After ‘Budhia Singh’, Soumendra Padhi To Direct Web Series

After ‘Budhia Singh’, Soumendra Padhi To Direct Web Series

Bhubaneswar, July 13: Soumendra Padhi of ‘Budhia Singh – Born To Run’ fame, a biopic based on Odisha’s marathon talent Budhia Singh, is all set to direct a web series based on Jamtara, a small town in Jharkhand which has gained notoriety as a cybercrime hub in India.

This is for the first time Padhi, who got a National Award for his directorial debut in 2016, is going to helm a web series.

The 10-part series has been titled as ‘Jamtara’, Padhi confirmed, saying he is excited to explore a new medium. Shedding some light about his new project, the Mumbai-based filmmaker said, “Casting for the web series is going on. TV actors and theatre artists will play major roles besides some popular names from the industry.”

Picture Courtesy: Prokeraia.com

The techie-turned-filmmaker had already spent few days at Jamtarato understand the place better and also figure out why youth in the area are inclined towards cybercrime. “I did my research on Jamtara by meeting various people, academicians and police officers. The place is infamous as India’s cybercrime capital and more than fifty per cent of cybercrimes in the country is tracked back to this town,” Padhi informed.He also said that more than half of India’s crimes committed by fraudsters posing as bank managers were traced back to this town. Excited to join the bandwagon of filmmakers working in the digital medium, he said, “Top directors like Anurag Kashyap and Hansal Mehta are being a part of web series now. Filmmakers from all over Bollywood and other industries are into it. I think it is because more creative liberty is available when it comes to web series, and digital medium is the future.”

Picture Courtesy: Hamara Photos

When asked what made him take up the project even after getting critical acclaim and box-office success through his first film, the Odisha-born director said it is only for the “subject”. “Cyberattack is one of the important security challenges that the country is facing today. It’s a very relevant topic as we all are quite vulnerable to this new-age crime,” the filmmaker said.

He further added, “Cyberattacks can pose wide-ranging threats, they can impact and cripple financial institutions, that can result in leakage of sensitive information and so on. We are touching upon these issues through the web series.”Picture Courtesy: Odisha Sun Times

The shooting for the web series is scheduled to begin from October. The web series has been produced by Tipping Point, a content production arm of Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Tipping Point’s content will be available on its own digital platform Voot.

Banner & Feature Image Courtesy: Orissa Diary