Gulshan Devaiah is all set to dig deep into a medical entrance exam scam in MX Players' upcoming series titled Shiksha Mandal. He has teamed up with Gauahar Khan to play the lead in the thriller which drops on September 15.
Ahead of Shiksha Mandal's release, PeepingMoon.com spoke to Gulshan about the web series, whether it draws inspiration from the Vyapam scam, which took place in 2013 and why the youth will resonate with a show that sheds light on entrance exam scams.
Excerpts from the interview:
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Does Shiksha Mandal take a sharp dig at the education system or has it been softened down for the Indian audience?
It is not a dig at the education system per se. The story deals with a medical entrance exam scam. It is about how people get embroiled in it and how my character comes into the picture. The show also deals with family turmoil. It is about the education system but more about the scams that happen during medical entrance exams. Yes, if you look at the larger picture, it is a commentary on the education system.
Is the show based on the Vyapam scam?
It is based on many such scams. Since this is based on a medical entrance scam, people assume this is based on the Vyapam scam. It has elements of various other scams also. The idea of the makers was to highlight that such things happen, to sort of lift the whale and leave people with a question as to what we have to do. It is really unfortunate that deserving candidates don’t end up getting into good colleges. If people do a little bit of online digging, they’ll get to know that scams are layered. Since there are loopholes in the system, these people try to exploit it which in turn ruins the lives of thousands of people.
'WhatsApp University' is gaining prominence even more than colleges and institutes. Do you see this trend to be a destructive one?
A lot of it is funny. It is wonderful that communication has become easy and diverse but it is sufficiently perverted because people figure out how to use it to their advantage. It is ok to use it to sell their products, but it is perverted because people use it to manipulate others. People have become gullible now because, I don’t know if we had it before, certainly there wasn’t so much information back then. You read what newspapers and news channels offered. Newspapers came once in the afternoon and once in the evening when I was young. You had only that much to think about. The adverse effect of so much information is that sometimes we don’t have time to think about what we are looking at. We tend to become gullible and believe everything. That’s why 'WhatsApp University' gets its infamous name because people tend to believe everything that goes around WhatsApp. It is good to communicate but people have to be careful and responsible too.
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Do you see lack of education to be a reason behind excessive trolling?
I don’t think it is correct to blame the education system. I think a lot of the trolling happens because of bots. In the last few years, a lot of information has come to light. I don’t know whether all the trolling that happens on social media is done by one individual. I am myself a troll only, I think because I troll people quite often (smiles) but my intention is never to cause harm or take any undue advantage. I try to be responsible. People are also insulated. Saying something on people’s faces can be harder but you can hide behind a profile and say things. It is alright sometimes because it’s a democratic country and people can express themselves. The power of communication empowers you but it is unfortunate that it is being exploited. I think the best use of social media was during India against corruption campaign where it seemed to have a genuine and righteous purpose. It worked well for the campaign but ever since then, it is perverted.
Do you believe Shiksha Mandal will resonate with the youth amid the current educational environment?
It deals with the angst people have. These are systems where meritocracy has to be paramount. The selection is based on meritocracy, be it private or government institutes; this is the mandate. When loopholes in the system are found and exploited, it is not fair to those who work really hard, take tuition, and spend a lot of money. These days education can be quite expensive. It is a laborious process and can be expensive also. Medical entrance isn’t easy. You have to be a good student. People have big dreams and work hard towards fulfilling them. People talk about merit in arts but it can never exist. You cannot measure somebody’s performance. But in the entrance, how much you got in maths and geometry can be measured. When merit doesn’t exist and such scams cheat people, it hampers their dreams. They will connect with that. A lot of people go through such things. I hope that this outrage that they have towards meritocracy in arts is diverted to where that outrage is genuine.
Does it worry you that people show hatred towards cinema and actors?
No, it doesn’t worry me because I know a lot of people who are not targetted; I am not targetted. I feel bad but a few years ago, I felt worse because there was a generalisation that we all are loose character drug addicts. When Sushant (Singh Rajput) passed away, it was a difficult time for all of us. Anyway, that’s all over now. I am not affected by trolls targetting the fraternity. If you look at it, the targetting has been very specific. I don’t like it and don’t see it being justified although it is a democratic society. It is people’s free will as long as they are not going and breaking somebody’s head.
Will Shiksha Mandal get a sequel?
I don’t know yet, it is up to the makers. I have been signed for three seasons, so as of now their larger plan is to do 3 seasons but you never know. I have never done the second season of shows I have been a part of as yet. I’ll wait for them to decide.
