Audiences want Real Stories, Real Heroes : Siddharth Roy Kapur on The Rocket Boys

The Rocket Boys series is based on the life and times of Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai and their tryst with the political scene of the times. While Home Bhabha, a celebrated nuclear physicist and Vikram Sarabhai, an astronomer and physicist, have been deeply documented across books and sites in their individual way, not much has been done on them together. Turns out both were very thick friends who discussed their theories and plans with each other.

Rocket Boys captures their friendship and the dynamics of their times. Here's an excerpt of an interview between producer of the show Siddharth Roy Kapur and Shaili Chopra.

Shaili Chopra: What was the thinking behind Rocket Boys and how do you?

Siddharth Roy Kapur: Thanks for having me on, Shaili.

At Roy Kapoor films, we’re constantly looking to create content that differentiates ourselves from um you know what is being done- I mean I wouldn’t say run of the mill but there’s a lot of content out there and we like to be able to differentiate what we do in some way or the other while being entertaining and engaging and when a writer came to us, his name is Abhay Pannu, he came to us with the idea of doing a series on Homi Baba and Vikram Sarabhai.

That really piqued our interest because we’ve always heard of these two great scientists, these two individual personalities who had their own journeys but never really knew at least till then that their life was so closely intertwined with each other that they were very very close friends, that they supported each other.

Homi would become a mentor to Vikram in the early years and then their philosophies about what was right for the country that they both loved differed and the fact that you know at that time you had men of principle differing each other about issues that they believed would sort of impact the nation that they loved so much which we thought was really incredible because there was so much other drama around their lives as well: their love, their losses, the trails and relations that they went through because we want to create firstly a series that really entertained and then informed. You know and then we thought that we could do that with the sweeping arc of the story.

Shaili Chopra:  So are you saying viewers are willing to experiment what they are watching on the screen? You have put real life heroes in this series.

Siddharth Roy Kapur: You’re right, I think people are being exposed to much great content from around the world and that’s actually accelerated in the last two years when you know everyone’s been cooped up in their homes and had, you know, by force rely on streaming for entertainment needs rather than being able to go to the cinema. Therefore they have been exposed to content both from their own language but also from regional cinema within India, that they might not have been exposed to otherwise. We’ve now got a much more discerning audience at a mass level who wants something that they’ve not watched before and are very very precious about the time that they’re going to spend with you and you have to ensure that you give something that satiates their need for differentiated content which I think will only be a good thing for the industry.

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Shaili Chopra: So are you saying it’s making business sense today to look at multi formats for a production house because traditionally you know success was only defined by a 100 crore box office?

Siddharth Roy Kapur: So yes, it is making sense for a production house today to look at a theatrical model as well as to look at a model that goes straight to streaming as well as television because one is of course what has happened in the last couple of years but theatres will open up again.

I mean I’m sure that people want that enjoyment of being able to have that familiar experience of watching something with an audience in a darkened theatre... that experience I’m pretty bullish about and it's not going to go away but I think you can pick horses for courses. There are different types of content that you might want to make for the theatrical experience that are larger than life, that require the experience of watching a film on a big screen with an audience. It could be epics, it could be period pieces. It could be fantasy, it could be superhero, it could be horror, you know, and then for stories that are more layered and more complex like a novel rather than a short story. The format of streaming might work much better and as a creative person as well you now have the ability to tell multiple kinds of stories in multiple formats in terms of time. So, why should you not take advantage of that?

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Shaili Chopra: As a producer, you have to put the money on the table. Do you see that women fronted, I hate the word women-centric, women fronted films today make business sense? I wanna hear it from a producer as big as you guys.

Siddharth Roy Kapur: Yes, they do! Absolutely and why should they not. If you tell a great story, you know, compellingly and entertainingly with a female protagonist that absolutely will make commercial sense. You still have to make it in a construct that is commercially sensible.

You need to make it in a way that makes commercial sense with regard to the budget. We’ve tried to do it all the time from “No One Killed Jessica” to “Fashion”. You know these are all movies that were women-centric and made money. So, there’s no reason why it’s not a very very compelling proposition.

Shaili Chopra: It's so telling that many Indian women are driving films as the heroes. Or even - as the case is with Priyanka Chopra - taken it to the global scene, like she did with Quantico.

 Siddharth Roy Kapur: Absolutely, it is and these are huge stars who are very commercially viable in the projects that they, you said are centred around them or that they act in that are centred around them and that’s great. I think it’s great for diversified storytelling, for different stories to be told and for there to be a better balance in terms of the star-driven vehicles that you see on screen.

Shaili Chopra: So, one of the conversations I was having with Nikhil Advani earlier was about how a male-centered program like this one is actually sort of conscious of gender because it’s not as if women fronted projects need to be conscious of it, you know what I mean?

And so, one morning when you make decisions, do you ask tough questions of directives on issues like these. Is this something that happens?

Siddharth Roy Kapur: You know I think it’s important for you to have that sort of be something that comes naturally which it does to us and it is something that of course we do all the time. With something like The Rocket Boys, I mean, these are men of their times who behaved a certain way and we need to be authentic and we need to be authentic to who they were.

To apply the standards of today to their behaviour would not be, I mean, it could be fair or unfair but to portray them by the standards of today would not be right because then you’re not being authentic to the people that they were so I think it’s important to have the nuance to be able to appreciate people in the time that they lived and existed in and of course, you can have a view on it but if you want complex and layered storytelling then you’ve got to show it as it was.

Shaili Chopra:  What are the big trends going forward you see? Do you see AR or VR as a big piece? You know, just share your mind on that front.

Siddharth Roy Kapur: I’m pretty sure that AR and VR are going to form a very big part of all that we do in the future and I have to say, I don’t think we’re prepared really for a lot of the consequences of what machine learning and artificial intelligence virtual reality are going to do to our industry because I mean sure if you’re a gamer or if you’ve got young kids, then there’s, you do get a sense of what that generation is growing up as their minds wired differently completely.

I mean I see it in my nieces and nephews all the time so you’ve got to be prepared for that next generation. Number one, their attention span is more limited and that’s just a factor of the way that they’re growing up and the technology that they’re exposed to so we have to be able to come at them quite differently in the future with regard to the way they are going to be consuming entertainment and I think we need to gear up for that

That’s one huge change that I think is going to come.