Social drama Tabbar premieres today; Supriya Pathak discusses why her role as the mother was an intense character to play

Tabbar, the story of a retired policeman's family, his wife and two sons, set in Punjab, may come across as a simple tale at the beginning. Omkar (Pavan Raj Malhotra) and Sargun (Supriya Pathak Kapur) are parents to Tegi (Sahil Mehta), a good-for-nothing son, and Happy (Gagan Arora), who is an IPS aspirant. But when the drug peddling brother of a local businessman-politician gets killed at their house, that's when all hell breaks loose. Ajitpal Singh's directorial, created and written by Harman Wadala, is not any akin other narratives that have highlighted the drugs issue in Punjab. It's a story of relationships marred by a murder. It weaves in the social issues while staying true to the crux of the tale - the family that has to deal with dire consequences.

Supriya Pathak Kapur who plays the lively mother talks to Indulge about the show and its significance. Excerpts:

What drew you to the script?
I think it is a great story. It unfolds slowly making it an interesting and thrilling watch. It is something I haven’t done before, so I was really excited about it. Harman and Sandeep (Jain) have written it and have done a great job. Then when I first met the director I was amazed by his vision. We both seemed to be on the same page with Sargun's character and I thought it'd be great fun working with him. We connected for the show on a Zoom call and was a great working space to be in. That's how I decided to do this. And the role was very interesting.

Of late rural Punjab has been a topic explored in many web series, as an artiste what are your thoughts on this? Why this topic now?
I personally feel Punjab is a lively place and it has always got something happening around. It’s one of the most vibrant states of this country. The music in Punjab is fantastic, so are the people. These are one of the main reasons why people want to explore Punjab. Harman, the writer of the show and the director Ajitpal both come from Punjab so they know the region very well. When they were working on the creatives, you knew they know the region and everything was executed smoothly. That’s why I think they placed it here. I guess that’s the sole reason and also the story is universal. It could have happened anywhere.

You've played a mother in other projects as well but how different was it to play one in Tabbar?
The mother's character in Tabbar is very intense. Usually mothers roles have some amount of humour, and that balances the stress level but in this show it was different. There are several layers to the mother's character and I was anxious about performing well.

Do you think the OTT space is giving more scope to thought-provoking subjects?
OTT space is a great, great medium. We have been able to see different kinds of work and all kinds of stories. As makers, as creative people we are able to give something new to the audience to watch. Therefore, we are able to push ourselves to create more and better content.

What is the takeaway for the audience from the show?
I think it's a great and an interesting story. I haven't seen the entire show myself, so I'm not going to be able to really comment on what message it eventually gives, but I definitely do feel that it's a very watchable show and will be liked by everyone. The biggest USP of the show is that it can be watched by people from all walks of life.

Streaming on SonyLIV