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<\/p>\nThere is something cosy and nostalgic about rows of shelves lined with books, especially the ones with that delightful old-book smell and leather dust jackets. It reminds you of the simpler joys of life.<\/p>\n
Madan Kumar\u2019s Flying Dose Films, which aims to serve gari gari kathegalu (crisp stories), has captured this whiff of nostalgia in his micro-series on Instagram titled, In Between the Lines, through which he says he wants to experiment with light-hearted, relatable content. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis form is already prevalent in China and in the United States, and I wanted to try it here as well. There have been a few of them in Telugu and Hindi already.\u201d <\/p>\n
Micro-dramas or micro-series are short (no longer than two minutes), vertical video series. . \u201cThis format is caters to people who enjoy scrolling and watching reels,\u201d Madan, who is also the show\u2019s creator, adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Madan admits it is a challenge to ensure the content does not get lost amid millions of reels on social media. \u201cIt is easier to push sloppy content, as opposed to saying something worthwhile in under two minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
YouTube, Madan says is costly. \u201cIt is quite hard to gain visibility. Discoverability and growth is easier on Instagram because of the community.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
Abhiraj Dethe, who has directed this series, agrees. \u201cIt is tricky, but when the story is good, it holds. Even if someone starts watching from Episode 6 or 9, it should be enticing enough to take them back to Episode 1.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
The response to the series on social media has been quite good so far, Madan says. \u201cThe language alternates between English and Kannada. We initially received feedback about the language with some people saying it has too much English. But since it is set in a metropolis, I had to have a bit of English as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Promote the art of reading<\/p>\n
The irony is not lost on Madan when he says he wanted to promote books, through a micro series. <\/p>\n
Madan explores reading through the character of Bookworm, a bookstore on Bengaluru\u2019s Church Street. People walking into the bookstore, exchanging books and conversations, with old songs in the background, is what makes the series stand out.<\/p>\n
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\u2018In Between the Lines\u2019 explores a light-hearted love story between Dhruva and Tara
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Madan, who has also worked as the creative director for a documentary on Bookworm and its proprietor, Krishna Gowda<\/a>, says he wanted to promote the space. \u201cFor me, reading books is not limited to just buying them. Bookstores are a space to engage and build a community; I have tried to show that here.\u201d .<\/p>\n Abhiraj agrees. \u201cWe wanted to bring back that feeling of finding connection between pages instead of profiles.\u201d<\/p>\n In Between the Lines follows Dhruva (Aashith) and Tara (Teju Belawadi) after they cross paths in Bookworm. \u201cWe blended the ad structure and the emotions of a web series to concoct a breezy, light-hearted story,\u201d Madan says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 25-year-old Dhruva represents the younger generation who has never read a book in his life. A slightly older Tara, who is an avid reader, acts as a catalyst between the old and the new.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aashith, who is not new to Instagram reels, says it is interesting to see a character go through an entire arc in this format. \u201cThis content has a bigger reach.Amid so much content on Instagram, the fact that we are making our audience wait is exciting.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Teju, who has been seen in feature films such as Gantumoote<\/a> and Laughing Buddha<\/a> and the epic play Parva<\/a> (Prakash Belawadi\u2019s adaptation of SL Bhyrappa\u2019s Parva <\/a>says shooting for this format was exciting and hectic. \u201cI loved being needed for every second of the shoot. Any actor would want to be utilised to their fullest capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n After the series started airing on Instagram, Krishna says he saw a new set of customers come in, some of them even asking about the plot. <\/p>\n Madan, who plans to bring in more stories and explore complex relationships, says this format is more like a trailer and not the end.. \u201cIf I have to, I would try to shoot a series on Poornachandra Tejaswi\u2019s Parisarada Kathe or RK Narayan\u2019s Malgudi Days. A book captures the original thought of an author, and a micro drama is an evolution of that project.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The 22 episodes of In Between the Lines are available on Flying Dose\u2019s Instagram page, and six more will be released over the next couple of weeks.<\/p>\n Watch In Between the Lineshere.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Published – October 17, 2025 11:47 am IST<\/p>\n