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It was July 2001 I Remember… Yunusbhai (Art Director DCH) came and told me that he spoke to Kalpana and she said “sorry we already have 14 ADs and there is no place to even stand in the office”….He said, “Maine apni taraf se koshish kar li, ab main wapas nahin poochhoonga. Ab tum jaa kar directly PK se baat karo. Thodi uski taareef wagere kar do, shayad maan jaay” I said “theek hai…..Okhli mein sar diya to moosal se kya darna ?”

Well Yunusbhai is a pretty well known Art Director of among the ad film makers, who works with the creams of the industry…..A very senior guy with milky white hair, moustache and White kurta pajama…..I knew Younusbhai thru Harish Amin (Production Manager DCH, Namesake) who lives in my building and am seeing him since my chaddi days but dint have idea what is he into…..One day I came to know that Harish has been invited for the premiere of DCH… I was 19 yr old boy, watching films and award shows and telling myself, one day all this will be mine, without having a shit technical knowledge of filmmaking….I was nothing more than a hardcore determined, dreamer teen….I went to Harish and asked his role in DCH and I was quite surprised that he was the sole production manager of the film…he asked me what am good at and I said am an illustrator as I was student of commercial art those days….He said, ok terko bolta hoon!….second day he gave me Yunusbhais no. and that’s how I met Yunusbhai.

I remember the first day I met younusbhai ….a 60+ yrs old art direction legend was talking to a teenager with so much of respect and politeness….we talked a lot about recent films of those days…Lagaan, Gadar, DCH and some of his old days….first day and 5 hrs of chat and chai…I was over excited….suddenly younusbhai asked me, tum direction mein kyon nahin jaate? I was so overwhelmed by hearing tht fuck am I so good in films?….he works with tons of directors everyday, spent his whole life into films….the next line was, chaaho to main baat karta hoon tumhaare liye, wo Kalpana(Prahlad Kakkars chief) meri khaas dost hai….it was a dream for me, a big dream…i was a very small boy…had a very hard life…

So back to the start…am sorry for my poor writing or English, my post keeps changing its lane!….so there was some genuine vacancy problem and they were overflowing…Yunusbhai had sincerely spoken but even they couldn’t help…& I was again where I was earlier…i dint want to give up as I was in a trip…I printed my CV and went to concord studio, Andheri…

Prahlad Kakkar is famous as PK, he also owns PK Cigar Company….well he is not only an adguru, but also a man who has got encyclopedic knowledge about filmmaking….i know people call him a ladies man, a socialite, show shine guy, chamdichor whatever….but before ppl call him anything, he calls himself a woman lover…lives his life king-size…he actually makes life of his assistants bcoz he literally teaches filmmaking as a faculty….his ADs include many adfilmmakers, mainly Rakeysh Mehra and his wife(Dir. Aks, RDB), Mahesh Mathai(Dir. Bhopal Express), Atul Kasbekar, Mahesh Hiremath, Tanushree Chatterjee, Sujaat Sahukar etc…..i was not interested in any other things about him apart from film making…those were the days when pepsi and coke were having miserably cheap cola war. Coke was using thumps-up n sprite whereas pepsi was using aquafina or mountain dew for their cola-war. PK was man behind pepsi those days….they were shooting a spoof of thumps-up that day….thumps-up had TVC with bald Salman and Sushmita against pepsi…PK and team were making its spoof by using salman lookalike and some comedians….the hilarious concept was ‘toofani anda’ against ‘thumps up toofani thanda’….

Well I reached studio around 1.30 in the afternoon I remember….there wasn’t call for lunch…PK was in very bad mood…he was furious over his AD team…he was roaring hard….his appearance and voice still reminds me Aslan from Narnia…he used to fire his team like gabber singh in his entry sequence…8 ADs were standing with heads down…the sin was, they had wasted one and a half hour for a 5 mins job by changing lights, props and some model coordination fuckups…fir jo PK ne sabki maa behen lee, I was shit scared…I remember just after finishing with his ADs he fired a model who was standing bare chest and not performing well… hey you, what the fuck are you here for…are u here to show me your tits??….the shit silent studio started giggling, looking each other….everyone was smiling inside like anurags dialogue from shool, “ham mann mein has rahe the bhaiyyaji”!!!

Well hrs passed by and I kept waiting for PK calling for pack up……sitting at a corner…thinking abt every possible question which Prahlad can ask me and what will be my answer to it…blaming all the ADs who were still mistaking and causing delay for pack up….some even asked me who I am…and I kept telling that am from set department (thank gawd they dint gave me any setting job to do)… the shooting schedule was crossing its limit …ppl had dinner, I stood hungry as I had some 30-40 bucks in my pocket and my head was bursting….i was in a trip, I cudnt give up…passionate to the core….all the fear or anxiety to speak to PK vanished as the time passed…

Finally!!!! at 3.15am, PK called packup!!….aaah…sigh of relief…I had passed my test of patience with distinction….14 hrs of wait just for a meeting…it still gives me goosebumps whenever I recall it….i forgot the pain of those hrs because i was finally getting to meet him…well i started brushing my clothes and clearing my throat. I saw PK talking over his cell and going towards washroom so i waited for 10 mins…he dint turn-up….i dared to ask an AD where he is…….and he simply said…“Prahlad is gone!”….it wasn’t a shock for me, it was a kind of mild attack I survived…..ise kehte hain pair ke neeche se zameeen khisakna…..my eyes got wet and my ears became warm….in 30 secs. I was shivering and dripping with sweat. It was a big RDX explosion in my head and I started screaming inside. I dint want to believe that I lost him, but I had…14 hrs of wait gone into shit…I went out of my senses…I was so furious at that situation that if I wouldn’t have had any saviour, I would have had emotional or mental breakdown and could have given my life….that was an emotional kid…

I came out of the studio…almost in tears…then I heard a voice, “you want us to drop you on the way somewhere?, we have some extra space and it too late”,….ek asha ki kiran, a huge ray of hope…..Kalpana, PKs chief, the one Yunusbhai had spoken with…huge bcoz shez lil plump;o)…I think she was my destiny that day, a lovely human being, how generous of her…the whole experience was filmy….andhaa kya maange, do aankhein…..I said “please” and sat at the front seat with driver in their white coloured ambassador…Kalpana and PKs scriptwriter MAX were sitting at the back seat…I was unknown to them and they were talking to each other about next shoot….
suddenly Kalpana asked me: “what were you here for?”
I looked at her and said:…aa…actually I wanted to meet Prahlad
Kalpana: what for?
Me: I wanted to speak to him..
Kalpana: about wot?
Me: I wanted to join him?…actually I know yonusbhai, your art….
Kalpana: oooo so you are the one!!!!…so did you speak to PK..wot did he say ???
Me: …no….i waited for him long but he went from some back door..
Kalpana: oh…since how long you were here
ME: 1.30.
Kalpana(Zapped!!): 1.30!!!!!!!!!!!!!…r u crazy???…you waited so long to talk to him….its almost morning???…(to MAX) this fellow waited till late night for PK!!!(both in shock)
Me: I know….but bad luck may be…
Kalpana: Don’t worry…you can work for us…but we don’t pay to trainees..
Me: money is not a problem…am ok with it
Kalpana: fine…but u cant be part of Genesis (PKs production house)….I had told Yunusbhai about our vacancy problem….we already have 14 ADs…you will be informed about the shoots and you have to directly report at the location!
Me: Thank you…thanks a lot!!
Kalpana:…come tomm at 8.30…same location

I wasn’t part of their office that means I wont learn about preproduction. But i was happy, entry to ho gayee!!!…I was on cloud 9…patience pays big-time …my patience dint betray me….at that moment, it felt like winning a war…a triumph!….i reached home at 4 in the morning and I had to getup again at 7….and this kid couldn’t sleep due to excitement!!

Well first day of my filmmaking….ready…roll sound, roll camera, and action!!!….I cant forget that day….I was looking for Kalpana and I found her delegating her junior ADs. She introduced me to everyone there…………Now the best part!….she took me to Mr. Joel n his wife Gemma….some real gem of personalities in film industry….every trainee is like their child…Kalpana told me, “listen Ashish these guys are left and right hands of PK. Without them he is a handicap…now onwards you will be in their custody”…and it was true…I have seen PK screaming, JOEL!!!!!!!!!!!…and he used to appear like a superhero zooop zooop zooop, answering, YES PRAHLAD!!….i have seen him becoming a ghoda in dirt if there is need of a height or stool. Later I came to know that, before Prahlad formed Genesis Films in 1981, he was running a small courier company and struggling for films….Joel was his peon that time…as soon as he formed Genesis, he made Joel learn film production….today every director dies to work with Joel and Gemma and they are shooting all over the world everyday…..

So shooting started and I was watching it sitting on a chair as Kalpana had told me to watch people working on my first day. All the ADs were on fire….screaming and shouting, keeping props on places, checking the frames…suddenly I got a big pat on my back…It was Joel…he said in goan accent, “boss idhar kya baita hai …Prahlad ka rule hai shoot ka time baitne ka nai…go on the set, break some prop purposely…let people see you and notice you…they will recognise you with your mistake but they will understand, as every one does it in start….khopche me raenga to khopche me hi reh jaainga”….It might sound weird but it worked….and yes there was a rule “never sit on shoot”….bcoz it makes u dull and lazy…wastes your youth…every trainee has to work like a spot boy, cleaning floor and loading production material to working on scripts and holding camera, you will get to do everything…even I did the same…the only difference was I never got to interact directly with PK….Five months I worked for his company without a single penny.….even today Prahlad doesn’t know that I worked for him…kept watching him directing like eklavya and that’s the way I learnt tits and bits of direction….

Finally I had to quit due to my financial problems and I got into advertising …but as we say, experience never goes waste…I had to test my filmmaking abilities and I got an opportunity with my client friend…he had a budget of 1 lac for a corporate film, that too needed everything from 4 days outdoor shooting to every possible equipment…from 40 ft crane to dolly, trolly, HMIs, babies, dubbing, animation everything….now thats another story of madness…but finally the film been made by stretching the budget to more 15K….here is my first film, got made two years back…which not exactly shows my film direction abilities but the production management….well its a corporate film, so don’t expect much of screenplay or acting here…its more of process and cinematography!

Hindustaan Motors Corporate Film

Btw…one day I was watching Abby Awards of advertising on TV…I saw Shyam Benegal getting special Abby for his contribution to Indian advertising…and to give this award they had none other than Mr. Prahlad Kakkar on stage…well I forgot to say…during 70’s Prahlad Kakkar, Kalpana Lajmi(Dir. Rudali), Govind Nihlani(Dir. Ardhsatya) used to work for Shyam for adfilms as well as feature films such as Nishant, Ankur, Manthan, Mandi etc…….so while presenting the award to Shyam, Prahlad took a bow and said, “Shyam I still cherish those days when i was learning film making under you…thanks for kicking my ass so hard and telling me, never sit on shoot.”…..Shyam kept laughing…

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