Musings on a film-maker’s journey
Not that I am even quarter a film-maker, what triggered this post are some of my personal experiences & an interview I saw of Naseeruddin Shah on TV, which was a Chinese cracker to say the least. What man! what balls!!! Oops, before I take off on Naseer saab’s legend (it deserves a long exclusive post) let me stick to what I wanted to share. In the interview Naseer saab said one thing which had me dumbstruck – The first film of every film-maker is his BEST FILM. It’s a downward spiral then on. Of course he did acknowledged a few exceptions like Anurag Kashyap & Dibakar Banerjee, yet he stuck to his statement, lambasting legends, mincing no words. It was one of the best interviews I saw.
I have this minisicule filmography (short & corporate ones) & my first affair with film making being this promo that we made for Channel V. It has been the most adrenalin pumping experience for me (so far) as I did the tough guy act in it. Cheap thrills I tell you! LOL. We finsihed the film in 36 hrs flat & orgasmed. It couldnt be aired as the hero (your truly) was shown smoking, but hell, that’s where my filmi journey began. Cut back to Naseer Saab’s interview, he said that ‘Jaane bhi do yaaron’ wasn’t made, it made itself. What a statement! Well the promo we made – actually made itself. Aah coincidences…
Due to the darned interview, hoping against hope, what is concerning me is that I am on my way down. May be its too fucking early to press the panic button, but still, I will generally worry. Wink. Not just generally, but specifically as well. Let me explain. After the first short, we embarked on another attekpt & this time it was more ambitious & lengthier. 15 minutes actually. A short film about AIDS titled – Ashwamedha. It was for some contest for DD Hyderabad. Not sure if it was aired, but it was again an awesome experience.
Me & my pal Moksh teamed up again for this attempt & it was one of the most taxing schedules. It wasnt even worth calling it a shoe-string budget film, the BIG reason we could make the film is that a production house sponsored the equipment, in exchange for a mention in the credits. That’s it. We had to source everything else. We did & put together a short film that could be sent. That done, me & Moksh watched the film many times over & we had one common reaction. “Channel V waali baat nahi hai yaar!” I tried to debate, that one was chalk & the other was chicken, but deep down inside I knew something was missing.
Me & Moksh are still trying to figure that out, even though we are geographically challenged. How to be consistent (passion per se), is a challenge that faces me everytime I get an opportunity to call the shots. As I am in a client-oriented set-up, there are many times, I just give up. I had one extremely tough experience where I was on my own, doing a film for an automobile dealer. Now that film was all about ass kissing (not literally, LOL.) The dealer saying good things about the manufacturer & vice-versa. Oh my Lord CinemaIndra, I humbly pray to thee, spare me such experiences in the future. Not that I have many choices, but ummeed pe to duniya gol hai, is mein kitne jhol hai.
There are some stories that you have to tell & you will sell your soul to do that. Me & Moksh have our share of stories but thanks to our share of emosanal atyachar we have yet not decided to quit what we are doing & chase our celluloid dreams. We have to & we will, Insha Allah soon. I am just hoping & praying that next time we get together ‘Channel V wali baat honi chahiye yaar!’ And hey guys, please do give your feedbak on the promo. The nicer the better. LOL. Stay filmi oye!
Tags: Advertising, Channel V, Documentary films, Film making, magik, Moksh, short films
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
Magik, the link for the promo isnt working.
..
Anyway, now that you mention it here, I am actually thinking if this phenomenon is true. Back in college, I had a made a video to pitch for sponsorship for college fest to a famous cellular services provider company. Our batch was called MarCom and this video i made was a snapshot of what we are. So the theme was communication and i made it in flash, very basic. Anyway, the AVPs saw the video and then they accepted to pay 7 lakh to sponsor our college fest, they even kept my video. Then the next day he wouldnt even take my call. Years later i saw the same company’s famous ad similar to what i had made and given. That was my first video so to speak. I could never make anything as good as that one and i kept repeating its spirit in everything i did after that, one way or the other. Until this point, i never realized this could be true.
Inshallah You will rock. Btw, the link here is not working. But I have seen the stuff and I was mighty impressed with the sound.
Others can click on below link to see the video Magik is talking about.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7184397281350063693
yaar magik, that was so good yaar. they should have shown it.
I loved his comment on Kamal Hassan,
Kamal Haasan is remaking A Wednesday in Tamil and will be playing your part.
Okay, but why just mine? (Laughs) He should be playing all the parts.
Perfectly describes Kamal Hassan in one sentence.
http://www.barahaana.com/ saw this website.thought it should be shared.
Yups, the link doesn’t work Boy. Edit it.
@Folks, here is the link Magik is talking about:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7184397281350063693
@neeraj…
correct link is… http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7184397281350063693(just i played with URL and got it )
i think there is a problem in PFC comment part,comment itself are not displaying …may be comment section is not getting refreshed …
@Shatrughan, Because of high volumes on PFC, we have activated a 30 minute cache process, where every new post/comment can be viewed 30 minute after it has been posted.
@Magik – you forget to mention who was the lead actor of Ashwamedha…lolz.
@ NG: bro u r confirming my fears. hope we manage to pull off our filmi journey.
@Vee: bro, cant thank you enuff!
@AM: Thanks a lot. Even we thought so. but such is life. wink!
@ Ashu: wut wud we have done widout u. u were much more than just a lead actor. luv u oye!
@ Magik – Jokes apart dude, Channel V was an awesome experience. And all you folks, lemme tell you how it happened.
One day, magik came up with this idea for a channle V contest. He needed a rough tough guy as a gang leader…i suggested my frn sanju’s name…and thn i requested him if there is a role for me as well. He obliged me.
5 of us (except sanju, the guy who died in the film) – Me, Magik, the two goons and the cinematographer (Moksha) work in the same office. All of us chosen to go late for work. The shoot started at 6 in the morning and went till 12 noon. Post the shoot, all of us resumed to the work except Moksha. And next day when moksha came back with the final edit – it was a dream come true for all of us. We were sure that its gonna be a good outcome, but we were not expecting such a brilliant result.
We have seen the film for almost 139 times (of course with beer and Briyani)..and every time we saw it, it became more and more good.
I dunno why it was not aired…but as said by Magik…pehla pyaar laye jeevan me bahaar. It was an orgasmic experience, a never before.
I still have the uncut and unedited version (behind the scene) of the shoot.
Now the question arises – Who am I?…naah not Jackie chain. But the guy who chose to run, after seeing his boss dead. Lolz
And folks…its just one script which magik has written and u have seen…this guy has got amazing creativity. “Kreativity to keyrun me koot koot ke bhari hai”.
I remember working with him in my earlier ad agency – the moment i brief him for any ad, next moment he is ready with the headline. Some of his work has been appreciated by Bhaskar Kritikaar Award. And i shared a great on and off work kemistry with magik. Aaj bhi brief se pehle headline mil jaati hai (wink).
And the best moment was – Our creative director who scolded him for not showing up on time at office, proudly presented the movie in our annual general meeting. Whadda moment tht was.
Magik, it was one of the nicest experience…and as well said by you…the first film will always remain best.
My wishes are with you for your chosen career…Remember we have to be there at Filmfare awards 2010. Target set…so gear up. – Amen.
~ Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
@ Ashu: senti kar diya faale. may ballu RIP.
@Magik and Ashu – That was excellent dude’s!! Loved the background music in conjunction with the takes(just in layman terms…LOL). Magik, Im also wondering the yellowish/company-typish look really works for a subject like this. WAS Kick-ASS!! Just in the face, below the belt!!! What I am craving to know is who handled the camera and who did the editing part?
O Teri Ashu Bhai, Itne detail me toh Magik ne bhi nahi bataya. How can I see the uncut version?
@ Sridhar: thanks a million for the compliments & encouragement. The guy behind the scenes is my buddy & filmi collaborator – Moksha. Thanks to his persistence, the film is the way it is!
@ Vee: hang on to your horses, will try n arrange to show you the uncut version.
@sridhar – The man behind the camera, edit and sound was moksha of our dream company called “Magik n Moksha Productions”. Moksha is Mukesh Prajapati who was working with us as Multimedia Artist. Before getting into Multimedia and animation, he was involved in making short films and theatres. As his field “multimedia”..he was a multi-talented in true sense.
@Vee – thanks…for uncut version…send me ur address..i will courier you the CD.
@Magik – Senti to tune kar diya yeh post likh ke…how can i forget those days…
remember, we shot for ashwamedha at 3 in the night…skipping my improtant meeting for the movie the next day. Kya yaad dila diya yeh…
But wuderev next…saala Channel V jaisa hi hona maangta hai. Jai Ho !!
~Ashu Bhai MAPRM Wale
@Magik – Im a fan of Moksh now!!! Really!! And, I did read his name in all the posters in your album…..looks like you are the conceptualizer and Moksh the creater(Both Jhakaass)…you guys are looking good at this stage….again Im noone to certify…bas dil ki baat…
Let me know if you have any vacancy in “Magik n Moksha Productions”, I am ready to work for free
. I really hope you guys were in Hyd!!!
@Ashu – Thanks for the short intro on the ‘Guru’!
@ Sridhar: thanks bro. U just made my day. I swear wheneverwe meet, beer is one me. cineMaa ki kasam. Have conveyed your message to Moksh, even he is hopping with joy!
There are some who watch things happen…there are some who wait for things to happen…and there are some like ashu and keyrun who make things happen.
All the credit goes to you guys (Ashu, Keyrun, sanju, ballu, babloo).
Thanks for believing in us.
Oye Moksh… thanks oye! we hv a long long way to go!