Live Your Dream
Is it easy?
You ever had a dream which you gave up for a living?
Can you still make it?
I remember a show which I watched with Anupam Kher as host.He was actually mingling with the common man on the street searching for their lost dreams and looking for ways to inspire them to relive it.I dont remember the name of the show,think it was Mr Gold or something.
Somehow I used to watch that show regularly.I always loved reading success stories of people , their struggling day incidents and how they eventually made it.Nagesh Kukkonoor wrote an article on this,the way he was self motivated to leave his BIG job in US,come back to india and struggle to make hydrebad blues.
I wrote the first draft of Passenger (www.passengerthemovie.net) in 2003.I never thought of directing it myself.I wrote for television before.But that was more of a writers medium.I could do whatever I wanted within the limitations of a budget.Movie was totally different.It was and it had to be a directors medium.
The script was rejected by almost all leading film makers here as it was too risky to make it.I realised if I wanted to see passenger on screen I would need to direct it myself.
I had realised that making passenger was the most important part of my life at that point of time.There seemed no point in living without making it or atleast be in the pursuit of making it.
I decided to learn direction to make Passenger.I spend the past 3 years visiting movie sets and watch other directors work using some of the contacts I had.It was tough days but what kept me going was the excitement of seeing passenger on screen some day.
I felt confident that I was ready to direct in 2007.I approached all the leading producers with the Passenger script.Again no one was ready to make it, as it was a huge risk.
So I had a script I believed in, but no producers, distributors, actors.. absolutely me alone. I knew I had to make a start somewhere. I remember it was during one of those sleepless nights I realised I could produce passenger myself.
Well I was not a multimillionaire to do it, but I could very well raise the amount from banks against my salary and against couple of properties I had bought by then. The best part was that my family supported me completely in it. They must have realised how important it was for me.
I met veteran actor Sreenivasan with the script to play the role of Sathyanathan. I told him I will produce and direct the movie. He heard the script and said it was excellent. I asked him whether he would act as Sathyan. He smiled and said that he will not only act in this movie but will stand by me to make it. We parted after a chat for an hour.
It was busy next day for me, approaching banks for loans. I was driving to HDFC that I got a call from Sreenivasan. He asked whether I was particular that I produce passenger. He said it would be difficult for me to focus writing, directing and producing a first movie. He offered to arrange me a producer. I was pleasantly surprised. I was not alone anymore.
Rest was easy. The best part was that evryone who joined us in the project loved and believed in passenger as much or more than I did. We got each and every actor whom we wanted to every particular role. It was dream casting. You cant actually plan it. Its luck. It happens for some movies which are destined to have it.
Passenger was one such movie.
Today Passenger is declared a hit by the trade and is crossing 50 days in all major release stations in kerala.Its being well received across south india,UAE,US,Australia and NZ . Its projected as the movie which could change malayalam cinema. Or atleast a beginning to it.
I am getting calls from film makers,critics,professors,house wives,college students,auto drivers,painters who all have enjoyed and touched by passenger in same wavelength. I am getting calls from media houses saying they are taking up the marketing of Passenger as this is a movie which deserves it. I am getting calls from editors of magazines saying they are planning cover stories on passenger in their next issues.
Each one of the reviews that came out has been positive
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/05/29/stories/2009052951030100.htm
http://sify.com/movies/malayalam/review.php?id=14886494&ctid=5&cid=2428
http://movies.rediff.com/review/2009/may/08/review-passenger.htm
http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/6435/malayalam/passenger/2138/review.htm
http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/review/10961.html
http://www.zonkerala.com/magazine/passenger-review-56.html
Feels great.
What I set out to make is a movie which primarly satisfies me.Now it has become a movie of the masses as well as the class audience.What more can a newcomer ask for?
Dream on guys.
All what you need is the will to follow it relentlessly, passionately.
Nothing can stop you from getting there.
Live your dream!
Tags: Making, Malayalam, Passenger
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
First of all congrats on achieving your dream!
Nice write up Ranjit. Thanks for the inspiration for wannabes like me. Havn’t seen Passenger, waiting for it to come to LA area.
By the way, PFC guys, shouldn’t this article be on the exclusive section?
Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears
Sing with me, if its just for today
Maybe tomorrow the good lord will take you away
KUDOS MAN…A BIG ONE
@ Ranjith -
welcome aboard PFC.I’m happy to have played a small role in this respect
and yes I liked Passenger and came to know your struggle from your blog.great to have you here.look forward to more posts from you.
editors-please shift this to exclusive section.
@Ranjith – Welcome to PFC!!!
Congrats to you on your success.
Please do write more on how you expanded on your idea to a full fledged script? Did you collaborate with anyone else on the writing part?
@Ranjith
Very nice, humble and honest post!!! hope to catch your film in hindi!! All the very best for your upcoming ventures… Keep living your dream :-)
@ranjith: firstly, congrats on the movie being declared a hit. its always a struggle for first timers and especially if u are from outside the industry.
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i think if we find one person[from the industry] who believes in our story/script, then half the problem gets solved. as in your case sreenivasan played that catalyst. finding such a person is where the difficulty lies becasue lots of people just discourage you, dont even bother to read the story/screenplay and comment negatively etc. its a closed circle of people and breaking through that is the biggest hurdle. i am glad you and many others like you have done so, thereby providing inspiration to guys who nurture such dreams. congrats once more and good luck for many more to come
sethu,
jaiganesh,
sure maybe the next one.no there was no collaboration.but there were lots of discussions with cast/crew which produced instinctive changes.
happy go lucky,labor day,bhavesh,
Thanks
2003 unh? Was it conceived that way back? I remember u sharing the thread sometime in the fall of 2004 with all of us at forumhub.
EO, Raghu, lalthebest, Arun, Shani, Jom and the rest of us cynics.
Nice read this. ‘There’s a story behind every journey’ alle? I know a part of it. Feels Good.
- destinys_cousin (DC)
@ Ranjith: this is zimbly amazing, as my sweetheart lola kutty would say. ;-) a very warm welcome to pfc and thank you so much for sharing this very inspiring and motivating story of yours. it was like watching ‘luck by chance’ again , only devoid of the song n dance. u have earned yourself another fan, though i havent seen the film and dunno when or where to see it, may be when the dvd comes out, with the english subtitles, i shall, for sure, see passenger. all the very best for your next venture.
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@ sethu: bro pfc owes you this. thanks. :-)
@Magik… I guess the movie is playing in Bangalore in case you can watch it without subtitles:)
Though am a mallu, haven’t watched a mallu movie for long. May be I will catch it up this weekend.
Dream on!!!
Very inspiring boss! Is this going to release in Mumbai with subtitles?
@ Cherish: thanks for the info. :-)
DC,
grt to see u again.r u the same DC in FK?
Thanks Marik,cherish
Yes you can catch it in blore this weekend if u wish to.
varun,
We are planning a small release in mumbai this month end for the malayali population there.Dont think it will be subtitled by then.
sorry, but cudnt resist this:
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‘Agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho toh saari kaynat tumhe usse milaane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai’
- Om Prakash Makhija
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LOL.
@Ranjith…its a wonderful journey indeed..congratulations..havent seen it yet…will see it definitely when I go to Kerala next week…and give you my feedback as well.. :-)
@Magik…first time read this was in ‘Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho…’If you really desire something, the entire universe will conspire for it’ or similiar stuff…then it found its way to Hollywood and finally Bollywood through Makhija.. now in PFC through Magik…
Thanks Ram.
Magik,
Yes i realised that during the making of passenger as well.If your vision is clear and honest u will certainly find people lending support.
I HAVE NO WORDS…MAY BE I AM AN EMOTIONAL GUY …..MY EYES ARE A BIT WET…….I JUST SAY..BRAVO COZ I KNOW HOW A PERSON FEELS IN HIS JOURNEY TO REACH FINAL…GR8
Anupam Kher’s programme is Ariel Mr. Gold.
Hey Alchemist, your story is a real inspiration. Your movie is so refreshing. You didn’t recycle 20-30 years old story & pander to stars or fool the viewers by making a film for fans any actor. Yours may be the 1st Malayalam film that shows IT in a positive light. And, you too are so accessible in online social networks & even replying to sms
Only 1 request, please don’t ever lose that humility.
I’d like to share a incident with you that an experienced journalist friend told me: She went to meet a young director when he was doing post-production work of his 2nd film. He kept claiming that his 1st film (lowly comedy) was a modern classic & kept dropping names of Italian & Korean directors.
Hope you never become like that. :P
Wish you the Best
Thats touching deepak.
Thanks Ravi,it indeed was Mr.Gold
Gattu,
Will defenitely try:)
Wow, this should perhaps be the one of the best days of my life. I watched Passenger quite recently and was totally bowled over by the screenplay. and now I logged in here after a long time and here you are. The first half was too good and I just loved the way you linked both the stories, but I did find the second half a little over the top. But the flaws/loop holes in the second half is totally negligible when you consider the quality of the movie as a whole. and lol, you also managed to give Nedumudi Venu sir a totally different role.
It is definitely one of the best malayalam movies to have released ever since year 2000. Looking forward to more such changes from you in the future. and please please please, do not get succumbed to the pressures from the super stars. Its time they realised that the script is the hero. We have had enough of hero worship. The Malayalam industry needs people like you; please live our dreams too.
Welcome aboard sir,kudos to you…very inspiring really…you made my day….
feeling great to reading this…..it is an example to live the dream….you have boosted my moral…thanks a ton.
Thanks Vimmu,
I will defenitely try.
Shatrugan,bimbisar,
thats cool.keep working towards it.
crazyrals,
believe me ,u will always find that one man if you have that burning desire,if u never give up,if u have that belief..
it may take time,but u will defenitely see ur day..
take it from me.
Thanks a lot for this sir…I have been convinced about one thing which has been in my mind for some days…attaching a bankable actor to a script.
If he would like to see himself doing your character on screen, he would certainly see to it that it happens.
Thanks again! Hope to meet you someday in the future.
Ranjith- It was great reading about your movie. Please do write more about various aspects of the movie and your efforts. Thanks.
All the very best to you jibin.
Dazed,
will do.
Congrats Ranjith !! I wish one day everybody on PFC gets to write such a post …
@ saurabh: bro, ghee-shakkar in ur mouth, followed by any daru of ur choice.
@ranjith: self-belief is the most important thing, as you pointed out. but everybody has a breaking point, some people give up faster than others. u have fought well and did not let the flame die, thats appreciable.
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do write more about your experiences of meeting various people, trying to convince them, some adjustments that you have had to make etc
crazyrals,
some stuff i did to keep myself in it.
1.Took up a job in kochi(more like mumbai of bollywood)so that i could be in touch with people.I took up a job and firm which will allow me time to pursue my dream
2.Took up offers from televison when movies were not happeneing.
3.Stopped writing for television when I felt it was killing my writing itself writing endless soaps.Job again helped since i dint had to write for money.
4.Decided this is the movie I wanted to make and wanted to take it one step forward each day,every day from 2003.
5.It was tough,forget days,months passed with nothing happening.When frustrations creep up I simply used to give some job interviews in some of the best IT firms in India.I made sure I cleared those interviews every time.It somehow gave me a high when I refused all those financially tempting offers and rejuvenated my spirits to make passenger every time.
6.I told myself I would rather be doing my small job and be in the pursuit of my dream rather than be in US,sitting in a posh bunglow unhappy.
7.I did not wanted to look back at my life at 50 yrs and regret if I did that at 30 life could have been that.I made sure I did whatever I could at 30.
7.Happiness is the most important thing in life.It gave me happiness even being in the pursuit of it rather than settling to easy options in life.
nice post ranjit,
nice to see lot of guys coming with gr8 movies, 99 from krishna and now passenger from you…will wait for a DVD release as i cant understand malyalam :(…any chance of remaking it in hindi/tamil/telugu???
@ Ranjit-
Well whatever you’ve mentioned in your comment to Rals in terms of how you went about pulling yourself up is very commendable.Hope many others are able to replicate whatever you’ve done in some way or the other.
Prasanth,
We are currently in the talks for remakes.It could work out.
Great stuff, Ranjith.
May the dreams never run out.
@ranjith: thats really appreciable!
turning down mnc jobs with good pay…wow! truly amazing and inspiring…hats off to u for all the pains that u have undertaken to make this movie and live ur dreams …
rals,
if u have the real desire,u will find whatever job,whatever pay,whatever life least important.
If you dont have it you move on.
thats the truth.
@ranjith…
read about u and passenger in the Hindu supplement. Great to see you here!!
Rock on…
btw are u still based in cochi?
@ranjit
read your comments @ 32…i feel the next movie from you can be your own story
DPac,
Tx,yes am n kochi
Prasanth,
I actually am very excited on the story of srk,from delhi to the biggest indian superstar,hockey,love,heartbreaks,movies,success,
very exciting.!
Congrats Ranjith Shankar. Its a nice piece of work.
Was there a drastic change in plot while rewriting over the years? Or was it that the basic structure and direction of events remained the same from the first draft itself?
Great post,while reading this post i came to know that your are director of the movie, everybody in kerala is talking about your movie.
Looking forward to catch it in Mumbai.Hopefully you will be flying down to mumbai for screening.
Thanks once again to keeping alive our hopes that malayalam industry will returns to it’s glory.
Brilliant post Ranjith!!
Hoping to see your movie in Hindi, as a dubbed version or a remake.
Very inspiring, Ranjith. Thanks for sharing your story, and hope to catch the subtitled version in Mumbai
V inspiring and congos !
larva,
there obviously has been changes over the years,but the basic structure has remained the same.
usher.nitin,kenny,uddav,
Thanks..its releasing in mumbai in 9 screens on 9th july.
@Ranjith,
First of all congratulations for your first movie. Before reading your blog, there was a buzz around that an I.T professional has made this movie. Being an I.T professional and wanting to be a filmmaker someday I really cherished your blog and just hoped one day I would be writing the same thing! Don’t know when!
Am anxious to know are you still professionally an I.T professional or have you switched to full time filmmaking.
All the best for your future ventures!
Regards,
Suraj
Inspiring. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
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Ranjith Bhai i have not enough words to thank you for writing and sharing this. But i must tell you that u have shown me the path (and to many others probably). Personally, i was just beginning to lose my way in the dense forest of complications of life. Thanks for illuminating the way. Thanks for making me feel young again at 30!
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Heartiest Congratulations!!
May the force be with you..
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Good luck suraj.
Thanks Subashish
rolf,
Thats wonderful to hear.Keep it going.You are going to make it some day.And 30 is really young man:)
Hi Ranjith,
Have been following Passenger pre release updates thru forum kerala.
Was always looking fwd to how ur movie wud shape and how it wud be received. Cannot express the over whelming emotions that I felt when the movie was appreciated and declared a hit. I am totally able to relate with what you might have felt before, during the making of the movie.
There are lot of people even today who are like how you were couple of years back. I would request you to be the helping hand and guide, which you never had, to these people.
There could be among them, some real talent, who could take malayalam movies to greater heights.
All the best. Hoping you will make movies which will be remembered for generations to come!!!
That was touching sreejith
Hi Ranjit…bravoo…
last saturday… ma friend from cochin called me…he was really ecstatic…
after a long time we got to see something ‘refreshing”” its too good man…he just came out of ‘passenger’…
we are eagerly waiting to watch..cud u please let me know..when its realising in mumbai….
all da best…keep rocking..
love.
Ranjith, I’m happy for you . . .
9th july ranjith.
thanks salik.
GR8 WORK RANJITH. all the best
seems like good times r back..bhramaram reviews r very positive.
Hi Ranjit
I have a question to you about the script format in malayalam cinema. Never got a chance to have a look at one. I know that hindi cinema scripts are written in the same format as in hollywood. What about malayalam? And how many pages does typical scripts run? How long was passenger?
Thanks Ram,
Passenger is 2 hrs HGL.
Your relentless passion was aided by one major stroke of good luck.. that Mr. Srinivasan agreed to help produce the film for you. There was no looking back thereafter. We are all looking for our Srinivasans too :-)