“Kartik Aaryan Has The Hunger To Excel,” Ram Madhvani On The Pleasure Of Making Dhamaka

With refreshing humility Ram Madhvani says he  is grateful to his actors for  making his  work  what it is.

“Sushmita could have said  no   to Aarya.I am  so happy that she agreed to do it.She brought her distinct identity and sensibility to  the series . I can steal hear her scream with delight when   I informed her about  the  Emmy nomination.”

   Aarya, the 2020 webseries starring Sushmita Sen has been nominated  in the  Best Drama Series category.

  Ram who  began his  career  as an ad filmmaker and  continues to  direct  ads in spite  of his  triumph as a bio-pic director in Neerja , and   fictional storyteller  in Aarya  says  he couldn’t believe it when he heard about the Emmy,  “When  my wife Amita  and I  heard Aarya has been  nominated  for an  Emmy we were working in an editing studio. We celebrated by  sharing bhel with  our team.”

 Adds Ram’s wife and creative  collaborator Amita, “We  remain simple down-to-earth content creators. Our home is still small  and comfortable. I would never allow the success  to go to Ram’s head.”

 It  was  Amita who urged  Ram to take the plunge  into  feature filmmaking. “I told him I will join him as a  creative  partner  only when he immerses himself  into  feature  filmmaking.”

So we have  Ram Madhvani’s better-half to thank for his stunning switchover to   fiction direction. Prior  to Neerja in 2016 Ram  had directed  only one film, the  neglected  but remarkable Let’s Talk featuring Boman Irani in 2002.For  several years  Ram was planning a Lord Of The Rings kind of  period  spectacle  entitled The Talisman.

“I still enjoy making ads. I am not giving that up for  feature films. But yes , it took me time to  get here. When  I finally  made Neerja I was sure  about the  direction  that  I wanted  to take,” says  Ram who is  now busy wrapping  up the second season  of Aarya.

“The  pressure to deliver a  dhamaka post Season 1  is there. But I don’t allow it to get  to me. My wife and I are not in this  for money. We  could have  signed on  a number  of offers after Aarya.We  decided to  do Season 2 of  Aarya  because  we felt there was still more story there to tell, and  of course  there is Dhamaka awaiting  its  premiere  on  Netflix .”

Dhamaka is Ram  Madhvani’s ready-for-streaming feature film  , a thriller about a journalist who negotiates with a terrorist who threatens  to  blow up  the city.

The  anticipation for  the  film is building by the week.

Laughs Ram Madhvani, “I don’t know what  it  is. I can feel the excitement.  Maybe it has to do with Kartik Aaryan’s humongous fan-following.”

Ram is  all-praise for Kartik. “He surrendered himself to his part. There is  a   hunger  in him to excel as an actor. That  craving worked well for the  film. I believe Kartik has given  a performance that  will be talked about for  a  long time.”

Madhvani says he was astonished  by Kartik’s dedication. “I shoot  my films by  the  360-degree technique  which entails  the use  of multiple cameras. Kartik had never worked that way.He  adapted  himself to my way of working.For that matter Sushmita too was  new to my technique of direction. I’ve just been so lucky with my actors.”