Mumbai, Apr 26 (IANS): Filmmaker Jayprad Desai, making his digital debut with the web series 'Hutatma', which is based on the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, says he has attempted to tell a fiction derived from reality.

The Samyukta Maharashtra movement, which started in 1956, led to carving out of the state of Maharashtra from the (then-bilingual) State of Bombay on 1 May 1960.

'Hutatma', which releases on the OTT platform ZEE5 on May 1, is loosely based on Meena Deshpandey's book of the same name.

Asked about his research for 'Hutatma' Desai said, "We have done extensive research and read most of the works, including real life accounts, that have been written about the movement."

Remarking that fiction is an extension of reality, he said "Our attempt was to understand the reality of that time. Thus, we tried for a story that went beyond the clash of political ideologies."

The show features celebrated Marathi cinema actors like Anjali Patil, Vaibhav Tatwawaadi, Abhay Mahajan, Ashwini Kalsekar, Mohan Agashe and Sachin Khedekar.

Said Patil, who plays one of the lead characters, "The script was so well researched and layered that I did not have to work hard. In fact, I felt fortunate to work with a director like Desai."

Apart from opening opportunities for innovative content, the absence of censorship on the digital platform also offers a certain freedom to storytellers. Desai believes storytellers must be more responsible with their content in such a situation.

"We are evolving as a society and becoming more responsible while practicing our right to freedom. We should be doing more self-censorship than just following the censorship rules. Slowly we should be moving towards something that is not dictated," he said.

"That does not mean I am supporting anything outrageous. I understand there is a possibility of things getting misused. That's why we all have to be responsible," said the director, who earlier directed Marathi film 'Nagrik'.