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Acclaimed actor, comedian, and filmmaker Vir Das has official finished filming his second directorial venture, Baara Number, a found-footage psychological thriller, which was announced last month.
In this film, Das wears multiple creative hats, including that of a director, a producer and an ensemble cast member, further expanding his creative repertoire behind and in front of the camera.
Baara Number features Sheeba Chaddha, Suhail Nayyar, Arunoday Singh, Ahsaas Channa, Atul Kulkarni, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Puja Sarup, Navin Kaushik amongst others. The film is co-produced by Jeff Lazarus and Kaushik Srinivasan from Third Frame Studio, Naresh Malik and Vir Das’ Zazu Productions with Kavi Shastri as the creative producer on board.
Das' film also adopts found footage format, which is a lesser used method of storytelling in mainstream cinema. But in Baara Number, the makers said, it drives the narrative forward, allowing it to unfold through a deeply immersive visual language while exploring the psychological dimensions of its characters.
Upon wrapping up the film, Das said, "Baara Number has been an incredibly intense and rewarding experience for me because it challenged me in almost every way possible."
He acknowledged the unique challenges of creating a psychological thriller with found-footage format, as it does not give the same freedom and flexibility as conventional filmmaking methods do.
"The camera itself becomes part of the world, and the audience has to feel like they are discovering the story rather than simply watching it unfold," he said, calling it both exciting and terrifying.
"There were days when we were constantly questioning whether we were pushing the format enough, whether the performances felt organic enough, and whether the audience would feel that sense of unease and intimacy that the story demands."
Despite these challenges, Das feels he has all the reason to credit his team for working around them and their solid contributions to the project.
"When you are working on a psychological thriller, especially one that relies so heavily on performance and atmosphere, you need actors who are willing to trust the material and embrace uncertainty. They did exactly that," he added.
From bringing the film's characters to life, living with them and eventually letting them go, Das also commented on the bittersweet feeling of ending the shoot. "But there is also a tremendous sense of excitement because now the film gets to find its final form in the edit and post-production. I think audiences are going to experience Baara Number in a way that is quite different from a conventional psychological thriller. We have tried to create something that feels immediate, unpredictable and deeply immersive, while still being driven by character."