Television shows are such an integral part of day-today entertainment for most of us. While we are aware, we probably don’t truly comprehend the magnitude of people involved and the effort that goes into it. Prince Duggal, a content producer from Mumbai, gives us insight into this world and highlights from his career.
Prince has been working in the industry since he was 18 and has accumulated around 16 years of experience. He has his own production house called Sher-O-Shaira and deals with content creation, production, and creative direction. His work consists of ideating with writers, developing stories and content, getting these stories written, pitching them to channels and production houses, and also assessing what kind of content is required by various networks.
Asked about why he went into this field, he jokes that it was possibly a combination of being bad at schoolwork and his liking of storytelling. Somewhere, he feels like he always knew that this is what he wanted to do. Of course, it helped that he grew up seeing his dad, Mukesh Duggal who was a producer, in the same field. Prince says, “I was always attracted to the industry, but didn’t know much about it. It was only when I was in my animation course that I realised the beauty of visual cinema.” Watching movies and critiquing them, along with his desire to express himself through the visual medium pushed him towards this career.
His entry into the industry was as an intern – all he really had to do was whatever the director and assistant director needed him to, which, a lot of the time, was getting tea and coffee. While this was a more laid back and fun period in his career, it was also where he realised that he needed to prove his worth. Especially since he didn’t come from a film institute, he had to start from the very bottom, without any handouts, and earn the trust and respect of his superiors.
A high point in Prince’s career came while he was working on a TV show, for which the channel needed a special episode delivered on an extremely short timeline. Because of this, no production house was willing to take up the project. Prince, despite the reluctance of his production house, took up the project and delivered a stellar episode that garnered praise from the channel and high ratings from audiences.
His biggest takeaway from his career, he says, is the realisation that you don’t need a big budget to put out a good show. He worked on Savdhaan India, a show that ended up developing a cult following for a while, from the very beginning. The show had a minimal budget, which forced the team to really focus on the story. “Sometimes with a big budget, you can get distracted by how to spend it and what visual treats you can provide,” he remarks. You can’t rely on money or be disheartened with a smaller budget. In fact, a tighter budget could help you focus on creative ways of getting the story out.
To anyone wanting to enter the field, he advises that you need to be prepared to really work, without trying to take shortcuts. You will probably have to slog in your initial days, but that will also be when you will meet the people who will make the most impact on you. Equally important is to not judge yourself based on one bad day. A low point in Prince’s career was when a show that he had been working on for a year got stopped right before shooting it because the channel was shutting down even before it started. Naturally, this was devastating but he says that he had to get up and get going again. The industry does not always provide job security and you need to be prepared to keep moving on. Be grounded, don’t let small achievements get to your head, work everyday as if it was your first day and be loyal to your work and your team.
Prince considers himself lucky to be at a comfortable point in his career right now, where he can afford to pick and choose his projects and not work for the sake of it. He’s currently working on a comedy web series for Sony Liv while also setting up his production house.
