Tanuj Chopra on 'Delhi Crime 2': Don’t see the pressure as high as it is

How do you take forward a show that has won the Best Drama Series at the Emmys The job comes with a fair amount of pressure But Silicon Valleyraised Tanuj Chopra who picked up the baton from Richie Mehta saw Delhi Crime 2 as a definitive next step after having helmed quite a few festival films The obstacles were all there mdash the intensive research the pandemic and the high expectations But today Chopra feels ldquoa sense of priderdquo on seeing how far the Shefali Shah and Rasika Dugalstarrer has come In an exclusive conversation with midday he walks us through the process of making the second season of the acclaimed seriesEdited excerpts from the interviewHow did Delhi Crime 2 come your wayAfter Richie Mehta left the show the producers were looking for a new showrunnerdirector to take the story and characters forward The show is a huge hit It has a specific style and required a filmmaker with the right sensibility The producers had seen my work over the years through film festivals They asked me if I was interested in coming in and replacing Richie I watched the show and loved it It was an opportunity that I had to take up To work with actors like Shefali Rasika and Rajesh Tailang is an amazing opportunityWalk us through how you got started on the showNetflixrsquos brief was that wersquoll do a new season and a new crime but our characters will move forward This instead of introducing new characters Richie had started working on the second season The first thing I did was to take his notes see his research and what he had come up with in the case files After a lot of research the goal was to give a vision of how the show could be Then I worked with a team of writers to turn that vision into a script and screenplayWas the case chosen prior to you coming on boardI took his Mehtarsquos case because that was already sold for the season It was a case that Richie was interested in at that timeAlso ReadDelhi Crime director Richie Mehta to helm web series on Bhopal gas tragedyWhat did your personal research entailWe went through a lot of police files spoke with detectives reporters SHOs Station House Officers and former DCPs Taking case files and true crimes and turning them into a show is a tricky thing The hope is that all the research leads to an emotional truth that you can represent We had built some goodwill so people were responsive They wanted to ensure that things are portrayed as correctly as possibleReports stated that Netflix was not happy with the outcome and had requested a reshootMaking a show is a difficult thing sometimes things work and at other times they donrsquot The pandemic broke out in the middle of the shoot Our production was stopped many times in the last two years The second wave crushed a lot of things we were doing Truth is that it has been very difficult to shoot to work through a pandemic At Netflix they always love to hear what we are doing When we finished our shoot we had to go back and include a few more pieces Thatrsquos all there isWhat were some of the challenges you personally facedHow much time do you have laughs Filmmaking is challenging It has only been challenging from day one I had to learn a new system a new show and its language Then I had to work with my writers actors producers and the platform So there were a lot of opinions to balance To be able to incorporate everyonersquos viewpoints in a way without hampering the vision was tough You are also exhausted physically as you spend your days writing and your nights producing I was travelling a lot as we scouted locationsDid you lose the drive amid the delaysI should have but I didnrsquot I love the show and the actors and believe in it People think I am crazy but things take time They get better if you approach them slowly I am wellsuited for itDo you feel the pressure of making it to the EmmysWhen I started we didnrsquot have the Emmy It happened in the middle of the pandemic Sometimes it doesnrsquot strike me what the show means in India That is a good thing I donrsquot see the pressure as high as it is I have been a filmmaker for long and I am proud of my craft I have a lot of excitement to show how much more the series can beWas there any performance that stood out for youShefali Shah is a special actor and a force to reckon with Her performance is strong because she is always emotionally present Rasika Dugal is another dynamite performer who can do anything you ask her to do Rajesh Tailang is a steady guy who grounds the show with his presence He hits the right notes every time has a great blend of masculinity and softness Gopal Dutt Anurag Arora and the cast are the heartbeat of our show They found interesting ways to make their characters come to life That is true of all my collaborators mdash visuals music editing There is immense talent on display