Asur 2 director Oni Sen on being careful when dealing with mythology, ‘In our country you have to be…’ [EXCLUSIVE]

Assyrian the series became a favorite. The jaw-dropping web series starring Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobti and others is as interesting as possible as it perfectly blends mythology and science to create an intriguing story. While Asur 2 remains to rule the chart of most popular OTT series, we got in touch with the director Oni Sen. He talks candidly about the series, concerns, audience reaction, casting and much more. So here are the excerpts from the interview. Also Read – Asur 2: Arshad Warsi hints at Asur 3; He reveals that his wife does not like his work

Were you expecting a thunderous response to Asur 2 considering there was a big gap between two seasons?

Well, we hoped we would. But we were worried, as we all would be, when season one worked. And also Season 2, the story, we had changed quite a bit in the way the story was told. You know, it was much more complicated. The scope of the narrative was much more. So we were slightly worried. But when the answers started coming in, I think we were all very happy that all the hard work paid off. Also Read – Asur 2: Barun Sobti co-star spills the beans on actor’s work style; says: “He is dedicated and methodical”

What made you choose Asur?

Well, when Asur Season 1 was conceived and written by Gaurav Shukla, he had thought about it and had written a whole bunch of episodes and that’s when he contacted me. And when I read it, of course, I always knew him and knew he had a very, very crazy mind. He writes a lot of interesting, unconventional things. But when I was reading it, what really attracted me is that there are three streams in the narrative, which is the mythology, the forensics and the human characters and the human drama, they were so beautifully woven together that you take one out and the other two will fall. So it’s not actually transposed onto the other. And I think that’s what attracted me the most. And when I read it initially, my only thought was, or rather the challenge was, how do we make the human story believable? So that people can empathize and like it. Because events you always forget in stories, right? It’s a human story you always remember. And that’s what we tried in Asur 2 as well. And the other two little things are, when you look at the mythology, there’s actually a lot of technology in there. You know, whether you’re looking at flying chariots and whether you’re looking at, you know, one arrow that’s going to break into 2,000 arrows and or mind control is going to happen. It actually has a lot of hidden technology that we take for granted, which always seems like magic when you read as a kid. But looking at it nowadays, all of them are already becoming a reality. So I think that makes it very relevant in many ways. Also Read – Asur 2 Full Web Series Leaked Online: Arshad Warsi’s Mythological Thriller Barun Sobti Becomes Latest Piracy Victim

How have the characters developed in Asur 2 since season one?

If you look at the first season, it ends in a moment where there is a small victory, but actually the loss is much deeper than the victory. So all the characters, whether it’s DJ, Nikhil, Naina, Nusrat, everyone is sort of a void and in a void they’re dealing with their own losses, their own personal losses, right? As a DJ he lost his wife, he lost his job. You know, he’s a complete mess. Nikhil, we think about, you know, somebody who has to make that choice, you know, about his daughter and he loses his daughter and his, you know, he has an extreme relationship with his wife. And Naina, of course, you know, a devastated mother and the same as Nusrat in many ways. So I think what we wanted season 2 to be is to start with this void where everyone is spiraling into their own little hole. And from there, each of them rises in different ways, whether it’s DJing in a monastery, whether it’s Nikhil dealing with his depression, whether it’s Naina who’s on another mission. As they say, you know, with an animal or a human being, never mess with a little. You know, your mother’s anger is something you can’t handle. So all the characters, we actually started with that resonance from season one. And then they slowly move towards the new journey and their own path. And that’s one of the reasons why in the second season we consciously tried to have each character tap into their own little dark side in their head in more ways than one. So that was the intention.

How was the casting of Arshad Warsi?

Arshad Warsi and Barun Sobti were two characters who were, I mean, two actors who were already kind of locked in, kind of locked into the project. I was a big fan of Arshad. I mean we’ve all seen him in so many movies. And Barun, of course, I didn’t know much about his work because I hadn’t seen much of his work before. But when I talked to them, they were both amazing and very, very receptive because I had a very clear vision of where I wanted these two characters to go. And, you know, how they would like for Arshad, there’s a sense of darkness and a dark man. So everything is very measured. He never loses it except occasionally. On the other hand, Nikhil as a character, which is Barun’s character, has a huge amount of nervous energy. So, you know, he thinks faster than he talks. So, they were both extremely receptive and worked very hard to get their manners right. And Arshad, in that way, I guess our industry is in many ways that we tend to divide people. But he is like a chameleon. He can change shape, color and manner at any time. And it’s scary how amazing they both are.

Were you worried and very careful while dealing with a subject that also lives in mythology?

Carefully, Definitely. I think that especially in our country, when you deal with something related to mythology, you have to be careful and respectful. And I think that’s fair. And we were extremely careful to make sure we didn’t misquote anything. We are not hurting anyone, any feelings anywhere. And everything we put out there was researched and correct. Because you see, the difference between mythology and documented history, there’s a limit to where you can say it’s mythology, that’s right. And you can’t disprove it. Unlike documented history. But we made sure in many ways that whatever was entered, everything was validated in various sources and everything was correct. And if you look at it, it’s very simple. The fact that a person who believes that he is like an incarnation of Kali, who is the dark side. Now, if you take the word Kali out of that, I’m sure many human beings in this world believe that they believe in the dark side. And that’s why people do things that aren’t so nice, I guess. And so, I think to some extent, because it was so ingrained in human behavior and the human mind, I think that worked with the mythology.

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