Manav Kaul: ‘Sent the creator scores of texts to land audition’

A still from the series

What do you get when you bring together the makers of the slice-of-life series Gullak and the violent Mirzapur? A delightful comedy. Gullak director Amrit Raj Gupta and Mirzapur creator Puneet Krishna have joined forces for Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper, which tells the story of an ordinary man who becomes a gigolo to support his family. While Manav Kaul leads the nine-part Netflix series, he is joined by Tillotama Shome and Shweta Basu Prasad.

Creator Puneet Krishna (in blue)

In a chat with mid-day, Kaul says he was so intrigued by the titular part that he chased creator Krishna and producer Ram Sampath. "I was a mad actor hungry for a [good] story. I sent Puneet and Ram scores of texts to land the audition. I knew I could crack this character. His voice would echo in my ears long after the narration was over," says the actor.

As the showrunner-creator, Krishna had to bring alive a world that had not only goons, guns and gore, but also love and family values. The most critical part was researching the world that the story was set in. "We met a lot of [gigolos]; they were open about their experiences. What surprised us was the amount of respect in those interactions. The men address the women as Ma'am. The more we dug into these stories, we realised there is agency, desire and vulnerability." Sampath, who met Krishna during the making of Bangistan (2015), says his vision made him back the series. "Puneet has the foresight to know what will be relevant a few years from now. That makes his stories out of the box."

'Tribhuvan Mishra: CA Topper' will be released on the platform on July 18.