He says Nikkhil's P.O.W is as passionate as the original series
A still from Homeland
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Tucked in a corner of Kamalistan Studios is the set of India's most expensive television series. Nikkhil Advani's POW - Bandi Yudh Ke hasn't aired yet, but has found a fan in the two-time Emmy-award-winning director Gideon Raff, whose Israeli series Hatufim is the original from which both POW and the American series Homeland have been adapted.
Talking to hitlist from the sets of his show's Hindi version, Raff frequently excused himself to go check what is being shot. "I cried my eyes out when I saw the first episode. It is colourful and beautifully told. I drowned in the storytelling, and almost forgot it's my show," he says.
Homeland creator Gideon Raff with POW director Nikkhil Advani on the sets of the desi show
He is immensely proud of Homeland that sparked off a dialogue. "I am very proud of what Homeland has achieved. DiscussingP.O.Ws is a taboo and earlier there was deep shame attached to it. Homeland put the spotlight on dialogue, discussion and debate. I hadn't even realized how controversial was the show until it first aired," he says.
Raff adds, "Nikhil's show has passion, much at odds with the TV culture in America, where people work sincerely but rarely invest their heart into the production." He says the emotions that Homeland and Hatufim trigger in the first season are similar, but the former takes on a different route.
"Americans like the word franchise, which practically means that once the story of its prisoner of war, Nicholas Brody, wraps up, the other characters then investigate more cases so that the story goes on and everyone can keep making money (guffaws). The story of Hatufim and even Homeland is essentially about POWs and their families; with the interrogation being a suspenseful through line, which exposes their horrific experiences. The problem with an infinite series and franchises is that if people go on without reinventing as fantastically each time is that the viewers get a sense of depreciating quality."
Raff admits to having met many prisoners of war in his home country. "Discussing the prisoners is a taboo too. The country pays a high price to get them back and release the terrorists who have blood on their hands. These soldiers find enduring captivity easier than returning home. Physical torture isn't as harsh as their loneliness and hopelessness," he emphasizes.
Raff confesses that he was criticized for "exploiting a painful story to make a profit". However he adds, "there'll be people to back the intentions of the maker. My moment of glory was when Stephen King told me this is his favourite show," he signs off.
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