A director emerges from the Shadow

Director Sanjay Upadhyay has been yo-yoing between television and cinema for some time. But now that Saaya has has scored with Sony viewers, there could be more serious stuff from the director who has assisted the likes of Ramesh Sippy and Govind Nihalani.

By the admission of his cast, TV director Sanjay Upadhyay is not the kind of guy who imposes himself on his actors or has pre-determined notions on how a scene should evolve. Instead, he is known to let his actors perform the way they read a scene and lets the scene evolve by itself. Whatever designing has to be done happens at the editing suite. Of course, not many directors give the kind of freedom Sanjay gives his actors, but then he doesn’t believe in restricting the freedom and creativity of his actors.

Sanjay Upadhyay learnt the tricks of the trade assisting Govind Nihalani over a long period. His non-interfering style mirrors that of his mentor.

Television, in Sanjay’s opinion, has lots of limitations and it puts a filmmaker under enormous pressure. “The three-shift-an-episode system doesn’t give you a chance to explore and reach the roots,” he laments. “But then television has its own economics and one has to work within those limitations.” Despite the limitations, Sanjay has done a fairly good job on television, starting off as associate director on one series before going on to co-direct Gatha.

After that he stepped in as associate producer and director of Trikaal and now has independent charge of UTV’s Saaya (Sony, Tuesdays, 9 p.m.), a distinctively different series that explores the female psyche.

Saaya tells the story of two friends, Sudha and Kamiya, and their topsy-turvy and turbulent relationship. Sudha is simple, kind and introvert and Kamiya, on the other hand, is full of fun, pranks and exuberance. They influence each other but at the same time they do not want to change their individual personality. They are inseparable and yet their bonding results in friction and jealousy.

Soaps generally tend to have many sub-tracks, but Saaya is a single track soap where the focus is on the bonding and friction between Sudha and Kamiya. The other characters are there strictly by association. The serial focuses on the sensitivity, understanding and complexity of its main protagonists, and explores all its facets.

Of the two protagonists, Sanjay says Sudha character has more dimension. “It’s a complex character and it is a difficult role to play,’ he adds. While Sudha is a positive character, Kamiya has slight negative shades. Sanjay feels the serial has a perfect casting. “ Mansi Joshi fits the role of Sudha and Achint Kaur is perfect as Kamiya,” he says. “Both have done very good job.” He is happy that the serial, which is a dozen episodes old, has picked up good TRPs. “It is one of the top four programmes on Sony,” he smiles.

He likes to explore complex subjects which are emotionally and socially moored in human relationship. “From the script point of view there has to be one drastic element, but the emotional and social complexity has to be there,” he says. And Saaya, he maintains, has these elements in abundance.

Sanjay started his career with ad-filmmaking in 1983 as Sudesh Iyer’s assistant. From Sudesh, who has since quit ad filmmaking and runs In House Productions, Sanjay learnt the chemistry of filmmaking, the detailing, the mechanics of celluloid and the amount of creativity that goes into filmmaking. Three years later, Sanjay moved to television and assisted Kavita Chaudhary in Udaan. Since Kavita was not well-versed in the technical aspect of serial-making, Sanjay, the associate director of the serial, had to handle that job.

From television, Sanjay moved to cinema and assisted Govind Nihalani for eight years, from Tamas to Drohkaal. His association with Nihalani, recalls Sanjay, was the most fruitful as he evolved as a person and director. “More than the technique, shot designing and handling of actors, the most important thing I learnt from him is how to put thinking in your work and how to work it out. This I realised when I left him,” he recollects.

Armed with sufficient experience, he decided to go independent. He directed Pepe for BiTV. Both the channel and the series failed to take off. He directed UTV’s daily soap, Trikaal for Home TV, but the series went largely un-noticed slotted as it was in a fringe channel. “I made Trikaal with a single camera set-up and experimented with lot of movements and cuts which are not there in daily soaps,” he says. “Although the serial didn’t get any viewership, my work was noticed and appreciated by the industry.”

In fact, one among the “impressed” lot was Ramesh Sippy who asked Sanjay to co-direct Gatha. And, although Gatha was telecast to mixed reviews and reactions, Sanjay says he learnt how to add value to one’s work and how to balance commercial and off-beat elements from his Gatha stint. “It was a great pleasure working with Ramesh Sippy. I’m sad that the association didn’t last long enough,” he says with a touch of regret

He, however, is happy that Saaya has made the connection with the viewers. And now that the serial has settled down, Sanjay is already on to his next project. “I am working on a film which will be made on a shoe-string budget,” he informs. The as-yet-untitled film will be produced by Rohan Sippy, and will roll in the last week of Feb. It deals with a man who finds himself trapped in a web of his own deceit. “It’s about a man who had a vision, but couldn’t make his choices at the right time,” he elaborates.

But till such time as the film sees the light of the day, Sanjay is content exploring the complex relationship between his two female protagonists on Saaya.