MillenniumPost
Entertainment

‘We never treated ‘24’ like a TV serial’

“It’s amazing how much enthusiasm Season 2 of ‘24’ has generated. We wanted to do the second season only when all of us were sure we had the time and energy to do it uninterrupted. Even before Season 2 had begun airing, we had already completed shooting of 18 episodes, with six more to go,” said Anil. “We did everything in style. We ‘Indianised’ the original a bit. But only enough so that fans of the original do not feel betrayed. The thing is we never treated ‘24’ like a television serial. The premiere episode of ‘24’ had to go through the full censor process. “Since we were screening it like a feature film, we had to get it censored. This is the first time that a television product is being treated like a feature film,” he added. 

Anil, who stars in the lead role and has also produced the show, says, “For me, there’s no difference between shooting for a feature film and ‘24’. I’ve again set aside all my film assignments until I complete all the shooting for Season 2. This is the only way to work on television. You can’t treat the medium as a space filler,” he said. This time ‘24’ is darker and more brooding in mood. “ ‘24’ is a political thriller. My character is shown to be in a relationship with a woman (Surveen Chawla),” he said.

The kiss in ‘24’ between Anil and Surveen was much reported, though Anil can’t see what the fuss is about. “I’ve kissed in my films when there has been a need to. In ‘24’, a liplock was needed.About time we stopped making a fuss about these things. The content in ‘24’ is not juvenile.

“We are looking at a series which has certain international standards to uphold,” Anil said. Anil is hopeful that Season 2 of ‘24’ would have an even larger impact than the first time. 

Next Story
Share it