My first short film idea
Ever since I became addicted to PFC, i found myself drawn to the idea of watching and enjoying short films. Small in duration, but armed with the same ammunition of the mega cinema, short film to me is like a hand grenade. Compact, low range, yet highly explosive.
With this thought in my mind, I was trying to come up with a good short film idea or concept. I made up my mind that before I can discuss the idea, I have to e convinced first. I have to be “convinced” emotionally more than “intellectually” or “logically”. Hell I have a handycam and looks like I wont be needing anything more. But how to hit at a good idea? Handycam cannot produce an idea. Atleast not the model I have.
So I thought of reading more to get an idea. I learnt to only appreciate ideas. I read and reread some short stories of Jeyakanthan. Again, I found myself like the woman in white in the William Blake’s Red dragon painting. All in awe and dumbstruck at the red dragon. Speechless and importantly “idealess”, I dropped the idea of reading to get more “ideas”.
So in this hopeless situation, my idea , my “wow” moment happened today. Of all days, it had to be today. The day when I was at my most frustrated best. A day when the god damn gas cylinder at house was leaking. A day when I had to get that damn thing called “regulator” replaced in local gas office before rushing off to a “stop-start-stop” journey inside my Maruti Alto on a 25 KM long, but 2 hour drive in manic Bengaluru traffic.
So it was destined. I was waiting, as usual, but in a more irascible mood for a lamp to turn green at Hebbal signal. As usual there was a eunuch trying to cough up money from me and all curses for me after my refusal. So it was one more signal and one more 3 minute wait. So I thought. Righ next to me there was a muslim family on motorbike. I couldn’t see the husband’s face as it was under a helmet with dark tint glass and wife whose face too I couldn’t see as it was behind a purdah (so my guess that the couple was musilm is attributed to the purdah, though I have heard of stories in chennai where girls riding with their lovers masquerading themselves in a borrowed purdah). Enter the scene a beggar girl, who was carrying a garlanded “Hanuman picture” asking for small change.
I carry small change in car to give to such beggars in Bengaluru. This time, owing to my frustration at the delay, pollution and the curse of the eunuch, I shooed this little girl away, without any 1% sympathy which I usually have reserved when I am in good moods.
Now the girl, feeble she was and unable to even give me a glare of anger or the curse that the eunuch was able to serve in plenty, promptly moved to her next customer who happened to be the muslim couple. I was wondering, whether the girl is in her minds to go to them with a picture of hindu God in her hand. To my astonishment, the muslim woman took out a 5 Re coin and gave it to the girl, not before patting her with sympathy and exchanging a few kind words.
Here I was locked inside a maruthi car not responding either to the picture of maruthi or to the poor little girl growing smaller by every massing millisecond. There next to me were a muslim couple who looked more like Ram and Sita to me at that instant.
My minisculement and their enlargement was thankfully broken by that edison’s invention changing its colours and the traffic on my side coming alive in full roar. I was now on full speed in my Maruthi with my exclamation of having experienced “a great idea” slowly eclipsing my guilty conscious.
So this would be my next writing project and Maruthi only knows when this would translate into light and sound.
Jai Shri Ram!!
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
Your creativity is already flowing in the post. All the best!
VP,you got a sign..so now its upto you how fast you materialise it..good luck
VPJ, you already have the words “jai ganesh” in your name.. you don’t need any more of a sign to start this up as a script. your words are strong and they flow well together.. go for it and best of luck!
btw, i love short films too.. had done a post on them earlier in fact.. don’t mean to self-promote, but here’s the link for your reading pleasure..
http://passionforcinema.com/size-doesnt-matter/
LOL @ Striker… “VPJ, you already have the words
It’s just a speculation of yours that the family was muslim,they might be not because I have witnessed in many cities like Pune,Bhopal and Bengluru too that ladies cover their skull and face completely,but you can make that family a non-hindu one.And yes apathy towards small underprivileged gal will be a good idea to portray.U might have watched traffic signal,it can be a inspiration.
Jai jai shree ram !!