Natasha Malpani Oswal’s tragicomic Cancelled chronicles online bullying

Natasha Malpani Oswal's Cancelled touches upon the topic of online bullying 
Natasha Malpani Oswal
Natasha Malpani Oswal

Natasha Malpani Oswal likes telling genre-bending stories of the ‘New India’ and her productions strike a chord more with the millennial and the GenZ as she brings to the fore relatable topics. The creative head of Boundless Media has already made a mark with her two projects – Unseen and Objectified and her new series Cancelled on YouTube touches on topics like mental health, sexuality, body image and especially online bullying. The Mumbai-based forward thinker tells us more about what went into the making the tragicomedy and more. Excerpts:  

What was the thought behind Cancelled?

At Boundless Media it’s all about telling stories of a new India. Everything we do, whether it’s series or film its genre-bending and appeals to Gen Z and the millennial. While the content is entertaining, we add an element of social commentary in our stories. I want people to not just relate to it and love it but also reflect upon the story and the characters and situations closely.

Tell us more about the characters of Cancelled.

The story is about three Gen Z teenagers who are now forced to live at home because of the pandemic. They want to portray a different picture of themselves on social media. So, there is Anusha, our main character, who seems very confident but in reality, she is very insecure. Then there is Rishab who appears to be macho and has a girlfriend but he is confused about his sexuality. Our third character is a gamer who questions taking up academics when he can earn by playing games. However, the story goes beyond that and takes up the important topic faced by us all – online trolling.

So, these three characters come online because a social media influencer has been trolled becoming a victim of the cancel culture. The trio takes on the cancel culture and tries to protect her but the online world bleeds into their offline world. The tragedy-comedy seeks to answer questions like How does it feel getting bullied? Who draws the line in the virtual world? and Who is right and who is wrong? 

How relatable was it for you?

I guess we all would be able to relate to it as we all have faced it. It questions our validation from the strangers in the virtual world. Also, we all have been a victim of online bullying so that’s easily relatable.

What’s next?

We are working on different projects for different mediums. For instance, we have a couple of films for international film festivals. Then, we have a dark comedy, a fantasy show and an animated film as well.

Related Stories

No stories found.
Indulgexpress
www.indulgexpress.com