Sudhir Mishra, whose web series Tanav 2 will stream this Friday, finds the process of adapting a story and telling it his own way rewarding

If film industry is a ‘gaon’, filmmaker Sudhir Mishra considers himself to be its ‘chacha’. “Everyone knows me, not necessarily likes me,” he chuckles.

Joyous, honest, and spirited, Mishra admits of throwing tantrums often, that are well tolerated by his friends and co-workers. “These days Applause Entertainment head Sameer Nair is at the receiving end,” says the director of Tanaav as he opens up about its second season.

Each project for Mishra is like a roller-coaster ride. “It’s a fun party. There is joy, excitement, fulfilment, tension, problems, and at times increased blood pressure – but all of it worth it!”

He is happy about how Tanaav was received by audiences. When Mishra went back to Kashmir to shoot the second season, people who had watched the first season were happy about it. “Generally it doesn’t happen this way. People say portrayal theek nahi tha, but when we went back to Kashmir to shoot, people seemed to have loved it, and that’s a win,” he says.

Tanaav is a remake of the Israeli TV series Fauda. Mishra believes remakes are great as long as someone has something to say. “In the original series, it’s the conflict between two countries, here we have set it in Kashmir. One has to bring in their life, customs, shadi, tyohar, gami, and rituals associated with it, and narrate the story through it all. It’s an amazing process, to adapt a story and tell it your own way,” he says. Now that Season 1 was received well, Mishra has doubled the efforts to present it in an interesting way.

Mishra believes everything, anyway, is retelling of something or the other. “Kehte hain ki Ghalib ka hai andaaz-e-bayaan aur’. The way Ghalib says things is different, not that he has a different subject. So is it with re-makes.”

In Manav Kaul, he has found the right match for his lead character Kabir Farooqui. “The character of Kabir is a complex one. He is in the midst of a number of things – Kashmir, his wife, developing love interest… We needed an actor who is robust, who takes himself seriously and can laugh at himself too. He also needed the ability to lead the unit. Manav has all these qualities and he has been fantastic in Tanaav.”

Having moved to Mumbai three decades back, Mishra loves being part of the industry. Ask him of his favourite filmmaker, he rattles off a long list – right from Jallikattu director Lijo Jose Pellissery to veterans like Hansal Mehta to younger filmmakers as Avinash Arun. “These are the times of women director – Reema (Kagti), Kiran (Rao) Payal (Kapadia) – all are doing great work.

Mishra is open to criticism. He can take constructive criticism from those whom he respects. But critics with little knowledge, who would attack his films for an agenda, he can’t be bothered. “We filmmakers like to connect with people, old or young, though our stories. If you watch my films with affection and criticise, I would like to learn from you.” Pretty active on X, he implores people to watch his works and engage with him.

A frequent visitor to Chandigarh, he loves the city and its ‘dilchasap log’ and ever ready to visit it, but for now he wants people to watch Tanaav 2 and share their feedback with him.

Among his upcoming projects there is another series, titled Summer of 77, and three films. “I want to connect with the young boy who directed Dharavi and Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin,” he smiles.

Tanaav 2 streams on SonyLiv from December 6.