Hunkaar: The Roar is a story rooted in the feeling of helplessness that many people experience when faced with a system that seems impossible to fight. But for lead writer and director Heeraz Marfatia, the series was never meant to leave its audience feeling powerless. Instead, he wanted to explore the idea that change is possible when people recognise that they themselves are part of the system.
Hunkaar could easily have been seen as a bleak and sad story because it reflects how people often live feeling powerless and despondent, believing that the system does not work and that they cannot do anything to change it, according to him. Because of his character, someone like Zeeshaan Ayyub, for instance, said he did the show not. Because you remember what your pure intention was and what you are trying to execute, it is like your home.
In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times Heeraz, who co-wrote all six episodes of the series and directed two of them, opened up about his journey with Hunkkaar , working with creators and directors Nitya Mehra and Karan D. Kapadia, building the show in a writers’ room, casting its ensemble and working with actors including Aneet Padda and Vipin Sharma. However, “What I wanted to push hard and develop in the story was the idea that we are not powerless. The show is about not feeling powerless and despondent, but finding hope. The system is only about the people who stand behind it. We ourselves are the system. If we uphold the system and the offices we hold appropriately and do the right thing, everything gets taken care of. So, the show is also hopeful. The writer-director credited Mukesh Chhabra for the apt casting of the show and added, “We were spoiled for choice for two reasons. One was that Mukesh was sending us great auditions, and whoever we approached was just so good and waxed eloquent about the script. That really struck me. It made me think about what the thought process was when he heard all of that in the writing. Apart from being the lead writer of the show, Heeraz also directed two of the episodes in the show. He admitted that it’s difficult to choose between whether he liked directing or writing the show more, he added, “I think directing your own writing is the best feeling ever. So, it is the purest form. I really can’t answer that in any other way. My first preference is not just to write; my first preference is that whatever I write, I want to direct. There is an inbuilt writer-director in me. Some surprised me with the questions they asked, while some were absolute naturals. There is one actor I want to mention — Vipin Sharma. He needed to do a very tough scene. Just leave me in this room. As the workshop continued, she went into a deep place and found something in her character that she was able to bring out during that workshop. When we saw it, I, as the writer, decided that we had to incorporate it into the script. That just does not happen. It does not happen. I can say with all humility that what she brought and the state she went into was brilliant. So, we went back, added it to the script and amalgamated it. That was a great experience. As you know, she is a terrific producer herself. I have to enable this project to be everything it can be. Nitya and Karan were the people who got it to her, and then she came on as executive producer. From what I hear, she has been fantastic. She has really moved mountains for this show.
Heeraz said he found the subject matter interesting after going through the show’s deck but wanted to find a “provocative way” into the story. That feeling of powerlessness is the whole point of the story, even when something terrible happens,” he said. So, when I write and someone else directs, I am like, ‘Okay, what?’” Heeraz revealed how Vipin Sharma’s acting process surprised him and said, “I think all of them surprised me in their own separate way. He is playing an ensemble part in the show, and he basically said, ‘You guys are going to take my shot. Hareez shared a particular special moment from working with Aneet and said, “There was a particular passage that she delivers at the end of the sixth and final episode. I said, ‘No, we have to have this. Praising Priyanka as a producer, Heeraz said, “She actually saw Hunkaar after it was edited. When she saw it, she said, ‘No, I have to be the knight in shining armour.
