The idea of making a series on a male prostitute came to director Puneet Krishna one night. “I just wanted to tell another story which was different from my previous work, which was Mirzapur. And set in North India, because I come from that part of the country, something entertaining, something fun at the same time, something which has layers for people to, you know, peel through and get something more than entertainment as well. And that's how the story was born. I have not lived the life of Tribhuvan Mishra per se. But in general, I have met people who are really colourful in life, who will come across as somebody who is like a very normal, very simple person, man or woman, both. But when you peel the layers, and you get to know them more, they are much more than that. There is so much colour inside them. There's so much violence inside them, there can be fun inside them. So all those characters, it's like a mishmash of them. And that's how these characters of Tribhuvan Mishra were born.”
About the research work that the project entailed, Puneet says, “This will exist behind the curtains. And I mean, I got to meet people also who do this work. And I was very surprised to know that this world operates on the premise of a lot of respect and transactional value. Since literally, somebody is giving a service, somebody is taking a service, irrespective of gender. So I got to understand that when a man is servicing a woman, for example, there's a lot of respect involved. Most of the time, they call them Ma'am. And that's the only way the transaction will happen. So I understood that this world has a lot of dignity associated with it, which we otherwise might not believe. But if we kind of, you know, delve into it more, we understand this better. So that was some kind of research that was done, meeting people and understanding how it works. And then talking to women around me. Of course, they will be talking to me without getting their names out. That was the condition, of course, then how exactly do they feel in different kinds of scenarios in different, you know, times of their different age, say, when they're in their 20s or their 30s and their 40s and their 50s. So, I think that helped a lot in deciding how to exactly portray the women characters. Rest of it is from imagination. Manav bhai (Kaul) was really, really keen to know more about the character, more about the role. I think the story is much more than servicing women sexually. It is much more about understanding women per se in the show and trying to do things to, you know, support his family, come out of a crisis, and survive as a middle-class common man. So, I think the story was much more than a gigolo in that sense. And Manav bhai was more than willing to become Tribhuvan Mishra, which I think he beautifully did.”
About the wonderful cast, the director says, “I think the process is that my life's understanding taught me that even a character who is there in the show or a movie for even for only say one scene, and speaking only say four lines in the entire series or movie, he or she should be cast with the same love as you would cast your lead actor. Because in that scene, when that character is speaking two lines and the camera is on him or her, he will be the one who will be lifting the scene in that moment. So, you can't compromise even on that one-line character or one-scene character. So, that extraordinary care we try to take while we hire actors. So, maybe that's why, you know, the smaller characters are also working well for the audience because they like the relatability of and the realness of the actors who are playing those characters. I think that has helped a lot. And apart from Manav bhai, it's an ensemble cast, I'll try to take all the names one by one. Tillotamaji (Shome), who doesn't come from a, you know, normal Hindi-speaking background, but you can't see that on screen. She speaks like Bindi. I mean, she stops being Tillotama, she becomes Bindi very soon. It's like magic when the camera is switched on when she's acting. I can tell you this from my experience on set. And then there is Shweta Basu Prasad, Naina Sarin, who's playing Manav bhai's wife in the show. Then Subrajyoti Bharat sir, who is playing Tikaram Jain. For Faizal Malik and Ashok bhai, to play these characters coming out of Panchayat, it's great, I would say. You know, covering a whole range of spectrum in terms of acting. Then there is Sunil bhai who's playing the second cop. So many actors. I mean, I'm sure I'm missing out on some names. And we kept on finding them. So I think the credit goes to our casting department also. Casting Bay is the agency that I work with, and I've been working with them since Bangistan days. They're one of the best and they never feel tired when I push them. It's more than 200 speaking parts and they always, always work hard to give us the right actors for the role.”
One of the vital plot points in Tribhuvan is the female orgasm… something we don't normally discuss in public. Puneet feels it is time to sweep the subject from below the carpet. “The pleasure of the human body is something that definitely should be discussed because it is something which is a very important part of life, in my opinion, the way we derive pleasure from eating good food or watching good movies or wearing good clothes is exactly the same, in my opinion. And if it (the orgasm) can be normalized in a decent, within-the-boundary way, why not? I would say, of course, yes, it should be normalized. It should be discussed more. It should be a part of the discourse. I'm sure of it. Absolutely sure of it. And that's why we went down this road in the show, because I think that is something which is not so often talked about, in my opinion. And I can only be hypothetical about it because being a male, of course, female orgasm is something that I have not experienced per se. You know what I mean? But I can still try and make it a subject of discussion for sure.”
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