Miramar-based Ronak Kamat is a writer and director known for his documentaries, short films and writing work for OTT platforms. His short films like ‘Caazu,’ ‘Scars’ and ‘Bare’ have travelled to various film festivals across the world and won awards ‘Now, he has an entire season of the TV show ‘PI Meena’ where he is credited as a writer. ‘PI Meena’ is created by Arindam Mitra and directed by Debaloy Bhattacharya. It is written by Arindam Mitra and co-written by Ronak Kamat and Vipin Sharma. The Amazon Original series features Tanya Maniktala in the titular role, along with Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Jisshu Sengupta, Vinay Pathak, and Zarina Wahab in pivotal roles. The eight-episode series recently premiered exclusively in India and across 240 countries and territories worldwide in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada.
“It’s a special feeling especially because it’s for Amazon Prime. Ever since I was a child I always wrote which means, I was a writer long before I could ever direct anything. And writing is something I will always continue. Each of my films have also been written by me. In this case, I had the opportunity to write with a visionary showrunner in Arindam Mitra and a fabulous director in Debaloy Bhattacharya,” says Ronak, who met Arindam Mitra five years ago, when they started writing together. “I was very fortunate. But when the opportunity came, I gave it everything. Since it’s our first TV series, ‘PI Meena’ is very special to us,” adds Ronak.
Speaking about his experience working with Arindam Mitra and Vipin Sharma, Ronak calls it phenomenal. “TV shows are so vast and challenging to write that it’s always good to write with one or two other people. Since Arindam is the creator/showrunner, the ultimate vision was his. Vipin Sharma, who is a great actor, brought in a very special flavour with his experience. The mix turned out to be exciting.”
The TV series has been long time in the making. The genesis of the idea began four years back which was later delayed due to the pandemic. However, Ronak explains that the story was not inspired by Covid. “Since this story surrounds a virus, some people think it is Covid inspired but it’s not. We wrote about bio terror, viruses and a thrilling, real, female detective at the helm of the series, long before the pandemic. And I truly believe that the series is designed in a way that it is just as exciting and nail-biting now as it would have been a few years ago,” he explains.
He adds, “The story is entirely fiction but of course we had to do a lot of research to make sure we got things right. But at the base of it all, Arindam and Debaloy, are both from Kolkata. Their knowledge and understanding of the beautiful city and its culture is so deep that it formed a foundation for our storytelling.”
After years of hard work, finally to see his words come alive on the screen, Ronak calls it a surreal feeling especially considering it’s Amazon Prime and that it’s a worldwide release. “I think I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with such a fine list of actors, all of whom have done a remarkable job in ‘PI Meena’. I have to say I’m honoured by the thought of that.”
Ronak began his filmmaking journey with the documentary, ‘I Am Nothing’, which is an exploration of Vamona Navelcar as an artist and as a person. His 2015 short documentary film ‘Caazu’ tells the story of the traditional occupation of producing cashew feni in Goa. It was awarded the Best Documentary Award at the 2nd Rajasthan International Film Festival 2016. ‘Bare’ premiered at the Lift Off Film Festival in Toronto, in 2021, and has won four awards in India while also receiving an Honourable Mention at the Eastern Europe Film Festival, in Romania, in December 2022.
However, his film festival circuit experience is completely apart for the OTT platform experience. “Honestly, it’s very different from this. All the films I’ve made, that have travelled to film festivals have been written and directed by me. Each one of them, (maybe except for ‘Bare’, my last film) had very tight budgets and small crews. The two aren’t even remotely comparable,” he explains.
Born and brought up in Goa, Ronak misses home as he is now based in Mumbai but he does visit once in two months or so. He loves the flexibility of being able to do that. “I have a deep love and connection for Goa. It’s my home,” he adds. He is also still working on Goan projects, “I’m always working on a lot of ideas at once. There are a few projects based in Goa that are being written. But everything is in the nascent stages at the moment,” he says.
Ronak has already started working on his next projects which are in the pipeline. Unfortunately, he cannot speak about them in more detail. “At the moment, since ‘PI Meena’ has only just come out, all my focus is on this show. The response we’ve received has been great and also overwhelming. We are very proud,” concludes Ronak.
