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Its always a numb feeling when one finishes a film. Although it is supposed to be my work, my profession, the last day of shoot is akin to the thrill of a ‘walk on the razors edge’ having come to an end.

It is like Robert Duvalls character in “Apocalypse Now” where he makes his way to bomb the battlefields of Vietnam to the accompaniment of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries not knowing whether he will come out of it alive , he walks on the battle scarred land, looks around him and comments “ I like the smell of ‘Napalm’…it smells of victory”.

One goes through gruelling schedules, days and nights of pushing oneself beyond all limits, setting up daunting goals, fighting against time all the time . But like a soldier who is truly breathing only when the smell of ‘ Napalm’ is around him, …

Pavan Kaul is extremely tied up in the release process of Bhram and sent in these videos.

The first is a 30 second sneak peek into Bhram, followed by the songs!

Sonu Song.. Jaane kyon

Teri aankhon ki narmi

Meri akhiyaan - Richa ( full song)

I am a bad boy

Jaane kaisa hai tu - Shaan

Don’t understand where to start with. Where does this urge to learn everything involved in film making comes from? Can I control it? Will it really help me in becoming a better director? Why does it keep bothering me? Why the heck I am writing this article? Am I trying to show off my mediocre skills or stupidity? Why do I have to convince people close to me that everything in life is predetermined? Why do these people have tough time understanding it? Why can’t we have acceptance in life? May be I am in a mood to ask too many questions today? But to whom? Don’t know? Please take it light it’s a part of journey of a film student.
Lets start. Cinematography is one of the things which captures my imagination..Lot of questions keep coming to me..Why the hell it is like this and has remained like this …

The journey of becoming a film maker has taken me to the initial milestone of becoming an assistant director (AD). The team of Ads is headed by Nitesh, who has been associated with Pavan Kaul in television and films, first assistant Himanshu, who has worked in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s Lage Raho Munnabhai and Eklavya. The rest of us Justin, Ravi, Prasad and myself are first timers. Justin has made a short and is also an editor, who has worked in advertisements/serials before. Ravi is from Delhi and has a few documentaries to his credit. Prasad might be a new comer, not sure of his experiences. To my surprise I realised this is the 4th film I am involved in some respect, learning the craft of film-making. The first being ‘Jo Bole So Nihaal’ where I was production assistant, then sort of a trainee/observer in the post production of yet to …

It took two days to erect larger than life sets on a beach in front of a bungalow in secluded Madh Island. The call time was 7:00pm and went on till the sunrise. It was an elite party set. It required tons of light to illuminate it. Even the coconut trees in the background were lit separately. 30-40 junior artists were called to represent socialites. As the night grew it became chilly. Pavan, Hiroo and other people had come prepared with fleece and jackets. Check out the pics. The actresses were given Shawls.

Some new thing I learned on the setsJ How would the lights show up, when the negatives are developed? How can you judge it during night scenes? Any guesses? I knew that at 24 frames per sec, the exposure time is 1/60th of a sec. May be I could write a separate …

The outsiders think of film industry as extremely risky, where the Stars make billions, while the others are left poor. There are so many money making businesses/professions involved other than acting or directing. One of them is renting out the gadgets used in the films in art department. On the sets of ‘Brahm’ there was a plasma TV, which costed 7000rs/day, a music system 5000/day, which were used for 8-9 days. So imagine after renting for less than a month the plasma is paid for. You make money selling it. Then there are people who have made fortune by just renting out the wood in films. There are caterers, security companies, editing/sound/mixing studios, etc.

A normal make-up artist charges anywhere between 2000-3000 rs/shift. A special makeup man was hired, who belonged to the ad/fashion industry. His charges were @16000rs/shift. Half a day was lost as he had an emergency situation …

‘Brahm’ would fall in Drama genre, with addition of thrill, suspense elements. Dino and Milind are playing the roles of brothers. Dino been the younger sibling. The elder brother is a demi God for the younger one. Sheetal, who is playing a super model, comes into the life of Dino. Her past takes a weird journey in a flashback, creating tensions in Dino’s relations with Milind and herself. Pushing the characters into an illusion.

Sheetal Menon is a model herself and has completed an acting course. Pavan was convinced Sheetal would be able to do justice to the role. Originally she belongs to Trichur, Kerela. Manglore is her mother’s native place. She grew up in Nasik. Now lives in Mumbai. Shirdi is a special place for her family. Her family often visits the temple to seek Sai Baba’s blessing.

On the sets, Pavan, Hiroo, Dino, myself and others discuss Cinema. From Hitchcock, …

{ oz note : here are more pictures from the sets of Bhram, taken by Manjit. Kartik was caught up in work at his office and couldn’t make it to the sets, the next day. So it was Manjit alone getting “all” the attention… Kartik may join Manjit shortly, as soon as his boss at work can give him some breathing space… Oh by the way a short film written by Kartik for his buddies at FTII has received wide appreciation, including from none other than Kundan Shah (this from Kartik’s text message)… Congrats Kartik }

Click on the pictures below to visit the Image Gallery…

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[ oz note : Pavan has been gracious enough to accept PFC's idea of blogging on his sets... it's another rare instance where bloggers are right there on the sets of a movie and blogging their experiences. Manjeet and Kartik having been running to Pavan's sets after their regular day jobs, because in Kartik's words... Pavan's tremendous passion for cinema is contagious and both he and Manjeet have been visiting the sets since the last two days... Manjeet has gone on a photo shoot overdrive... sending in truckloads of pictures that I now have to break his post up into two parts... will be loading more pictures that Manjeet took on the sets of Bhram tomorrow... if you guys have any questions regarding the shoot you want to ask anyone on the sets... please do comment in... ]

A hotel on Juhu beach, where Rajesh Khanna and Dimple got married is …