Mantra Mugdh has showcased his versatility by donning many hats as an RJ, actor, director, and producer. Now, he steps into the spotlight as the artistic director for Marvel Wastelanders: Doom, further demonstrating his creative talent. The series is streaming on Audible.
In an exclusive conversation with The Free Press Journal, Mantra shed light on his unique approach to the project, the challenges that he has faced, recognition in the industry, and more.
How has your experience being the artistic director for Marvel Wastelanders: Doom?
It's been an adventurous experience. It's been a long series, going on for months. It's a six-part series, so starting from season one, where we had Mr. Saif Ali Khan as Starlord or Kareena Kapoor as Black Widow or Jaideep Ahlawat as Hawkeye or Sharad Kelkar as Wolverine, and now Ashish Vidyarthi as Dr. Doom. Over more than 100 actors, and too many people involved in the entire series. It's been one of those mammoth projects. You might just call it Mughal-e-Azam of the audio series world.
Can you tell us about the challenges that you have faced considering the artistic vision that you had for the Hindi version of Marvel Wastelanders: Doom?
I think a majority of the challenge was to actually bring the global vision of this particular series ahead because I'm just the artistic director over here. The series was already directed, created, and produced in the English version by a lot of these wonderful people. We didn't have any scope to make it our own or to make any localised references towards it. So over here I didn't have much of that scope. It was a strict line that we were following.
What were the key roles that you focused on being a part of this project, and what do you think the audience would take away from this version?
I think the majority of my focus was my work when I entered the studio with my actors. These actors most of the time are clueless as to where they are headed or because the audio series is somewhere where you don't have your co-actors around. So I was their guiding light in their ears. I was painting the picture in their minds. They were imagining themselves in that scenario, and then for them to be able to perform. I think that was a major task for me.
You have been in the industry for such a long time. Do you feel that you've received the recognition you deserve for your work?
It's more to do with your phases. Everybody has a phase, and just like in cricket, there are a couple of overs where you hit those big shots, then you sustain, then you hit those big shots. So I have had my highs and my dormant zones. When I started off with radio, I was absolutely at the peak of radio; people knew me as RJ Mantra.
RJ Mantra became so synonymous with me that it felt as if it was my initials or my name. People thought RJ was a part of my name. Then comedy circus happened, and everybody started knowing me as a comedian. Then other theatre started to happen, and I was doing international productions, touring the entire world with theatre productions. People started comparing me to theatre actors. So I think the best part about my career is that I am different for all of my audiences. I relish the fact that I am a bit for everyone, and I have got a varied audience.
Can you share some insights into your upcoming work?
I have an Amazon Prime Video series produced by Raj and DK. As an anchor, Pro Kabaddi is beginning next month on television. Then, of course, the audio series that I'm producing, Dr Doom, is out right now. The sixth (final) edition will be coming out soon. There are a couple of other interesting podcasts that I'm creating for Audible and my other portals.
I'm looking forward to different things and being on stage. So next 10 days, 5 nights I'm going to be on stage in Delhi or in Mumbai. I'm in Kolkata right now doing Macbeth and Shakespeare festivals with Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak.
