India continues to fascinate me, says 'Pataal Lok' creator Sudip Sharma

Sudip Sharma says that through his upcoming Amazon original series "Paatal Lok", he has tried to understand the country better.

The neo-noir series, which Sharma has written and created, features actors Neeraj Kabi, Jaideep Ahlawat, Gul Panag, Swastika Mukherjee and Abhishek Bannerjee

Sharma said it was his endeavour to explore the multiple faultlines that runs across in the Indian society.

"It's always been on my agenda to try and understand this country better; and even in my forties, it continues to fascinate and yet disturb me. When you think about it, you realise there are multiple fault lines that run across the country; be it because of economy, class, rural and urban divide etc. - we can deny it, but they do exist," the creator said in a statement.

 

The series has been inspired by the ancient realms of Swargalok (heaven), Dharti Lok (earth), and Paatal Lok (netherworld).

The story is about a cop who lands the case of a lifetime when four suspects are nabbed in the assassination attempt of a prime time journalist.

"There are primarily three classes, the upper, middle and lower which I personally associated to Swarg Lok, Dharti Lok and Paatal Lok, essentially derived from heaven, earth and the netherworld. The thought behind the concept of the show was to explore these three classes that exist in our society in the form of an investigative thriller.

"We wanted to explore the three layers from the eyes of the investigator; i.e. the protagonist of the show, who represents the earth, the victim represents the heaven, and the suspects come from Paatal Lok," Sharma said.

The show, which will debut on Amazon Prime Video on May 15, has been shot in 110 cities across the country, including Chitrakoot in Uttar Pradesh.

"This is the first time any film, or series has been shot in Chitrakoot. When we had initially visited Chitrakoot for a scout, we weren't aware of the terrain and the lack of infrastructure.

"We had to build the entire shooting eco-system from scratch. Luckily for us, a hotel had recently opened there, and that helped us a lot. The town is almost like a quaint forgotten town, something like Banaras but without the hustle and bustle," Sharma said.