I accidentally got into doing comedy - Director Prabal Baruah

Comedian and actor K K Goswami impressed Tellychakkar.com with his journalistic expertise as the guest editor. He called his friend and colleague Director Prabal Baruah of Gutur Gu for a chat. His first question was, “You have done Aahat, Gali Gali Sim Sim, Gutur Gu and CID. Why did you decide to do a comedy like Gutur Gu?” Prabal replied, “I had never imagined that I could do comedy as I had mainly done action, thriller and horror shows. I accidentally got into doing comedy. Many years ago I had penned the concept of Gutur Gu. I had a meeting with Anooj Kapoor, EVP and Business Head of SAB TV. During the course of conversation I told him that I was working on the idea of a silent comedy. He got very excited and said that he was thinking of a similar concept. I then had a talk with Producer B P Singh (Fireworks Productions). That is how my Gutur Gu journey began.” KK then asked, “Directing actors in a silent comedy is a challenge. So, how did you manage?” Prabal praised the actors while replying. “I have got a dream team in Gutur Gu. All the actors and behind the lens professionals in this unique team are very talented. It seems that they can read my mind, they execute the show simply the way I want them too. As it is a serial sans dialogues, I have to pay greater attention to choreography, expressions and movements.” KK complimented the show on its good TRPs of late. Prabal replied, “The TRP in Season 1 was good and then it fell. For the last month the rating is quite good. We try to come up with different stories every time. The artists pitch in their ideas too in each and every scene. They improvise a lot on the spot.” KK praised the director for choosing the perfect cast. Prabal’s reply revealed that the casting was indeed a challenge. “We were confused as how to do the audition as this show has no dialogues. We gave the artistes a situation and the liberty to improvise. It wasn’t like a usual audition in which you simply memorise the dialogues and say it. Instead we gave the artistes a situation which comprised of a two line brief and asked them to enact it. Each and every actor we selected was apt for the role.” Regarding Gutur Gu’s entry in the Limca Book of World Records Prabal said, “That is a great honour to me and the whole team as it is an all India record. The Limca Book of Records is equivalent to the India Guinness Record. We hope to make a world record soon.” Going down the memory lane of his professional journey Prabal said, “I have completed 18 years in this industry. I have been an independent director for 13 years now. I had joined the industry during the Doordarshan times. Satellite TV was new then, just two or three years old. During that time weekly shows were on and we had many more genres. However Gutur Gu is weekly. Now we have more of family dramas.” KK then asked him about his future career plans. “I am working on a comic thriller. I have after all worked on both the genres - comedy as well as thriller. Maybe this venture of mine will materialise within six months.” Prabal praised KK at the end of the interview, “You a very entertaining personality and actor. In fact you are a born entertainer. I will treat you to sweets as you are a sweet person.”