Sooraj Barjatya Makes OTT Debut, Says ‘Rajshri Should Go Beyond Me’

For his entire life, filmmaker Sooraj Barjatya has been the face of Hindi films glorifying traditional Indian family values. Be it Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Hum Saath-Saath Hain, Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon, Vivah, or Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, they revolve around family values cherished by generations but those that are often not palatable for the young audience seeking change. Barjatya is now set for a digital debut as he dons the showrunner’s hat for SONY LIV’s original show Bada Naam Karenge. The managing director of Rajshri Productions hopes the house expands beyond his own vision. In an exclusive interview, Sooraj Barjatya talks about the new show and welcoming a younger vision to Rajshri Productions. Gullak fame director Palash Vaswani has directed Bada Naam Karenge and joins us for the chat.

Sooraj Barjatya’s OTT debut with Bada Naam Karenge

Bada Naam Karenge is a family show about young girl and boy who move from smaller towns to the city of Mumbai and are pitched for a marriage arranged by their parents. It explores how today’s generation navigates around the traditions, rituals and institutions like marriage and family. Featuring Ritik Ghanshan, Ayesha Kaduskar, Rajesh Tailang, Priyamvada Kant, Anjana Sukhani, Gyanendra Tripathi and Kanwaljit Singh, the show explores the challenges that the two generations face when tasked with having to accommodate each other. The show is set to land on SONY LIV on February 7.

Sooraj Barjatya: ‘My daughter has not seen Vivah, not many young people watch my films’

Some of the most famous Barjatya films have championed the cause of families against love and rebellion – a theme that traditionally does not work at the box office. The younger generation out to rebel against almost every established entity rarely find resonance in these films.

However, after making the 2022 film Uunchai, Barjatya is now open to younger vision and filmmakers at his production house. Rajshri Productions have backed Bada Naam Karenge. “Thanks to Palash Vaswani for bringing a different voice to Rajshri Productions. I’ve been looking forward to get young makers like Palash come on board. Makers like him can do something to keep the ethos going while introducing new visions. Rajshri should go beyond me. My sons are aiming at it, and now makers like Palash have joined it. I’m very happy that how he kept the basics and gave his own (to the show). That’s a much-needed shift, things should move forward.”

Recalling his first deviation, the film Uunchai, Barjatya calls it liberating. It was his first films that recognized transition of generations and normalized adapting to newer order of things. “Uunchai was one film where I got out of my comfort zone. I could free myself from the box office expectations and I worked on a story I had with me for a long time. I’m very happy I got the kind of audiences I’ve never had. For example, my films have never worked in Mumbai’s commercial centers though they always worked in the suburbs around the Indian city. I was happy I could connect to a broader audience with Uunchai. It scored lesser in smaller towns, but that’s fine. Finally, the film is a voice of a director. Also, working with Amitabh Bachchan himself was a very big moment for me.”

Glad that his director Palash Vaswani has a very clear vision, Barjatya recalls he had creative differences with Vaswani during the process, but it was all very smoothly handled. “It was a lovely collaboration. I’m very happy the show has a younger vision, thanks to him and his team. Honestly, very few youngsters come for my films. They may come to show the films to their grandparents but most of the first shows for my films have audience full of white hair. They may be accompanied by youngsters (But the main audience is pretty old). My daughter does not want to watch my films mostly, she has not even watched Vivah, but she wants to see Bada Naam Karenge.”

He adds, “With the show, we want the audience to observe the two generations, there is no judgement involved. It’s very empathetic. Both are trying to adapt, and to change for each other. That’s the most important part that we try to capture.”

Vivah featured Shahid Kapoor and Amrita Rao in lead roles and showcased the Indian marriage traditions leading the way even as the culture of engagement and courtship made its way to the common conscious of the Indian family. The film was a commercial success, though it was criticized for being over-dramatic.

Sooraj Barjatya’s debut show: Bada Naam Karenge

Palash Vaswani previously directed several episodes of the four-season-long SONY LIV web series Gullak before jumping on the bandwagon with Barjatya and his production house, Rajshri Productions. He recalls working with the senior director as his showrunner was one of his biggest reasons for saying yes. “Sooraj sir has been an inspiration. He is one of the few directors whom I have watched growing up and who was the reason why I wanted to be a filmmaker. When I got that call from Rajshri. Then of course, the story has such rootedness and simplicity to it, I had to do it. There was also this greed to work with and learn from Sooraj sir.”

Asked about his initiation into the project, Barjatya recalls visiting several digital platforms with his production house but being denied any offer. “With an intention to enter the OTT space, I visited many platforms with my son Devaansh, who handles OTT at Rajshri, in 2018. They were nice and honest – they told us they were not ready for the family audience. I appreciate their honesty when they said the space belonged to crime and thrills. So, when SONY LIV called and told us they ‘want to get the Vivah audience, we were happy. It was heartwarming.”

Challenges of making Bada Naam Karenge: Long takes, long scenes

Vaswani also tells us that he shot some interestingly challenging sequences for the show. He did some scenes that went on for 17 minutes. “When cross-questioning or rebellion is in progress in these huge families, it can get very verbose. That was challenging, but I approach such scenes like a courtroom drama. Subconsciously, the audience sees a judge in the head of the family then there is a defense lawyer, and then, may be an aunt who stays in the frame without speaking. We shot that scene for two or three days, that one scene. Everyone was so thrilled after we completed it, not for the achievement of completing it but for the thrills it had from the perspective of an audience.” Barjatya adds that Vaswani has achieved a spectacular sequence when he shot the climax of the show. He reveals it was set with the backdrop of the Hindu festival Janmashtami and features all the colors and elements of the festival celebrated as the birthday of Lord Krishna.

(This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)