‘Rana Naidu’ Producer Assures There’s ‘Plenty Of Material’ For Several Seasons

Indian producer, Sunder Aaron, who is the co-founder of Locomotive Global Inc. (LGI), talks about working on one of the most engaging and entertaining web series from India this year – Rana Naidu. The second season of the series was announced recently. Rana Naidu is directed by Karan Anshuman and Suparn Verma, and headlined by Rana Daggubati and Venkatesh Daggubati. The series is the Indian adaptation of the American series Ray Donovan.

Founded in 2012, LGI is an international production company that primarily developes, produces and distributes India-themed content across the globe. It is majority owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Apart from LGI, Aaron is also the co-Founder and Managing Director for QYOU Media India, the division of QYOU Media which operates linear channels and digital programming services for the Indian market. In this exclusive interview, he talks about his journey, adapting international projects for India, and more.

What about Ray Donovan made you believe it could work in an Indian set-up?

We decided to adapt Ray Donovan because we knew it was a great show. It had a lot of elements that we knew would work for India: First, it is a show about family, and this value is of primary importance to Indians. The original series is about a family that moves from Boston to Los Angeles – we knew we could emulate this fish-out-of-water dynamic with a family migrating from Hyderabad to Mumbai. Another element was that Ray Donovan is a ‘fixer’ in Hollywood, which finds perfect parallel in a fixer in Bollywood (Rana Naidu). Finally, Indian viewers have shown great interest in the crime-thriller genre, therefore, we knew there would be a level of interest from the Indian audience.

What were the major challenges while working on Rana Naidu?

No matter how strong a story is or how well-received a film or a show has been overseas, it won’t work in India unless it is developed with that audience in mind. We obviously have selected some outstanding talent to work with including Anshuman, who is our showrunner. He was responsible for Inside Edge and Mirzapur. Every day I am made aware of how well the writers, creators, and production team know how to create something that works for the Indian audience. But how do we adapt it? It all starts on the page, as the writer’s room works very hard to adapt the storylines and characters from the original show while making them uniquely Indian. Of course, there are some risks that are met and cannot be avoided and you have to tackle them head-on. For instance, we started work on Rana Naidu in the midst of the pandemic. While we came out of it building momentum for the project, we were hit by another lock-down which naturally threw our schedules and budgets out of whack.

What has been the worst response for Rana Naidu?

There have been some viewers who have felt that the show is a bit too dark, violent,or racy, and complaints that the dialogue is crass in places. However, I can honestly say that none of this was made just for the sake of shocking the audience, since all of the language, and actions fit into the characters and serve the story we are telling. Of course, we were always clear that this is a series meant to be viewed only by adults.

Ray Donovan had seven seasons, how far do you think Rana Naidu can sustain?

Fortunately, we have plenty of material and story for several more seasons of Rana Naidu. We can also allow our Indian characters to have their own arcs and tracks that may even differ from the original series. That gives us lots of options for several seasons to come!

How has the journey in showbiz been?

Not without challenges, but ultimately rewarding, both personally and professionally. I was born in India and only moved back to work in the entertainment industry. Although I was meant to be in Mumbai for a two-year assignment, the market in India has been so challenging and dynamic that I chose to stay. Thankfully, we are now slowly building scale and expanding the scope for our company Locomotive Global. I am hopeful that that pace of growth will pick up once the war in Europe and the worldwide recession ends. In fact, I am sure will see a significant flight of capital to India for investment into the media and entertainment industry in 2024 and 2025.

What is the unique thing about the Indian consumption pattern that attracts international players to treat it as an important market and also integrate Indian content?

Audiences and viewers are interested in authentic storytelling no matter where a story comes from, or what language it is told in, so stories from India will eventually gain traction around the world and outside the diaspora. South Korea has seen its quality content accepted by audiences around the world. We can expect the same moment of wider acceptance to eventually happen for Indian content too, hence this potential has made India a growing priority. Also, the world is starting to see tremendous growth that remains possible in the Indian market, and also that there is a large audience very much untapped in the market. Therefore, consumption will grow in India for decades to come, and that is a hugely attractive proposition for international players. After all, when you think of other large emerging markets, China is played out for foreign media and entertainment players, and few will look to Russia in the near future. India’s media and entertainment industry remains a shining light that will attract more and more capital in the next few years.

(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity)