It’s a winter of slow disquiet. Last week, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story followed a New York couple through the transit of modern divorce. Meanwhile, Hotstar subscribers have had a chance to binge on Out of Love, an Indian remake of the British drama Doctor Foster. The five-episode series is directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia and stars Rasika Dugal and Purab Kohli in the lead roles.
The story centres on Meera Kapoor (Rasika), a successful doctor whose peaceful existence is upended when she discovers that her husband, Akarsh (Purab Kohli), is having an affair. What follows is the unravelling of a thirteen-year-long relationship, peppered with the doubts and insecurities of a fraying marriage and crushing parental guilt. We caught up with Kohli, who plays the repentant Akarsh Kapoor, a real estate broker struggling with a crumbling personal life, to discuss the show and its layers. Excerpts from a conversation…
Tell us about your salt and- pepper look in the show.
We wanted everyone to see this really scruffy man and want to eat him up (laughs). For Out of Love, sporting a salt-and-pepper beard was always on the cards. I was initially thinking of a cleaner and sharper cut. But when I met Tigmanshu, he felt the scruffier look worked fine and went with the character. Thankfully, it seems to have worked well with my fans.
The show opens with Meera’s perspective. However, as the drama builds, we get a glimpse into Akarsh’s side of the story.
I happened to see Doctor Foster several years back and was gripped by its story. I don’t get offered grey characters that often. People like to put me in a positive space. In this show, what I liked most was the shift from an out-and-out ‘black’ character, Akarsh transforms into someone more complex. Also, as the story unravels, you realise Dr Meera Kapoor has grey shades too, and that everyone is twisted in this little town. So you don’t look at Akarsh in such a bad light anymore. Your perspective changes, and you almost feel sorry for him near the end.
Did the mini-series format also help in fleshing out these characters?
Definitely. First off, you have much more time compared to a two-hour film. The tricky part, here, is to ensure the character is not stuck in one place. The writing has to keep moving to keep the audience engrossed.
Secondly, there’s the joy of a break between two episodes. A lot of unnecessary transitioning is taken care of because of it. Conversely, a mini-series takes about three months to shoot. There’s never that feeling of lag or holding onto a character for too long, which happens a lot in television serials and can get quite annoying. So, this is a perfect format to add more layers to your part but not get bored of it.
The show is set in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. How was your experience shooting in a hill station?
In the ‘80s and ‘90s, a lot of our song sequences would be shot in the Southern hill stations. But there weren’t many stories set there. Doctor Foster was shot in the northern parts of England. They did not use a very picturesque location like we did. I have always been fond of shooting outdoors, far from the city. The beautiful town of Coonoor added so much character to the show. Waking up in the misty mountains, getting to shoot early… these simple, physical pleasures make your workspace much better.