Bandwaale came from our disappointing experiences in Mumbai’

Bandwaale, the recently released series on Prime Video, captures the reality of most small towns in present day India, where new-age aspirations, fuelled by social media access, and old-fashioned conservatism walk hand in hand. The show revolves around a young aspiring poetess, Mariam (Shalini Pandey), who finds a way, living in Ratlam, to explore her potential and cross all the barriers that face her in the arduous journey. Ankur Tewari, the co-creator of the series, recalls that the genesis of the series came from ‘some disappointing experiences as a writer’ in Mumbai, which both he and Swarelate to. “We both decided to take affirmative action on it, to meet every day and start constructing a story without any agenda,” Ankur adds. He further recalls how musicality and small-town ethos organically became a part of the story. “Both Swanand and I wanted to write something which was hopeful, had words at its core, complemented by music. Also, both of us are from small towns — that’s how Ratlam came in, and with them the brass-band culture. Through the writing process, we followed a path of honesty,” he notes. Preranaa Khatri, Chief Business Officer, OML, talks about how honesty appealed to them as they came onboard for Bandwaale. “Once we heard the story, the way everything came together — the music, storytelling, and characters — all of those put together was what we were looking for,” she recalls. Akshat Verma, who helms direction for the series, adds, “The writing was very evocative, with a lot of authenticity to it. Besides the three protagonists, you’ll also see these supporting figures and what they want.”In the series, Swanand also plays the role of Robo, a local singer from Ratlam who lives in the past and harbours feelings towards Mariam, who is much younger than him. Swanand recalls why he became surer of playing the part, as the script was finalised, adding, “There is a certain innocence to Robo, he is not harmful; he is just idiotic and delusional. Eventually, he realises he is making a mistake. I have seen people like him. It’s a very on-the-edge character. Ankur and I knew we had to tread carefully, and I felt that I could do a good job without any prejudice.Talking about their portrayal of a small town like Ratlam, Ankur recalls how they were conscious of not incorporating quirks or stereotypes for the sake of it. He says, “Whether it’s a story from a city or a tier-2 town, you need to treat your characters with respect. It wasn’t like we put caricatures of what people perceive as a small-town person. We don’t mock them, we try and honour them on page.” Swanand reflects on the subject, “We have never seen those towns properly on screen. There are people in Ratlam who have made films locally, are doing podcasts and releasing audio books. That’s a colourful,