Karisma Kapoor is stepping into uncharted territory with Brown, a Zee5 crime drama directed by Abhinay Deo and co-starring Soni Razdan, Jisshu Sengupta and Surya Sharma.
In a conversation with The Quint, the cast and director spoke about Kapoor's most raw role yet, the changing landscape of the entertainment industry, why nuanced storytelling is increasingly finding a home on OTT platforms, and if Kapoor had to make a debut today what would that loo like.
Reflecting on her own journey, Kapoor spoke about the challenges of building stardom in an era before social media. The actor spoke about how difficult it was to reach audiences back then and said it was much harder to gain visibility when she made her debut nearly 35 years ago.
There was no social media and no visibility. We had to struggle to get projects and achieve fame. Reaching the hearts of the audience was more difficult back then. Today, you can reach the audience by just scrolling and liking posts,"Karisma Kapoor
Asked what she would do if she were making her debut today, Kapoor said she would choose to star in a classic love story on the big screen.
For Kapoor, Brown marks a significant departure from the glamorous image audiences have associated with her for decades. Speaking about playing Rita Brown, a troubled yet resilient detective, the actor shared that she found it liberating to focus on the character rather than her appearance, appearing without makeup in the series.
"I have never done something so bold and raw. My character is also so different from me—I am not a smoker, alcoholic or a pill popper. This role is so layered that I had to do a deep dive to portray this character," she said.
Director Deo echoed that sentiment, admitting that one of the most exciting aspects of the project was breaking Kapoor's established screen image. According to him, the actor has often been "bracketed", making Brown an opportunity to showcase a side of her that viewers have rarely seen.
We also spoke to Deo about character-driven stories increasingly finding their audience on OTT platforms as theatrical releases become more spectacle-oriented, "theatrical releases have changed. You have to make a film that is worth a family spending Rs 2,000 to watch in theatres, so films have become bigger. There is nothing wrong with that. Every nuanced film finds its home on streaming services today. I think it's fantastic. No matter how much people say OTT has destroyed cinema, it has actually liberated it," he said.
Watch the full interview here.