Decided to come on board as soon as I heard script narration of Baykola Hava Tari Kay: Priyadarshan Jadhav 

Priyadarshan Jadhav is a well-known name in the Marathi film industry. Apart from acting, writing and directing plays and films, he has directed his first-ever web series, Baykola Hava Tari Kay, which is being streamed on MX Player.

"The credit goes to writers Ambar [Hadap] and Ganesh [Pandit]. They recommended me to our producers. I decided to come on board as soon as I heard the first script narration," Jadhav told Cinestaan.

The filmmaker believes the series is truly unique for a medium where violence, extreme gore and intimate scenes are the norm. "All family members, from senior citizens to small children, can enjoy the web-series without feeling any discomfort. Also on top of that, we got a backing of a big platform, MX Player, which made things a lot easier for every one of us," he said.

Jadhav believes that because of the lockdown, the audience for web-series has grown exponentially. "Earlier only youngsters used to watch shows on OTT platforms, but nowadays even housewives who used to only watch daily soaps have started watching web-series. And because theatres were closed, people couldn't even watch films and plays, so many of them turned to online streaming platforms for their entertainment," he said.

Asked about the web-series' unique concept, Jadhav said, "I think it's quite clear from the title itself that the series revolves around the universal question of what exactly women want from their husbands. We have dedicated this series to all women. It's a complete entertainer. And I'm sure people will love it."

Baykola Hava Tari Kay is Aniket Vishwasrao and Jadhav's fourth project together after Maska (2018), Choricha Mamla (2020), and the yet-to-be-released Jaago Mohan Pyare, but Vishwasrao was not the makers' first choice for this series. "In fact, he was not even on the list of actors being considered for this role. Before Aniket, we approached many actors. Some of them showed genuine interest in the project, but we had to let them go because of scheduling issues while others opted out because of remuneration problems. After a lot of discussions, Ganesh Pandit suggested Aniket. Since I had worked with him, I was aware of his potential as a comic actor so it was quite easy for me to work with him," said Jadhav.

Nikhil Ratnaparkhi plays Lord  Krishna in the series. Apart from acting, he has directed several plays over the years. Asked whether Ratnaparkhi would come up with suggestions on the set, Jadhav said, "Yes of course. And not just because he is a director. It happens even with actors. We all see if there are any problems in the script before going on the set or during reading sessions. Thankfully Nikhil has never doubted my direction skills. He did give me suggestions sometimes, but he was never adamant about anything. The same goes for all the other artistes.

Jadhav is known for his comic roles. Apart from Halal (2017), for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Zee Gaurav Awards, Jadhav has only done comedy films. All the films and plays he has directed, including this new web-series, are also comedic or rely heavily on comedy. But Jadhav also wants to experiment with different genres. "Yes, I would like to experiment with other genres too. And thankfully I have finally started getting those kinds of offers after Halal. I just did Nikhil Mahajan's Godavari (2021). It's a drama film and I'm playing a serious role in it. I would also love to do a thriller and a horror film but it's not like I'm in a hurry. Let it happen at its own pace. I don't want to force anything," he said.

Baykola Hava Tari Kay ends on a cliffhanger, but Jadhav and the scriptwriters have decided where they would like to take the series. "If MX Player continues to support us and if we get a good response from the audience, we will definitely start working on the second season," he said.