Was your shift from law to theatre gradual or sudden?
Bollywood played a significant part in my growing up so much so that after my 12th, I wanted to study English and work with a theatre company alongside. Wishing a secure career for me, my parents didn’t allow this to happen. So, I read law at Jamia Millia Islamia and practiced for little more than a year at Delhi High Court before taking up law full time. Since my Dad wanted me to become a doctor, like an adarshwaadi Indian beti, I had planned to do PhD someday, just for him!
Tell us about New Brain Theater Volks.
Apart from being a long-nurtured dream of having a theatre company of our own, New Brain Theater Volks was also started to make theatre a sustainable business model. Actors enjoy doing theatre and it is our medium. But unfortunately, we never have enough funds and so, we look for work outside theater, primarily for money. So far we haven’t succeeded on the sustainable front but we’re working towards it. If not rehearsing for a play, we catch up over chai and Parle-G, and when we have money we eat vada pao also!
How did you collaborate with TVF?
Arunabh (CEO, founder TVF) was the first person I met on reaching Mumbai. This was before Qtiyapa bombed the Internet. We met; he called me for a couple of projects and introduced me to the team. And eventually, I joined them as one of the creators.
Other than the humour quotient, what is the objective of the content you generate?
I think we are recording popular facts from our times for the generations to come.
Any road-blocks along the way?
Acceptance was our biggest challenge. The general perception not very long ago was that we are a bunch of boys who make YouTube videos for fun. My parents still find it hard to believe that I do this full-time. I see all of it as typical clichés for our biopic!
Do you see yourselves as social media vigilantes?
That’s a very boring title. I think we see ourselves as our reflection in the mirror! On a serious note, we make content that interests us. We are all storytellers and to have ‘humour’ as a genre is a conscious choice.
What binds the group together?
Individuals here are from Bettiah, Varanasi, Rourkela, Khairthal, Muzaffarpur, Indore, Falna, Chattarpur. We are all from middle-class families with similar childhood stories and references. To illustrate a little about our backgrounds, the recent video Tech Conversations with my Dad is based on an actual chat between Biswapati Sarkar and his Dad. I’ll sum up by saying that we all are quintessential bakchods!
