I am game for anything as long as I can push the envelope - Abhinay Deo

Coming from a filmy family, director Abhinay Deo is not new to the genre of action and adventure. The son of veteran actors Ramesh Deo and Seema Deo, Abhinay debuted by directing the Abhishek Bachchan starrer Game. However his creativity and daring nature came out in foray with the release of his next venture, Aamir Khan produced Delhi Belly, a game-changer movie in itself. For someone who is always trying to experiment and give something new to the audience, he entered the small screen directing the Indianized version of the Fox Network produced thriller series 24 with Anil Kapoor as the lead on Colors. The show was heralded as a game changer in Indian TV, and talks for a season 2 are presently on. Now yet again he is back on small screen with another action packed adventure in his colloquial channel. He will be directing Zhunj Marathmoli, a first action road trip show on a Marathi channel. The show will be hosted by Shreyas Talpade, and aired on ETV Marathi. Tellychakkar spoke to him during the premiere of Zhunj Marathmoli and asked whether he prefers comedy or action to which Abhinav replied, “Well it is really very difficult to choose. I prefer doing both. I give importance to the script and the concept. If you have a concept as strong as Delhi Belly was in humour, and 24 was in thrill, you are a winner. In that case I will never be saying no to any genre whether it is drama, emotion, romance etc. I am game for anything as long as I can push the envelope and give something new to the audience.” Does that mean Zhunj Marathmoli is a new concept? “Yes, definitely. Basically the show has got to do with Maharashtra. It has got to do with the culture, traditions and value systems of the state in particular. There are 14 participants coming from different parts of Maharashtra and we make them do tasks which are associated with the state. It is a road trip, a road show and through them we are trying to educate the audience as well.” Talking more about it, he said, “We have tried to bring in people from various fields. We have actors, singers, celebrity chefs, entertainers, people who are familiar to the audience as well as those who are able to handle the challenging tasks. We have tried to bring in a new shade.” “Like I said, I am someone who is always looking for a different concept. The whole idea of Zhunj Marathmoli itself is that one shouldn’t forget from where they came up. We should always be grounded no matter how big we become,” said the architect major who left his job to enter the world of filmmaking. Talking about the host Shreyas Talpade, he said, “Zhunj Marathmoli is more of a youth centric show. And Shreyas is a great mixture of Maharashtrian culture and how far a Maharashtrian youth can go. Shreyas has proved himself, and he is also someone who can connect with a lot of gusto to the audience because it is a high paced drama. Shreyas very much fits the profile of the host on the show.” On the possibility of a season 2 of 24 happening, the man explained, “Yes we are having meetings and are talking about it. Let’s see how everything churns out.” Well said, Abhinay!