Vikram Kumar and Naga Chaitanya Akkineni interview on ‘Dhootha’: We are friends first, then colleagues

Naga Chaitanya Akkineni and director Vikram Kumar on ‘Dhootha’, their first Telugu web series: The digital space gives us freedom to go beyond black and white. The paranormal crime thriller series that stars Parvathy Thiruvothu, Prachi Desai and Priya Bhavani Shankar will stream on Amazon Prime Video on December 1

A well known investigative journalist on the verge of launching a newspaper finds himself caught in a maze of mysterious incidents of crime. There’s no turning back. Dhootha (messenger), the Telugu web series directed by Vikram Kumar, has actor Naga Chaitanya Akkineni essaying the part of the journalist. The director-actor duo who collaborated for Telugu films Manam and Thank You step into the digital space with this paranormal crime thriller series, which will stream on Amazon Prime Video on December 1. 

In an interview with The Hindu, Chaitanya states that he was eager to experiment in the digital space and when Vikram approached him with a character that went beyond being merely black or white, he was game to step out of his comfort zone. Season one of Dhootha unfolds during monsoon in Visakhapatnam and also stars Parvathy Thiruvothu, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Prachi Desai, Pasupathy, Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam and Tanikella Bharani.

“My first challenge was to play an investigative journalist who is complex; there are several layers to him,” says Chaitanya, about his character that has shades of grey. Not having to think of box office reception was an advantage. “I still am not brave enough to try portraying such a character for the large screen,” he admits. “The audience watches content at home with a neutral mindset. Of course, it has to engage them or they will move to something else. They expect entertainment when they make an effort to go to the theatre, and spend on tickets and popcorn. On OTT, they are open to watching something new.”

Vikram began writing Dhootha during lockdown. If it has a faint resonance with one of his earliest films, the supernatural Tamil thriller Yaavarum Nalam (13B in Hindi), he says it was not intentional. “When I began writing it, it was as though the story wrote itself. It flew. Perhaps because I worked on it, there is some resemblance.” 

Vikram, too, is venturing into the digital space for the first time and says one of the challenging tasks was to write eight episodes, ensuring that each one had an intriguing hook. A chunk of the story happens during monsoons and he jovially states it rained for nearly 100 days of the shoot. The rain becomes a character, adding to the visual aesthetics. “The rains established a fantastic mood for the story. The thunder and lightning ensured an audio visual layering that works well for this genre. It was all written in the script,” he says.

With the script at his disposal during the lockdown, there was ample time for Chaitanya to dig into the layers of his character, Sagar, who is not a squeaky clean protagonist. “I asked Vikram several questions, especially since the paranormal element was involved. I liked how he used the paranormal element in the stories of 13B, 24 and even Manam, I thought that aspect made the story magical.”

The two have known each other for more than a decade and there is a mutual trust factor. “We are friends first, then colleagues,” says Vikram. Chaitanya reveals that there are times he goes completely by the script, in case of a director he has not worked with. In the case of Vikram, he can repose faith in the director even when the idea is still being fleshed out. “There is a trust factor since I know his aesthetics and how he has presented me as an actor earlier. There are times when I jam with a director, have discussions on what I think works and what doesn’t, and changes are made. In this case, the script he gave me is what you will see on screen.”