ask for more and as you ask for more, we are hoping that Disney+ Hotstar will come to us and say 'Hey, listen. The audience wants more'," he said.
