Mozez Singh, along with Vipul Amrutlal Shah, is the co-director of the highly acclaimed web series Human. The show, which stars Shefali Shah and Kirti Kulhari in lead roles, has become a favourite of the audience. Free Press Journal caught up with Mozez for an exclusive tête-à-tête. Mozez reveals that he contacted Covid-19 as soon as the show began streaming. “I was blessed to have Covid-19 just after the release of Human, and I could process the success we received. I got to reply to each message that came to me. When I was running around for the shoot, I didn’t get the virus! But my quarantine was boring. I was fed up with isolation,” he says.
Mozez has also co-written the show and opens up about the process. “Vipul called me around three years ago since he watched and liked my film Zubaan. He offered me to work on a feature script based on the backdrop of human drug trials. It was always his idea. I read the script, but it didn’t work for me. However, I got very intrigued with the idea as I am from a pharma background. My grandfather was the founder of Ranbaxy. I grew up with the chatter of pharma all the time. In my family, I was the only one in the films, and I have always been disinterested in the family business. Also, I was excited to tell an LGBTQ story since I come from the same community. I collaborated with my co-writer Ishani Banerjee on developing the idea. We both went to Vipul, and he loved it. It was totally different from what he had written,” he explains.
A still from Human |
Mozez feels that had Zubaan been a commercial success, his graph as a filmmaker would have been different. “This is the business of hits and flops. Zubaan had a bad distribution which was upsetting. In fact, it did well on the OTT platforms. The reason I got Human is Zubaan, and I am starting a new film with a big OTT platform shortly, which also happened due to Zubaan. Everyone wants social validation. If that doesn’t happen, it is surely morally deflating, but things took a longer route for a reason,” he states.
Zubaan released in 2016 and Mozez started writing Human in 2019. When asked what he did during those years, Mozez shares, “I developed so much content and didn’t stop working for even a single day. I wrote two scripts, one web series and one documentary. I helmed two short films. I never bothered what I would be offered after Zubaan.”
Mozez is glad writers are finally getting credit for their hard work. “I feel writers are such a strong part of filmmaking. I am very happy to get so much love for writing a show like Human. I am a writer first then a director, but both are integrated with each other,” he concludes.
