2023 has been an unprecedented blockbuster year for Bollywood as well as the Indian film industry as a whole. The juggernaut that started with Pathan remained unstoppable with Sunny Deol’s Gadar 2, Rajinikanth’s Jailer, and once again, Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan. The best part is that while the superstars have succeeded in breaking the supposed jinx in theatres, the world of OTTs continues to mesmerize us with engaging content like Scam 2, Panchayat, Jubilee, and Kohrra to name a few. Be it the big screen or the sea of streaming, one element that continues to be critical to filmmaking is storytelling, which we decided to ponder upon in the wake of the recent industry successes.
Who can be better to discuss this ever-relevant topic better than someone who wears both hats? We spoke about the same with Sudhanshu Rai, one of the best storytellers in India turned filmmaker, who is set to wow the audience with his upcoming thriller feature film. Sharing his thoughts on how storytelling is pivotal to filmmaking, he said, “I have always believed that storytelling is central to any form of cinema, whether you speak in terms of the big screen or the OTTs. My journey at first began solely as a storyteller, wherein I weaved several tales, created a number of iconic fictional characters, and then presented it in my own voice and style to the audience.”
“The process of being a storyteller made sure that my beginning as an actor and a filmmaker was merely a natural progression. The audience lives through each story playing on the screen and its distinct characters, and these elements definitely have a more decisive role to play rather than any promotional or marketing strategy. Being a storyteller allows me to be decisive in filmmaking and complements my performance on the screen as an actor,” said Sudhanshu, who besides being India’s most heard storyteller has produced films and web series like Chaipatti, Chintaa Mani, and Detective Boomrah.
The storyteller-actor’s upcoming feature film is a sci-fi thriller directed by Puneet Sharma. While Sudhanshu plays the lead in the film, the cast further includes Hiten Tejwani, Tarun Khanna, Sourabh Raaj Jain, Manisha Sharma, Shobhit Sujay, Deepak Wadhwa and Sidharth Banerjee, among others. The major part of the film was shot in Uttar Pradesh while some parts were filmed in the national capital. The Editor of the film is Kantara-fame Pratheek Shetty.
Sudhanshu hails from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and has pursued his education from Delhi and Bengaluru. He started storytelling over 6 years ago and currently has more than 200 stories to his credit. His acting and directorial debut was the horror comedy Chaipatti, which came after the conclusion of the first season of his popular radio storytelling show, Kahaniyaan – Kahanikaar Sudhanshu Rai Ke Saath. He is amongst the acclaimed storytellers and filmmakers in India for touching upon genres that have rarely been experimented with on the Indian screen. Interestingly, the storyteller-actor-filmmaker is also the writer of all his projects.