‘Pleasure Of The Human Body Is…’

‘…something
that
should
be
discussed
because
it
is
a
very
important
part
of
life.’

The
idea
of
making
a
Web
series
on
a
male
prostitute
came
to
Director

Puneet
Krishna
one
night.

“I
wanted
to
tell
another
story
which
was
different
from
my
previous
work,

Mirzapur.
Set
in
North
India,
because
I
come
from
that
part
of
the
country,
something
entertaining,
with
layers
for
people
to
peel
through
and
get
something
more
than
entertainment,”
Puneet
tells

Subhash
K
Jha.

That’s
how

Tribhuvan
Mishra
CA
Topper
was
born.

“I
have
not
lived
the
life
of
Tribhuvan
Mishra
but
in
general,
I
have
met
people
who
are
really
colourful
in
life,
who
come
across
as
somebody
who
is
very
normal
and
simple.
But
when
you
peel
the
layers
and
get
to
know
them
more,
they
are
much
more
than
that.
There
is
so
much
colour
inside
such
characters,
so
much
violence
or
so
much
fun.”

About
the
research
work
that
it
entailed,
Puneet
says,
“I
got
to
meet
people,
who
do
this
work
and
was
surprised
to
learn
that
this
world
operates
on
the
premise
of
respect
and
transactional
value,
since
somebody
is
giving
a
service
and
somebody
is
taking
a
service,
irrespective
of
the
gender.

“I
got
to
understand
that
when
a
man
is
servicing
a
woman,
for
example,
there’s
a
lot
of
respect
involved.
Most
of
the
time,
they
call
them
‘Ma’am’.

“I
understood
this
world
has
a
lot
of
dignity
associated
with
it.
We
talked
to
women
of
varies
ages
like
20s,
30,
40s,
50
and
how
they
felt
in
the
different
kinds
of
scenarios.
The
rest
is
imagination.

“Manavbhai
(Kaul)
was
really
keen
to
know
more
about
the
character.
I
think
the
story
is
much
more
than
servicing
women
sexually.
It
is
about
understanding
women
and
trying
to
do
things
to,
you
know,
support
his
family,
come
out
of
a
crisis,
survive
as
a
middle
class
common
man.
So
the
story
was
much
more
than
a
gigolo
in
that
sense,”
he
says.

“My
life’s
understanding
has
taught
me
that
even
a
character,
who
is
just
there
for
say
a
scene
or
speaking
only
four
lines,
should
be
cast
with
the
same
love
as
you
would
cast
your
lead
actor.

“Because
in
that
scene,
when
that
character
is
saying
those
two
lines
and
the
camera
is
on
him
or
her,
he
will
be
the
one
be
lifting
the
scene
in
that
moment.
So
you
can’t
compromise
even
on
that
one
line
character
or
one
scene
character.
That
is
the
extraordinary
care
we
take
while
we
hire
actors,”
Puneet
says.

“That’s
why
maybe
the
smaller
characters
are
also
working
well
for
the
audience
because
of
the
relatability
of
and
the
realness
of
the
actors,
who
play
these
characters.

“Apart
from
Manavbhai,
it’s
an
ensemble
cast.
Tillotamaji
(Shome)
doesn’t
come
from
a
Hindi-speaking
background
but
you
can’t
see
that
on
screen.
She
speaks
like
(her
character)
Bindi.
It’s
like
magic
when
the
camera
is
switched
on.

“Then,
there
is
Shweta
Basu
Prasad
playing
Naina
Sarin,
Manavbhai‘s
wife
in
the
show.

“Subrajyoti
Bharat
sir
is
playing
Tikaram
Jain.

“For
Faizal
Malik
and
Ashokbhai

Pathak)
to
play
these
characters
coming
out
of

Panchayat,
it’s
great.
They
are
covering
a
whole
range
of
spectrum
in
terms
of
acting.”

One
of
the
vital
plot
points
in

Tribubhuvan
Mishra
CA
Topper
is
the
female
orgasm,
something
we
don’t
discuss
in
public.

“The
pleasure
of
the
human
body
is
something
that
should
be
discussed
because
it
is
a
very
important
part
of
life.
The
way
we
derive
pleasure
from
eating
good
food
or
watching
good
movies
or
wearing
good
clothes
is
exactly
the
same.

“And
if
it
(the
orgasm)
can
be
normalised
in
a
decent,
within
the
boundaries
way,
why
not?
Yes,
it
should
be
normalised.
It
should
be
discussed
more.
It
is
something
which
is
not
talked
about
often.”