Jimmy Sheirgill & Pushpendra Nath Misra on the making of Choona, the heist comedy drama series

Actor Jimmy Sheirgill and 'Choona' director Pushpendra Nath Misra.

When a group of misfits realise that they have a common enemy in Shukla ji, a corrupt and powerful politician, they decide to settle scores with him in ways that might not be deemed entirely ethical. Director Pushpendra Nath Misra, who has also directed Ghoomketu and Taj Mahal 1989, directs this satirical and dark comedy with Jimmy Sheirgill playing the politician. The director and actor discuss the various aspects of the show, which is now streaming on Netflix. Edited excerpts:

What was the inspiration for the story?

Pushpendra Nath Misra: It is a world I have created and a saga of sorts of many people coming together. I wanted to write a dysfunctional heist, a heist which looks as if it might happen after all. When I started thinking of the characters, I thought it is the common man, who when gets together, can accomplish a lot of things. The idea is that they should be able to do something that is unimaginable. A powerful man’s party office gets robbed of Rs 800 crore by some really stupid people and to mount that was very exciting. It had to be done with a bit of seriousness and comedy, which was exciting to write.

Jimmy, what boxes did the show tick for you?

Jimmy Sheirgill: When I read it, my first thought was that everything was proceeding step by step. One character comes in, the audience starts making an opinion about him, then comes another and so on. You start liking the world, the dialogues and then you start paying attention to the cinematography. Everything happens step by step instead of bombarding the audience with everything which dilutes everything. I feel it is very smart writing and screenplay because you are giving space to each character to be liked or disliked while also proceeding ahead without slowing down the narrative. The heist treatment is there throughout, but what I really liked was the screenplay.

You have played similar powerful and slightly dark characters earlier as well. What was the draw here?

Sheirgill: I did have my apprehensions initially but the conversations kept happening with Pushpendra until he convinced me.

Misra: If you have seen Goodfellas and you have seen Casino, Robert DeNiro plays the gangster in both of them but the worlds are so different. There are so many crime stories and gangster roles and a certain overlap may happen but it is the way the worlds are constructed that may be different. He is very different in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster, very different in Tanu Weds Manu and very different here.

Sheirgill: The problem also happens when you like the story and the world that has been created. There is a freshness to the show and the usual stuff you get to see these days. The flavour and the narrative is very different.

It is a dark world but there is also humour and fantasy. Why did you opt for this treatment?  

Misra: I am designer and filmmaker; I am trained from National Institute of Design. We are taught that form follows function. When you are playing with a form of this kind then you can create something new and unique. You might be talking of dark things but you can present them in a way that creates entertainment, humour or sarcasm. There can be a lot of layers to it. That is a form we wanted to create and we couldn’t do a slice of life stuff with it.

Where does a show like this fit into your trajectory of work as a director and actor, respectively?

Misra: It is the biggest thing for me.

Sheirgill: This is my first series with Netflix and it will always be special because of that. Also, we made it during the pandemic and all the people in the direction and production teams were locked in a hotel and we went through so much to make this show. Looking at it now, one doesn’t even realise that it was made during COVID-19. There are those dangerous memories as well as some good ones.

A still from Netflix series 'Choona'.

You have done so much work in films and you have also done OTT shows. Post pandemic, how do you think OTT has impacted the work of actors and technicians?

Sheirgill: I think everyone now has a space to do what they want without feeling scared, otherwise when it comes to theatrical releases, there are many different kinds of pressures. Here, it is the story which is the hero as it should be. It is about getting the story to a platform and if they like it, they will not leave. It is the same for actors. For instance, I even felt here that I might have done similar characters, but the story was so good that I wanted to be a part of it. OTT has been amazing for the technicians who work on a daily basis and who did not have work during the pandemic. My heart goes out to them because if shoots don’t happen, then how do they carry on? The more platforms there are, more shootings happen and they can earn a living.

What next?

Sheirgill: I have one more show coming up after this and two feature films including Neeraj Pandey’s romantic thriller with Ajay Devgn and Tabu and Haseen Dilruba 2 produced by Aanand L Rai.