Interview: Siddharth Kumar Tewary : My reflection in the mirror should not be foggy!

Siddharth Kumar Tewary is the founder member of Sawastik Productions Pvt Ltd and has been producing variety of serials. Siddharth Kumar Tewary is fond of our culture and and doesn’t believe that mythology is a myth but considers it as an Indian history. Our Sr Editor Keerti Kadam interacted with Siddharth Kumar Tewary who is coming up with one of the biggest mythological series, Shrimad Ramayan.

What was the idea behind getting the story of Ramayan to bring to people at this juncture?

I have been toying with this subject or idea for quite some time. I had produced an epic Mahabharat in 2009 which was projected as a story of great magnitude and it was aired in all Indian languages. Of course I believe in limited episodes and do not want to linger the story beyond point. I wanted to bring Ramayan for the younger generation to understand our culture and history. For this divine story I was reading a lot and was doing research too. I approached Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television and he asked me why did I want to make it? I told him that I needed to tell this epic story for it’s deep message which depicts social fabric of our society. He readily agreed to back Shrimad Ramayan.

What differently you will be projecting it?

I have been working on this project, officially, for about 8-9 months. I wanted to mount it on a large scale. Also we’ll be telling and interpretating the story our way. But that doesn’t mean we’ll be taking undue cinematic liberties. I feel that we have to glorify our past that people will feel proud about.

You like bringing mythological stories. How pious you are personally?

I come from an interesting family. My father was a professor at St Xavier’s college in Kolkata. I grew up in a structure of Hindi heartland but in Kolkata. I naver thought that I would be in this field but maybe I was destined to be. One thing led to another and now we are bringing one of the greatest epics of Hindu culture, Ramayan. About how pious I am, I’ll only say this, ‘My reflection in the mirror should not be foggy’. I believe that my thoughts should be pure. If I do somerhing wrong it’ll reflect otherwise.

One of the movies released recently based on Ramayan received much flak. What precautions are you taking to not be asked questions?

It’s a very good question. Overall we have to tell this epic story to the nation responsibly. We have done our groundwork. We have a team of researchers and qualified writers. Our references are from factual written base. We’ll not be taking unnecessary cinematic liberties. We are procuring things which are described in the epic texts. Of course advancement of technology will be helping us to tell the story better way.

How was the cast selected? What are your expectations from Shrimad Ramayan?

This is a huge production and about 150 characters are selected to play big and small roles. It was difficult but my team painstakingly have done selection. I have monitored a few auditions and then sent it to the team for a final call. For me it’s important to know how excited the actor is to perform the particular character. The piousness they bring to the character is important for me. I believe in doing my job effectively without worrying about the returns. I expect my own self to do things to the best of my ability. I want my storytelling to better, always.

Keerti Kadam