Hansal Mehta on ‘Scoop’: ‘I like to choose a story relevant to our times’

Mumbai, June 10

Filmmaker Hansal Mehta spoke about his latest show 'Scoop' and how the titular character Jagruti Pathak, played by Karishma Tanna, from being a reporter becomes a person reported about.

Speaking with IMDb on the process of filming 'Scoop', Mehta said: "Scoop deals with a pet world of mine which is a Gujarati joint family. The aspirations that come from within that small unit. It's an exploration into our current times through the story of Jagruti Pathak."

He added: "It's the story of Jagruti, an ambitious journalist who wants a story at any cost. It's an exploration of ambition, of aspiration. I think what we've done through this entire journey is to show that Jagruti, being a reporter, then becomes the reported. Good stories allow room for introspection, and I think that's what we've tried to do.

"I respond instinctively to things and give a lot of freedom to my team members to let their imagination run wild."

Mentioning a notable scene in the show, Mehta said: "There was one sequence where Jagruti is watching TV where she's disgraced. The scene was over, and I started screaming Pathak! Pathak! with 300 women screaming alongside."

"Sort of talks of a vicarious pleasure you derive from prying into somebody's private life. So, most of my good moments are unplanned."

On the method of choosing stories, Mehta said: "I like to choose a story relevant to our times. As social media is becoming so rampant and has become a tool into passing judgment, almost foreshadowing the times that we're living in."

"You're not interested in the acquittal; you're interested in the crime, and you're interested in finding an unlikely criminal."

When Mehta was asked if there were a headline about him, he said it would be "A Man Who Knows Nothing."

--IANS