The cast and crew of India’s first E-sports web series ‘Clutch’, created by Dice Media, spoke at a press conference recently, recounting the ideas and experiences that went into creating this unique project.
The panel included series showrunner Aditi Shrivastava, creative director Pranav Tonseker, director Ruchir Arun, writers Sandeep Jain and Aditya Khanna as well as cast members Vishal Vashishtha, Ahsaas Channa, Saurabh Ghadge, Pratiek Pachauri and Tirth Joshier.
Speaking about Clutch, Pranav Tonseker mentioned how they wanted to create a series that would relate to the general public well and this particular topic allowed for that. A vast majority of people have been involved in gaming in some form in their lives and during that time, they would have definitely come across people mirroring the characters from the show.
From the inexperienced child who doesn’t take things too seriously to the seasoned pro gamer who is prone to bouts of rage when things don’t particularly go their way, the audience will definitely find a character they recognize or can relate to. Adding to this, Aditi Shrivastava stated that a major advantage of E-sports is its inclusivity with no visible age or gender bias when it comes to skilled competitors.
The first trailer of Clutch was revealed with the series set to begin streaming on Dice Media’s Youtube channel from 1 October, 2021.
One of the main draws of this series according to the cast and crew was the relatively untapped market for this particular genre. The writers wanted to showcase E-sports from an entirely different perspective and give the audience a better idea of what goes into the process of becoming a professional E-sports player.
The cast members were all keen to take part in ‘Clutch’ as it was a concept none of them had a lot of prior experience with and were pulled in by the appeal of working on something new and inspired. Speaking about her role in the series, Ahsaas Channa stated: “This is a kind of show that I’ve never been a part of. I have never played a sports person in my entire career which is why being able to play a character along those lines really got me hooked.”
All the actors commented on the bond they formed while shooting the series which added to the wonderful experiences they had.
When asked on why they chose to focus on the mobile platform and release their series on Youtube, Aditi Shrivastava stated: “We wanted to gain the maximum reach on platforms where the gaming community is most active and with Youtube being that platform made it an easy pick. As for mobile gaming, India is a mobile-first nation, with the most number of gamers in India playing on their phones, which is why we went in that direction.”
E-sports is India is starting to build traction and garnering more attention with the rising popularity of games like PUBG and Free Fire as well as the ease and availability to people from all walks of life. A number of Indian universities are even beginning to recognize this trend by offering scholarships to students with an impressive E-sports record.
Catch the trailer for Dice Media’s ‘Clutch’:
Also Read: Finding Anamika on Netflix: Cast and teaser