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Manish Acharya, the director of Loins of Punjab Presents agreed to a QnA exclusively for PFC. In this two part session, Manish speaks about growing up on a staple diet of Bollywood movies, opportunities in the US, his transition from a software consultant to a film-maker, NYU film school and his own personal struggles. Over to Manish Acharya…

PFC: Thanks for joining PFC for a QnA Manish. Firstly, when did it all begin for you? Writing, Directing etc?
Manish: It’s a pleasure “being here.” So you start with a tough question, huh? :) In some ways, it all began at a very early age … I loved movies. Devoured them. Would go see movies alone in summer vacations. Saw everything under the sun … which in Bombay meant Hindi films and some Hollywood films. However, becoming a filmmaker in a middle class household like mine was akin to becoming an astronaut–An impossibility. And so I did the thing I was supposed to do …After the Std X, I went into a Science Junior College, and decided to become an engineer.

Whilst in college, I had a crush on a girl studying to be a doctor and I would study with her. Lo and behold two years later, I got into medical school and engineering school. That’s when the first signs of non-conformity asserted themselves …even without me really knowing it. I had applied to some US schools and had got into a few with some degree of financial aid. I made a case for computers being the future and all that jazz and managed to convince my parents that the best thing for me would be to go the US instead of becoming a doctor or an engineer.

At college in Iowa (Grinnell College), my major was Physics but I took part in the plays and also took a bunch of classes in the theater dept. In my senior year, I did an independent study where I made short films with a VHS camera and two VCR’s. But after college … real life … took a job as a programmer and then went to grad school in Industrial Relations (a combination of Management, Economics and Psychology) … but at the same time, I took some classes in Television (the college had a TV program). After grad school, I was joined a start-up software company and focused on that for a while. However, I still wrote short stories and took classes (when I could) in script writing etc. … always thinking of it as a hobby … and never as a viable career choice.

Until one day….on the advice of a friend, I seriously considered becoming a filmmaker. I applied to NYU… not expecting to get in. they had 900 applicants for 30 slots in the 3 year MFA program at TISCH. But I did get in (probably a clerical error on their part) … and the rest as they say… is His-story.

Sorry for the really long answer … but I thought PFC readers might be more interested in this answer than the average Joe. And so I went into all this detail.

PFC No problems at all Manish. Am sure most of the readers of PFC come from the same back-ground as you do and precisely want to do it just like you. Anyways, Wow! That’s some journey huh! So under-grad was where it all came together huh? How was it then to explore theatre and films in the US when you grow up on a staple diet of Indian Cinema?
Manish: You know … it didn’t really “come together” in undergrad as it was always a “hobby” … no one including me took it seriously … and I never thought of cinema as an art form … it was always an entertainment thing for me … and even at that time I gravitated to Hollywood pulp as opposed to the French new wave and stuff like that. I’d say … that NYU … and grad school in film is the first time that I really explored international film. That was when I realized that Hindi films were often quite bad. yes I was a late bloomer. :)

PFC: So before we move onto the NYU chapter, how much of zeal did you have to take up film-making as a profession without any credible knowledge of the craft? The reason for asking this question is we have a lot of readers and authors on PFC who are at cross-roads where they want to give up what they have to pursue film-making. How did you deal with those kinds of issues then?
Manish: Well, a lot of it was serendipity. I didn’t think I’d get into NYU. In some ways, I thought I was applying to cure myself of the desire to make films. But two things happened. Going through the application, writing the personal statement, the short script they had asked for, putting together a visual portfolio… convinced me that I was on the right track. I decided then that I would be a filmmaker even if I didn’t get into NYU. I started writing to directors I respected to see if I could be their assistant. I looked at programs like the New York Film Academy which don’t have a stringent admissions barrier. And then the second thing happened … I got into NYU. :) So in some ways I think I have preparing all my life for being a filmmaker and it was only when I started the process that I realized the level of the zeal within.

But let me share something in hindsight…

In NYU, we have directors come in and teach us “master classes.” folks like Ang Lee, Spike Lee, Joel Coen, John Sayles, Sidney Lumet, etc. Lumet said something that I will never forget … he said that “film schools can’t make you a filmmaker … they can only teach you craft … in the end your instinct is your talent …” And I agree … the number one qualification for being a filmmaker is having stories to tell and having a unique way to tell them … having a point of view. Everything else can be learned, purchased, hired, etc. Don’t get me wrong … I am not saying that the rest is easy… it isn’t … but it is all “do-able.” But if you aren’t a storyteller to begin with … film making will be impossible for you. And if you are … there is no better job.

Also I will throw in a Zen proverb here that helped me … “jump and the net will appear.”

PFC: Very apt Manish. So how was it in NYU? Am sure the class profile would have been diverse and some like you would not have had any prior film-making experience while some may have a lot of years in the industry. How did it all level out? How did NYU help you to tell your stories better? Does the process oriented approach help in “real-time” film-making - speaking in true engineering terms - or the craft as such brings out a unique style in each of the students? I remember you saying that by the end of the course, you had worked on more than 30 films - How did it work out for you in NYU?
Manish: For me NYU was amazing. I got into it knowing nothing. Hell, the first time the cinematography teacher talked about focusing a prime lens, I couldn’t figure out why they didn’t just use the auto-focus. :) The point being … that I was a sponge. The fact that I knew nothing was a boon. I grabbed onto all the information. I worked on as many student films as I could. Saw movies that I had never seen including I’m ashamed to say movies by Fellini and Godard (which I should have seen). About process-orientation … well, NYU is really a school which encourages you to find your own voice. The faculty does not choose which student gets to make films (as they do in USC) … all do and so you are kinda free to explore your own path … the focus is on being able to tell your stories better as opposed to learning about craft. If I had to encapsulate it … they see craft as secondary to story-telling, craft is a means to an end. For me, my story-telling got better because of (1) trial and error — just making movies, doing class exercises on video, etc. (2) watching others’ trial and error — seeing 30 other movies from idea to completion …every semester and (3) watching a lot of movies … a LOT.

PFC: 30 movies a semester, that’s invaluable hands on experience. So how exactly does a F-School work? How is it that they teach you all the various types of techniques involved? Are there specializations or everyone has to learn a part of everything? Also, how did NYU make you a story-teller personally? LOPP was our graduate project, how did NYU help you in making it better than what you would have done if you were making it out of NYU?
Manish: Well, we all had to learn everything as we worked on each others crew. I don’t think they teach you enough to become an expert but they do teach you enough to be competent (and/or dangerous :) ). So, we learned cinematography, sound recording, editing, producing, etc. Of course, some people gravitated to certain things and by the third year were really focused on their field. For me, writing-directing was my passion.

Your second question … I had finished my third year of classes and so did not write LOINS while at NYU. However, a lot of the scene construction and story flow comes from what I learned there. On a practical note … I sent early drafts of the screenplay to certain professors and colleagues and their feedback was invaluable. After that I was pretty much on my own. I did use the NYU insurance and some equipment when I shot in NY, so that was nice. For my editor, I chose someone I had met at NYU and worked with … a superb filmmaker and human being … Christopher Dillon … and after our first cut, we went to NYU professors and colleagues for feedback, which helped us, make a better film. Finally, after completion, NYU has helped in getting the movie in front of folks in the biz. I can’t say enough good things about the current chair of the grad film department … John Tintori… he is totally focused on helping students. So my NYU experience was really a good one. I am sure that some had not-so-good experiences. I don’t think the same path is right for everyone but for me film school as an invaluable investment of time and money.

PFC: Just to put things into perspective, what were the costs involved in NYU? How did you manage to pay the tuition and also the other expenses incurred for shooting and such other stuff? Is there any funding available or like B-Schools, easy loans or anything? Also, you took 3yrs off to purse film school full time. Are most of the schools like that or are there any more options available?
Manish: I don’t consider myself an expert on film schools. I only applied to 2. And that was because both were highly-regarded and neither needed a short film as part of the application. I am not sure what the current costs of NYU are. I know that it’s high!!! I managed with the savings from my years in corporate America, plus NYU had given me some scholarships.
I know we have focused a bunch on film school but I want to say that…

I don’t think film school is necessary for becoming a filmmaker. It is the path I chose. Perhaps today I may not choose that path. I know that it is easier to find reasons to not make a short film today than it is to make one. Perhaps … today I would grab a digital camera and shoot shorts based on short stories/ideas every weekend, and edit through the week after my day job. It is unclear. What is not unclear is that once you decide you want to be a filmmaker, tell yourself that you ARE. And then act like one … write, shoot, edit, rinse and repeat. Whether you do this in your backyard, in film school, or in Universal Studios is just a matter of scale. “Jump and the net will appear.”

PFC: Point noted Manish. Moving onto LOPP. I read somewhere that most of LOPP’s writing happened at a star bucks in NYC? How did it all begin? More particularly - did LOPP start of as a spoof on the IDOL shows that we have and then transform into full fledged story or was the backdrop chosen earlier? Tell us all about LOPP…
Manish: Well … for those who know nothing about my film… this is good moment for some lateral surfing …loinsofpunjab.com. Back? now you know that LOINS is a movie about a singing contest where we follow six contestants over one weekend. It is in English, a comedy, set in NJ. Now to your questions … I co-wrote the movie with a playwright named Anuvab Pal. He is one of the funniest guys I know, and more importantly, I am funnier when I am with him. He had seen one of my short films and introduced himself to me. We had always talked about writing something together, even tried once, and it hadn’t worked out. This time, we were in a Star bucks in midtown and talking about Bollywood and how the West seemed totally taken by the kitsch factor, etc. And somehow in the midst of all of that we started discussing characters that would take part in a contest.

We knew it had to be a Bollywood singing contest as we wanted to have old songs in the movie that we liked … we also like Wes Anderson, and early Woody Allen, and Christopher Guest kind of humor and somehow the story took form in front of us. We never set out to make a spoof on an IDOL show. We always focused on the characters and I think it is this specificity that makes the movie as universal as it is.

PFC: And characters are what I think made the film too… my personal fav is Mr. Bokade and man was he funny. So what about the casting, crew and financing for the film? How did you get everything together to start the film - finance, permissions et all…
Manish: After the script was done, I put together a business plan and went out hunting for investors. Heard quite a few NO”s before I heard the all-important YES. I also put my own savings into the film, and we were good to go. Given that I was a neophyte and that the people funding the project were not from the industry, we really had to do everything from scratch. We put out feelers for crew. I was quite rigorous in my selection. But once we did start getting the kind of crew we wanted, they would recommend others and soon we had quite a killer crew assembled. Similarly with casting … I knew that I didn’t want to go with the usual suspects. I picked a casting director from Chennai (who has a theater background and has lived and worked in France) and gave him a detailed brief. He started auditioning outside Prithvi theater in Mumbai … and the word spread. People seemed to respond even to the short scenes in the audition and we had good word-of-mouth buzz among theater and film folks. I think casting is crucial to making a good film (probably the most imp thing after the script) and so I was very hard-to-please during this process. I think my casting director thought I was insane as I kept rejecting good actors. But I was in search of the perfect actor for the role not just a good actor. Thankfully, we managed to not only assemble a stellar cast but also didn’t kill each other in the process. I am glad now that I stood my ground even when it would have been easier to go with the rest of the flow. The director is the one responsible for charting the course, and I think s/he should be true to their vision as much as possible. Thankfully, I reverted back to the obstinacy of childhood, and held firm for the things that I felt were very important.

PFC: Tell us about Manish Acharya, the actor. What made you play the role that you did?
Manish: Desperation… ha ha ha. well, we auditioned a bunch of actors for the role and no one seemed just right. The role was that of a technical analyst in a financial services firm … a man comfortable with numbers. Somehow most of the actors played him condescendingly … like a geek … I felt that a value judgment was being passed on him by the very person who was playing him. And that didn’t work for me. My line producer and co-writer kept pressurizing me to play the role. My DOP and AD thought that I shouldn’t. Finally, what tilted the balance was that I realized we had quite a tough task ahead in terms of reconciling schedules given the enormity of the ensemble cast. I was going to be on set every day … so … if I played Vikram … that was one less actor to worry about. :) Plus I like Vikram. I think there is a lot of him in me … and so … you have me as the actor. BTW, we did like one actor for that role but he was a bit too young and so we cast him in another key role.

The above conversation took a good 90mins and because of the time zones we decided to continue this interview on another day. If any of you have any questions that you want Manish to answer, please leave them in the comments section and we will make sure Manish answers all of them.

… to be contd.