Hawa Badle Hassu, an Environmental Sci Fi thriller web series, released on Sony Liv was recently recognised by News18 iReel Awards 2019 for taking up environmental issues as a talking point. The award was collected jointly by GAIL (India) and Handyyman which have presented and produced the series respectively, along with the star cast and crew.

This series is a part of GAIL (India) Limited’s ‘Hawa Badlo’ initiative. The series boasts of a stellar cast led by Chandan Roy Sanyal, Smita Tambe and Vikram Kochchar.

Hawa Badle Hassu is an Environmental Sci-Fi thriller web series with a total of forty minute run time broken into 4 episodes. Each episode tackles crucial spaces and aspects pertaining to Environment (pollution). The first episode focuses on ‘Home Environment’ and as the story progresses it moves to cover topics like ‘Education and career building options around environment’, ‘Outdoor Environment’ and finally escalates to ‘Global Environment’. Actors from mainstream Hindi cinema have been cast for all key roles with Chandan Roy Sanyal essaying the lead and titular role of “Hassu”. Sanyal is joined by Smita Tambe, Vikram Kochar and Hollywood actor Zachary Coffin in meaty roles.

Speaking on the series, Creative Producer and Co- Writer, Protiqe Mojoomdar said, “This is a true honour and pleasure, and we are thankful to News18 for responding to our shoutout to the audience and the industry. Grateful to GAIL India for entrusting us with the task of producing this kind of a path breaking series. We as content creators, have the responsibility to start & motivate living room conversations, and this opportunity has also come to us because of OTT platforms and the web series medium, which lets us explore new subjects and experiment with storytelling styles. The most burning conversation we want to have is on our environment and what we should be doing to protect it from further decay, and we would like to raise Nature’s share of voice. But we need to do it with empathy and entertainment, hence a sci-fi thriller and fun snackable storytelling of 10 min episodes! We hope this honour helps it to gain new audiences and gives them another reason to watch and share its message.

Close on the heels of World Environment Day, the makers of ‘Hawa Badle Hassu’ launched the trailer of the upcoming series. The series in its season one, boasts of a stellar cast led by Chandan Roy Sanyal, Smita Tambe (Singham Returns fame) and Vikram Kochchar (Sacred Games, Sumit Samhal Lega fame). Hawa Badle Hassu is an Environmental Sci Fi thriller which has equal proportions of social comedy elements and full blown Sci-Fi intrigue.

Shot in Mumbai suburbs and virgin locations at Vaitarna (Maharashtra), Hawa Badle Hassu dishes out a strong message on environment sustainability and critical lifestyle changes, through interesting and futuristic story telling. Chandan plays the titular Hassu, who rides an eco- friendly rickshaw, spreading the message on environment conservation to his unassuming passengers.

Talking about the series, Director Saptaraj & Shiva, state, “It has been a roller-coaster ride working on the series. There are not too many takers for futuristic Sci-Fi in this industry and we are suckers for this kind of storytelling. When Protiqe approached us with his vision on this subject, and the fact that it was also going to be something meaningful to leave behind, we were so happy to come on board. He and the writers had been working on it for a bit, but he loved our ideas which were developed in the writing, and we are really happy with how the series is shaping up. We are preparing for a season 2 if the first one is received well”.

Adding voice to the directors, Producer & Co- writer, Protiqe Mojoomdar, stated, “It has been a fairly fun and challenging journey, to develop content in a genre which does not have a matured market yet. We have been purely driven by the content and how it resonated with us. Smita, Chandan, Zach and Vikram are not only great actors but terribly fertile minds that came on the project with ideas galore, which only firmed up our conviction in the story. We have been inspired by Leonardo Di Caprio’s Foundation and a lot of our research is courtesy their pathbreaking One Earth Model. We resonate as one with his vision #ClimateChangeIsReal”.

Hawa Badle Hassu is slated to be launched on Sony Liv, later this month.

American actor Zachary (Zack) Coffin who balances between Los Angeles and Mumbai plays the baddie in Hawa Badle Hassu. Zack is seen pitted against the eco-friendly auto rickshaw driver, titular-Hassu played by Chandan Roy Sanyal.  Zack plays a suave & suit clad mysterious character who trails Hassu and tries to trap him.

Zack who has lived, worked and travelled in about 35 countries is at ease while working in Bollywood. Talking about his work in Bollywood and his role in Hawa Badle Hassu, the actor said, “I studied acting in New York but Mumbai is home now — I’ve been here about 10 years. You can take me out of Mumbai but can’t take Mumbai out of me. I started in theatre with Neeraj Kabi and Akharsh Khurana, performing at Pruthvi and NCPA, and have had the pleasure of touring the country doing plays. My first big Hindi serial show was as the main villain in Maha Kumbh, and Mary Kom was my first Hindi film. Since then, I’ve acted in over 50 shows and movies, and more recently, a variety of web series. I love web series for their experimentation and freedom. This web series — Hawa Badle Hassu — is crazy different, and I love it. I can’t reveal much but I play a kind of character that I’ve never seen in Indian entertainment. Actually, the whole series is like this — totally different. You’ve got a new, hybrid genre — thriller and sci-fi — with the environment as the central theme. I think audiences will find it very fresh. I’m actually very glad to be part of it, and have high expectations for future seasons!”

Zack was first seen on Indian cinema as a boxing coach in Mary and there has been no looking back. His filmography boasts of big budget mainstream Bollyood titles like Baby, Tiger Zinda Hai, Judwa 2, Simran, Housefull 3 and Parmanu:Story of Pokhran among others. In the ott space also the actor has firmed his presence with Made In Heaven and Inside Edge. Hawa Badle Hassu is his upcoming release.

Hawa Badle Hassu is an environmental Sci-Fi thriller which starts as a slice of life story and expands into a full-fledged sci fi drama. It is directed by Saptaraj-Siva, Co- Written by Protiqe Mojoomdar and produced by Handyyman. The series is slated to launch soon on Sony Liv.