Swanand Kirkire: Regardless of medium, motive is to entertain

Swanand Kirkire

Lyricist Swanand Kirkire grew up in a musical family, with his parents always teaching him the importance of leading a good life. "But, I was more interested in theatre than music. Before I learnt about the National School of Drama, I would offer a helping hand to the local theatres in Indore," says Kirkire, who subsequently arrived in Mumbai to write for a TV serial named Swaraj, and work as filmmaker Sudhir Mishra's assistant.

It is perhaps this amalgamation of the craft he pursued and the one his family exposed him to, which enables Kirkire to don several hats at once. His upcoming slate of projects is only testimony to this fact. "I'm [acting] in a film with Jaideep Ahlawat and Shefali Shah. It is called Three of Us. We still don't know whether it will be released on OTT or in theatres. It was a pleasure to work with director Avinash Arun, who has received much love for his previous works like Pataal Lok, Drishyam, and Masaan."

Jaydeep Ahlawat, Shefali Shah, and Swanand Kirkire

Artistes across the industry have attempted to distinguish between the demands of cinematic projects and web offerings, but Kirkire believes such segregations are inessential. "I don't think that the audience has been segregated. Earlier, there were two sources of entertainment - TV and theatrical films. Now, with the addition of OTT, there are three. This platform has attracted many people, but the TV circuit will always be a beneficial market as it is vast in nature. Every platform is equally important to us. When it comes to revenue, cinema is a direct medium - a film is either a hit or a flop. But, on the web, it's tough to decipher if a film is a hit or a flop. The generation of revenue is also not linear. So, for an artiste, the [medium via which] revenue is direct, is good. Gradually, people are trying to learn the tropes required to succeed in each platform. The main motive is to entertain, that's it."

Up next for him is a musical with Ankur Tewari. He lights up while discussing the project, stating, "Ankur and I had a terrific time working on that show. It will be released soon, and I'm sure people will love it. Apart from this, I will also release an album with different composers. I have created a band with two young musicians named Shrey Gupta and Harshit Mishra."