Sumeet Vyas: We have forgotten to make Seinfeld, Friends, Malgudi Days kind of happy shows

Actor-writer Sumeet Vyas recently took his debut directorial web series on the floors, and he insists that the moment he called the first shot, it felt like he was destined to do that. He says, “As an actor or writer, you play a very small part in the process. As a director, you can contribute a lot more. There’s a definite voice that you can have and that feels nice.”

While Vyas has dabbled in TV, films and OTT, it’s the lattermost medium that has given him the most amount of success and recognition. As he makes his directorial debut on the web, he feels a sense of comfort. “I am hoping we have chosen quality over quantity and are not telling another run-of-the-mill story. I hope our story has a voice of its own,” he informs.

Building on that, the 40-year-old, who was one of the pioneers on the web platform, agrees that quantity has somewhere superseded the quality on the medium in recent times. He says, “Whenever money comes into the picture, it changes things around. It is a natural progression. The choice is always there for creators if they want to create something to just earn money or because they have a story they really want to tell. Yet, I still feel it’s a good place to be in.”

Commenting on the quality aspect, the new director says, “Ninety percent of the content on OTT today, in India or internationally, has action, violence, thrill and all kind of genres which are very serious and hectic to see. We have completely forgotten the Seinfeld, Friends and How I Met Your Mother kind of shows. Even here, we’ve had Dekh Bhai Dekh, Waghle Ki Duniya and Malgudi Days. Those were the shows which were like an escape or a relief. They used to be our happy place. So, the idea with our show is to create something that becomes a happy place for our generation."

Even though he is happy about directing, Vyas insists that he doesn’t want to direct himself. “It would require a lot of confidence to tell someone that they are supposed to look into my eyes and think that they are madly in love with me. I don’t think I would be able to do that,” he laughs.

In 2023, Vyas appeared in Afwaah and Sajini Shinde Ka Viral Video on the big screen. While both the films underperformed at the box office, the actor isn’t deterred by the failures. He insists, “You must understand that the audience doesn’t have any personal grudge against you. So, either you were able to tell a story that they were interested in, or you were able to tell a story well, but they were not interested in it at that time.”

While Vyas is busy himself, his wife actor Ekta Kaul also has been steadily getting back to work post embracing motherhood. She was seen in Pathaan in 2023 and earlier this year, she appeared in Main Atal Hoon opposite Pankaj Tripathi. Vyas a is a proud husband seeing his wife’s achievements. “She is a very committed hands-on mother. She is more involved than most mothers I see around. So, it’s that much harder for her to take time out and go to work. I am proud of her, but also a little envious that she is getting to do this amazing work,” he quips. The couple has a son together named Ved.