MUMBAI: Helmed by the creative duo Alind Srivastava and Nissar Parvej, Peninsula Pictures has been entertaining television viewers since 2015. From fantasy to supernatural and mythology, the production house has attempted to explore different genres in a short span. It recently dabbled in creating a historical drama with TV show RudraMaa Devi which went on air on Telugu channel Star Maa.
“When we started in 2015, we didn’t have enough capital to start a production house. Our decision to still go ahead was purely based on instincts. It began with a TV show for Star Bharat titled Mayavi Maling. Soon, [we were] approached by Zee TV to make a supernatural love story – Vishkanya, which ran for around 140 episodes,” Peninsula Pictures founder Alind Srivastava told Indiantelevision.com.
This was followed by Dev – a suspense drama series revolving around the life of ace detective Dev Burman, who uses his expertise to investigate various crimes. The show debuted on Colors TV in August 2017 and lasted for as many as 71 episodes.
“It is all about good storytelling,” said Srivastava, when asked about the factors which drive the popularity of the shows. One of its most popular mythological drama series – Paramavatar Shri Krishna – went on air on &TV in June 2017 and became one of its longest-running shows with 687 episodes. Some of the other shows include Vishkanya, Mayavi Maling, Vish: A Poisonous Story, and Vikram Betaal Ki Rahasya Gatha.
The production house is currently producing Aladdin - Naam Toh Suna Hoga and Hero Gayab Mode On on Sony Sab. They have also rolled out a new mythological show titled Paapnashini Ganga on the newly launched Hindi GEC Ishara.
But their journey in TV production was far from a smooth one, the duo shared, as they recalled an incident during the shooting of the TV show Vishkanya, which almost convinced them to shut down the company. “We were mulling over the closure, but before we could even arrive at a decision, we got the opportunity to work on two more shows,” recalled Srivastava.
Peninsula Pictures co-founder Nissar Parvej chimed in, “In fact, now when we look back, we realise it was the right time to start a production house. There are so many OTT platforms and it is only going to go upwards from here.”
The Peninsula group has now grown into an integrated and diversified television production house which also owns Peninsula TV and Peninsula Studio, responsible for creating VFX content for their TV shows. The extensive use of VFX and CGI was evident in its sci-fi superhero saga Hero Gayab Mode On, where special effects have been utilised liberally to create an alien spaceship, along with drone footage of Mumbai city to depict an alien world.
“Virtual production has immense scope, especially in the post-pandemic era. It has become challenging for producers to shoot outdoors with ease,” noted Parvej. Citing the example of one of their own series, he added, “For Paapnashini Ganga, we wanted to shoot some scenes in and around Uttarakhand, Kashmir, Devprayag, and Rudraprayag. But, we could not do it because of the pandemic restrictions.”
With the rising demand for OTT-like content, the duo believe, it has become important for production houses to master the usage of new technology in their shows.
“MoCap (motion capture) can be used for live-action shows and animated and 3D shows. We will also see more usage of motion track cameras. Whenever we approach any network or streaming platform, we insist that we need to invest in this particular technology. Investing in good tools and technology is similar to putting money in casting and writing, it is equally important. We need to up the game,” Srivastava signed off.
