Exclusive: Rajkumar Gupta reveals the inspiration behind making Pill

Pill has been a real dark horse when it comes to the world of OTT shows in India. It was released on a popular streaming platform last month and garnered instant response from the Indian audience. The show features Riteish Deshmukh, Pavan Malhotra, Anshul Chauhan and Akshat Chauhan. Pill’s creator and director Rajkumar Gupta, who has in the past given us memorable movies like Aamir, No One Killer Jessica and Raid, tells us why and how he decided to make a show on the corrupt and dramatic world of Big Pharma. It’s a subject that usually gets covered in documentaries, but credit to Rajkumar Gupta and his team, who have managed to make this medical thriller into an entertaining and engaging show. Gupta, who is now preparing for Raid 2 with Ajay Devgn, gives us the lowdown on his OTT debut.

No One Killed Jessica, India’s Most Wanted and now Pill. You tend to naturally gravitate towards investigative thrillers.

I don’t know. I think if you look at my filmography, there are dramas, thrillers and films from many genres and subgenres. Aamir, my first film, was different. No One Killed Jessica again was a very dramatic thriller, then Ghanchakkar was completely different. It took no direct inspiration from real life, it was a dark comedy. Even Raid had drama, humour and thrills. I think I go by what I feel in terms of the story that I want to tell. I don’t pick a subject simply because it is inspiring. It has to have the potential to be engaging and entertaining, as well. I look at subjects from the merit in their story, not just what comes to my mind naturally. If I just select subjects based on instincts, I guess I would end up restricting myself as a filmmaker.

How did you zero in on the idea of making a show on Big Pharma?

The germ of the idea came thanks to my association with Ronnie (Screwvala, producer). He and I have worked together on a couple of films. We made No One Killed Jessica and Ghanchakkar together. We had been thinking of doing something together again and I think while we were chatting, he came up with the idea of exploring a story on pharma. I was also reading stuff on that subject for a couple of weeks, and I thought it would be a nice idea to explore.

That’s where the germ of making a series on the pharma world came from. Then we went into research and the first bunch of ideas that came to mind was to explore ideas or truths that one has been hearing or one has been seeing in the medical world. Then, my team of writers and I managed to create the concept of Pill.

What excites you about a subject?

When I can form a narrative in and around a subject. This narrative should be engaging, entertaining and also thought provoking. It should also be able to give the audience some introspection along the way.

Were you consciously looking for an opportunity to try your hand at the long form format?

No, I had been toying with the idea of trying the longer format for a while. I was approached by a few OTT platforms to develop ideas but honestly, I didn’t have a story to tell. Also, I was too busy writing and directing my film projects. That’s why I took time to make my first series. There was no subject that I thought would benefit from me telling the story. But when the subject of Pill came into my mind, I thought there was something in this story I wanted to tell.

Did you enjoy working on an OTT series?

Pill is my first attempt at it, so of course it has been quite challenging. The language of feature films is different from the language of web shows. As a filmmaker, you get to learn from every attempt at storytelling. You learn a lot of things along the way. While making Pill, I learnt a totally new grammar of filmmaking, one that I could only explore in the longer format. This is a very different kind of filmmaking grammar.

Will we see more OTT shows from your stable?

I am focussed on my feature film projects. Raid 2 with Ajay sir is being finalised for a release soon. Apart from that, there are other projects that I have been working on. But for me to make my second OTT show, I will have to get inspired like I did with Pill. It’s been a special project with Riteish (Deshmukh) and the entire team, but I am yet to zero in on the subject for an OTT show.