Roman Wilderness
‘…because they’re spot.’
It was said nonchalantly, almost with a laugh. Which the kid had directed at someone who didn’t even know something as simple as that. As if.
Well, I’m a bit old-fashioned for this I realised. When I got home that evening and narrated the same incident and the words to my wife Kamayani, she almost popped a vein. We both decided to not just IQ test our ADs when we make our films – we would EQ test them too.
But this got me thinking about why it affected me like this. (You’ll get to know the context of the comment and it’s portent really soon, just bear with me). And I remembered 2 names: Ayhan Ghanim, and Sameer Singh. And I thought back to the day, almost 8 years ago…
I land up at their office, bristling with ideas and the urge to be a cinematographer, and later, a director. Ayhan was a D.O.P and used to work in an office with Sameer Singh, both of them heading a team that made ad films, corporate AVS, branching out to do an indie when it seemed good enough. In other words, they were (like all of us) just trying to get along with the world till they could step aside and do their own thing and make their movies.
Ayhan had read my first ’script’, a 15-page mess that was full of ideas that a million people had had before me, but I assume he saw some promise, hence the meeting. We talked of this and that, about poetry and literature and the world around us, and as is the rare case in this world, we just clicked. We understood each other, realised each other’s intelligence and respected it and wanted to work together. I was a complete greenhorn, hadn’t seen the inside of a film school or cinema appreciation group, the only ‘film’ experience I had had was making – actually, trying to – make this messy 15-pager into a short which ended up failing miserably. But Ayhan said a very simple thing – don’t think anyone is doing you a favour here, or the other way round. One would like to work with intelligent people – it increases productivity and gives us more joy in doing what we do – and I assume you would like to do the same. You will get paid for it so treat it like that, keep it in perspective.
And that was that. The biggest lesson I had learnt till then. Respect for ability. My own. Till then I was the standard issue kid who was cocky and arrogant but only to hide an unease about my own ability. But this made me realise – don’t do any favours in this field of work. Work with people you enjoy working with, will learn something from. Be kind in charity, in friendship, in interactions maybe, but not in work. Work should only be run on ability. I’ve struggled with this because of the numerous gigs I’ve worked on or been a part of since have shown me, strangely, that favours is the way it goes around here, heck our entire industry is almost entirely built on that. But that was also my other big lesson. Have your own set of rules when you can, and adhere to them when you have the chance to, in your own territory. The rest of the time, we’re all doing time in this world so grin and bear it.
But Ayhan is a quiet man. He speaks softly, and is easy on the ‘gyaan’. The person who actually made me think about writing this is Sameer Singh. Because the first day of my first official shoot as an AD, he gave me the title ‘Chutki’ – hindi for snapping of the fingers. And here’s why.
Knowing what I wanted to do and how I was seeing myself, he gave me my first job on set:
it was to light his cigarette every time he snapped his fingers.
The sound of the ‘chutki’, and I would run with a lighter/matches, and light his cigarette for him. And if he liked my work, he’d give me more ‘important’ things to do.
I did my work diligently. I would be ready with a lighter even before he snapped his fingers, observing when he took out the carton. So I got more important work.
To carry his laptop bag and his handycam.
By evening, I was also getting tea.
Ayhan was hopping mad, arguing with Sameer, saying I was being wasted in doing these things.
But I think – and I may be giving Sameer more credit than is due, but he deserves all of it – he wanted me to learn a very basic thing.
Dignity of labour.
Whatever it is, however small it is, in film, on set, nothing, and I mean NOTHING is unimportant. And I can vouch for that – going without tea for an hour when the pressure’s mounting and the light is fading can paralyze an entire crew.
And that is something I have never ever forgotten. Respect. For EVERYONE on set.
By the end of the month, I was sitting with them on the scripts and in shot-breakdowns, just listening to them. I got books to read, had discussions on topics that befuddled me.
But the next day, I was out running errands in the blistering heat, getting printouts, cold drinks – you name it. And soon, I was promoted to ‘logger’. (OK, I might have made all this sound very heroic and romantic, but let me indulge myself in my life story a bit :D )
But what stayed was my name – until a few years later, when I started writing my own shows, going it alone in Mumbai and Sameer started calling me by name. I still don’t know what prompted that change. But I think he realised I had learnt that very basic value – of humanity – completely. And had not forgotten it even in this mad city and in this field where showiness and trying to act important is everything.
Because that’s what I see all around. The moment someone gets an inch of space to call his or her own, there is an immediate breakdown of their sense of humanity. Suddenly they rant and rave and scream and want their food in restaurants before everyone else and fret in lines at stores if the assistants are taking time in swiping cards – it’s insane.
I’ve seen a ‘hot’ director flip out over pepperoni pizzas (apparently he could not write without having 2 of those, on production money, of course, for some strange reason since he wasn’t part of the team required that day – and even that had to be ordered via the production – spending 500 from his own pocket or using his own or his assistant’s phone could end his life I’m assuming). I’ve seen director’s assistants get ballistic over trifles, things like why is the coffee from CCD and not Barista – I’ve seen production and crew and setting boys made to cry for lesser things – come on, wake up. If having the right brand of coffee is the only way you can direct well, I might as well pay Barista half your fee as a token of thanks.
And the best part – most of these people are not even that good. They might be competent, maybe borderline good, but to become such divas – I never get it. Why should they, or stars or anyone behave like this and run everyone else around them down I never get. And the worst part – it filters down.
I am a firm believer that everything from the top filters down to the bottom – well, almost. So if the director or producer is like that, the assistants and the people under them are going to be worse. Because if the boss does it, it become legit. So I’ve had directing teams run the entire production to the ground simply because the director is a brat. I don’t have a problem if the ADs wear Ed Hardy and come in their own Mercs. But if they don’t talk to the man who is making their tea or the person cleaning the floor or even the light boy with basic human courtesy, I have a problem. And that’s the context of this post. A weak director lets an entire team lose and that costs us all. Because a logger, when asked why the setting boys are not coming with us for lunch turns around and says matter of factly: ’…but they’re spot…’ , I know we’re in trouble. And we sure were.
I thought this was the one field where everyone was working on the same team, where spot to star, all are trying to make, to the best of their ability, the same movie. I thought this was a place for equals. But I guess we’re too ‘varna’ system driven to ever really get there. And the more we get ‘modern’, the more we are going back to that in our basic nature. This is spot, he stands there, he does not get the same food we do. He’s a light man, if he climbs 5 storeys high and puts a light and falls and injures himself, there is no insurance cover but if the star injures his or her thumb opening a can of Pepsi, we pay for their family’s trip to Rome to make-up for it.
And the strangest part – none of the spots and setting and light people and production boys I’ve worked with have EVER complained. OK, they have, but for a bit – then work has somehow always gone on and finished. They work insane hours, literally put their lives at risk sometimes, but they somehow manage a smile and get the work done. But what I have also noticed is this – if you speak to them nicely, if you ask about their food and comfort sometimes, if you just treat them as human beings like yourselves – they work better.
I’ve pulled off impossible shoots just because of this. Because we (the directing team) could make them feel like they were also part of the same crew and not lesser human beings. Because we always said ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and pitched in whenever the work was heavy.
This is why I have very few friends and why Ayhan is still one of my closest friends and will be my D.O.P whenever I make a film. This is why working with Sujoy is such a joy and why Sameer Singh will get a special thanks in my film’s credits. Because these are people who understand the importance of humanity in work as in life, who appreciate and respect others, who know how even the smallest job has dignity and no one has the right to rob the man or woman doing it of that, so what if ‘they’re spot’. Because they have the basic sensitivity that is needed when you work with people.
Because if that same logger had said that the spot boys will not join us for lunch because ‘they’re spot’ on a set run by any of these three – Sujoy, Ayhan or Sameer – she would have, at that very moment, gone home without lunch. And without a job.
I know you need to segregate in order to achieve. Like in war, on a film set you need to have categories of people who do certain things and you need to have a chain of command and someone who orders and screams and yells to get work done. But if this means you take it seriously and become like that in life, it’s really not worth it. Hierarchy is a tool for productivity, not a yardstick for living. But sadly, as in life, we’ve taken the ‘varna’ system too seriously. Work will get done on a film set, no matter what. If you scream at them, slap them or serenade them – everyone wants work and the money associated with it and will work.
But if you can get them to work with kind words and some human feeling and concern for their lives, I don’t think it will take away from you or your ‘importance’ on set, or anywhere else in life.
But I guess the more ‘firebrand’ you are, the more people think you are a ‘genius’ or a ‘force of nature’ or whatever. Be all that, and more. Just don’t forget you’re still dealing with other human beings who, but for the accident of birth in this country, would have been in your place, with your advantages and with your job.
The title of this post was actually the title of the first ’short’ I wrote and tried to direct/shoot with friends and a VHS camcorder, going the ‘Rebel without a crew’ way. It was a classic, pretentious short about 2 serial killers in an existential dilemma about their lives and the lack of god and the ‘right way’ in this world, who try to test out their theory of this being a world that god forgot by picking up a random hitchhiker and killing him – if there is a god, he will stop such a random act of injustice and sin. Of course, in the end, the hitchhiker turns out to be god and kills them both, intoning, as he does – I never forgot this world and its sinners – I just like to play with my food’ … ! (Yes, I know, embarrassingly puerile, but such is our mind when we’re young and think we own the world and our ideas are the smartest and never-heard-before and that we are all Fritz Langs and Orson Wells rolled into one;) )
The title came from ‘The End’ by The Doors.
‘Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain…’
I posted this under the same title because when I heard that stray comment – and I hear a lot of those – when I see how we are treating other human beings, I realise, all over again:
All the children ARE insane…
I’ll have my lunch with the spot boys anytime.
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
OMG. nikhil, dis is a freaking awesome post. total gyaantertainer. i had similar experiences that i posted here:
http://passionforcinema.com/phir-director-2nd-time-lucky-oye/
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http://passionforcinema.com/my-day-long-stint-as-a-director/
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all the very best with your debut venture & wish me the same. thanks. ;-)
Nikhil, brilliant post…Every human being, including film makers, should read this…I would really expect Bollywood to start crediting every one in the crew, in the end credits…Hope your film will have detailed end credits like Hollywood…
It has nothing to do with the ‘Varna’ system though…Remember ‘Mahabharat’ and ‘Ramayana’ were written by two people from the so-called ‘Lower’ Varnas…It is obvious that there was respect for human beings in ancient India despite its misinterpretation…this treating of ‘Spot Boys’ or ‘Day labourers’ or ‘Thambi’s’ in restaurants…it has more to do with the ‘Coolie’ culture instilled by the Britishers…
@ Nikhil- that was certainly heartfelt.I have heard a few other people too mention the same concerns similar to the ones mentioned here.In fact my grouse is that a lot of people wax eloquent about how they will never let success go to their head and all that and again make the same mistake like the others.So while I write this and talk to a lot of like minded friends I remind myself that if God gives me that one chance, at least I must not forget my roots and should try to remain the same for ever.
Nice reading this & its nice to know there are people like you out there.
It was nice to see the end credits in movies like Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om where everyone got their due.Wish more and more people take a cue from them and come up with different ways to give people their due.
Thanks guys.
@Magik – all the best:) And any help for your film if I can pitch in, do let me know
And do please see the end credits of ‘Aladin’ at
@Ram – I seriously disagree – to blame everything on the British is the easiest way out. The ‘Varna’ system had become a bane much, much before they arrived. The British only used raw materials we had already provided them. And till when will we keep referring to that? The British did what they did – we, the new generation post-independence – what have we done about it? See this:
http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/under-the-table-and-dreaming/
This, still, unfortunately, is the story in most of India…we’re just a miniscule part of the minority of ‘educated’ ones who think this is wrong. You’ll be surprised at how many educated friends of yours might not have a problem with this..
I really don’t think these two in the picture are in any way influenced by the British rule. And if they are, well, the fault is still with us, not anyone else. The idiot next door will teach you how to steal, but if you steal even after he’s left, you’re the bigger idiot.
@Sethumadhavan – Don’t worry sir, we won’t make the same mistake. We’ll keep reminding each other at PFC – that’s why this place is here, right?
www.boundscript.com
Click on the ‘next release’ link and follow down cast list to ‘more’ .. and don’t be scared by the long list that pops up when you click that… and this isn’t even the final list of all the people involved – still working on it
Nikhil…I have seen the picture earlier…but what do you have to say to my point….two of the most revered books being written by so-called ‘lower’ caste…I dont think those were exceptions..History is twisted…dear friend…and ofcourse those in the picture are children of improper history…I am not writing off our people as innocent…but really, It was not the ‘Varna’ System but the 1000 years of foriegn rule that realinged our society that is to blame for our state now…
I am not arguing without proper details…but this is not the forum to continue on this debate…hence I leave it at this…
Nikhil, we are the most misinformed nation as far as history is concerned…We have fooled ourselves and have been fooled by several people…But whatever maybe the source of this evil, its evil indeed…and most of us are indifferent…very true…
This has to be one of the best posts of the year!! Loved it, Nikhil! Every word of it. Not only because it’s so well-written, but also because you’ve talked about something I frequently ponder over. If it weren’t for a little bit of good luck in the birth lottery, god knows who I might have been in this life. Sure bugs me when people treat supposed social ‘inferiors’ as if they’re not even human beings.
Recently heard of a star heroine who was on a plane and asked for her lunch to be heated to exactly so-and-so temperature and then created a ruckus when the built-in thermometer in her delicate plastic palms told her it wasn’t exactly that temperature.
Keep writing. Will read whatever you write.
@ Nihhil. V: dats really kind of you. thanks a bunch.
Nikhil: Wow! extremely well written and heartfelt. More analysis and discussion in person as I am not really a public comment kinda guy! Being sensitive and humane and talented are really not supposed to be conflicting emotions.
Nikhil Nikhil! Loved it immensely!
Not only your writing, but most importantly that you know the basics of life. People can be as big directors as they want to, write as amazing stories as they wish to, but if they lack the basics, I really dont have much respect for them, and not sure when are your films going to hit the counter, but whenever they do, and no matter how good/bad they are, one thing is for sure: I will respect you the most buddy
“I’ll have my lunch with the spot boys anytime. ”
So Did I
Man o Man how come you write such beautiful post, a heartfelt thanks, what all we need is little respect.
I think what you said not only applies to Film Industry but to also corporates.
Hierarchy is a tool for productivity, not a yardstick for living. That summed up the way things are in India, be it our film industry, politics, corporate duniya or any TDH’s daily life. And it doesn’t end there. We are also the most hypocritical of all.
This was a good read and I appreciate You, Sujoy, Sameer and Ayhan for keeping the faith in humankind alive.
How do these same directors and the powers that be behave when they work in the US or in Europe with foreign crews? I bet the spots go to lunch there. That double standard makes the status quo in India even more disgusting.
@ Nikhil-
I did go through the end-credits and mighty impressed is the way to describe my feeling.Badiya hai, bahut hi badiya.Yes I’m sure we @ PFC can keep reminding each other for sure!!!