CHENNAI: Clad in a light yellow sari with a pink border, the animated image of writer Sudha Murty invites viewers into her Kahanighar or ‘House of Stories’ in every episode of Sudha Murty’s Stories of Wit and Magic. While the 13-episode series with 16 stories impart several values for its viewers, the wit in the episodes is in the form of the script and dialogues. The creators of this magic are Mumbai-based The Puppetarians, or Sangya Ojha and Hashim Haider.
A whole new world
Their first step into the world of Murty’s stories was with The Bird With Golden Wings - Stories of Wit and Magic, as suggested by Sujata Melmani, creative director at Sony Pictures Networks India. “Sujata had it in mind to convert it into an animation series for children. It struck us as a great idea. We got to reading the book and loved all the stories in it. The book took us back to our childhood when our grandma would tell us stories,” says Sangya as Hashim chimes in, “We kept discussing our childhood memories with each other long after reading the book. There’s an old-world charm to the stories, rooted in folklore and full of magic and wonder (as the book’s name suggests). To adapt these stories in a script format needed us to re-read the stories. And every time we’d read them, they would be as enjoyable. That made us realise that these episodes will surely have longevity and not only children but adults would love them as well.”
True to the author
Sangya and Hashim met Murty only through her stories. This is also why they also wished to keep the soul of the story intact while adapting them for screen, “All the while, we were wishing in a corner of our hearts that when she would see the episodes she’d give her nod, with that unmistakable smile of hers,” adds Sangya. This also inspired the animated avatar, says Hashim. “You know, while reading the stories, we literally saw Ms Murty as a loving grandma, telling her stories orally. That vision led us to write the intro and outro of the episodes with an animated avatar of Ms Murty as a storyteller who invites everyone to her Kahanighar and leads them into the story. In a way, we always felt her presence while writing the scripts,” he says.
From family, friends to colleagues and even viewers — who they don’t personally know — on social media, everyone is loving the series. “Some parents have written, saying that they watch it along with their children and enjoy it just as much; some say their children are hooked to the series and watch it over and over again,” shares Sangya.
Hashim likens Murty’s stories to a warm blanket. And we agree. Be it the tale of Sukeshini’s fight with the lake demon to bring water to her village or Ramesh and Suresh learning to be friendly as siblings and the importance of sharing or Vidur and Vineet getting wisdom and advice from their father on how to lead their lives — they all seem as familiar as an item that gives you comfort at times of unease. “It’s like a warm blanket that wraps you up as it takes you back to the old days, in a village, sometimes high up on mountains, or to a kingdom, making you meet interesting characters with quirks and always a lesson to take away at the end. It’s timeless, it’s classic, and still so relatable and loveable,” Hashim notes.
There is something for everyone in the stories — about friendship, deception, greed, and love. Hashim and Sangya had their takeaways too. While writing we’d discuss at length about the kind of place the story is set in, and we love writing songs and poems, so whenever we could add a ditty, we’d write one to enhance the emotion. It was literally like flying away with the story, having fun and exploring what kind of world the stories are creating,” signs off Sangya.
Sudha Murty’s Stories of Wit and Magic is streaming on Netflix