Heart Land: It’s all over.

Finally, the shoot went off well despite all the problems. When I look back at it, it was a party with a few spoilers. Moreover, I made new friends and got to learn a lot. And that’s the most important thing.

The last few days were hectic enough for me not to get time to write my posts. Eventually, things went off well. The end result was good. There was a bit of confusion and fights regarding the payments. We were not paid 2 days before the shoot, but after the complete shoot – the day we were suppose to leave for Delhi. The money was transferred to our bank accounts and a confirmation code was given.

By the end of the shoot there was a bond between the American Crew and the Indian Crew. There was a party everyday, thanks to Siddharth, Urvashi & Vincent.

Things started badly and everything looked messed up. Some of us had problems with Sunny but even that got sorted. He was just misunderstood by almost everyone. What is most important is that by the end everyone was happy and content with the work done. There were no hard feelings for anyone. And, I got a 50% bonus.

The objective of me writing this blog is to share my experiences with my family and friends. After all I hardly get to see them. These posts potray my feelings and my conclusions at the time of writing. I do not intend to praise or condemn anyone. And, if I have, I am sorry but that’s how I feel and communicate.

Some working stills from the production:

Sound Department at Work

Pretending to Work: Aakriti & Paul

Vincent behind the Screen

Close to Vincent’s Special Place

Crowd management

Serious Discussion

What’s the next shot?

Protected: What a Day Off !

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Get out! It’s Party Time

A funny day with a sad episode. We were shooting an important scene today. The producer himself was playing a role. 5 pm we are half way through the and suddenly we notice 10 people peeping from a window. The 5 women enter the house, cross the room in which we are shooting and hug the house owner’s wife. After 10 minutes 4 young men come and stand by me with a beer each. I enquire – and… there is a party in the house – it’s the owner’s birthday! He decided to throw a party – treat everyone to some beer and food along with some shooting. Most of the guests got bored in 30 minutes. The owner and his wife were getting impatient. Fred being Fred took responsibility. He made adjustments. He compromised and improvised a bit and accomplished a good shooting day. Sunny went back to the vanity to change. He discovered that his money was missing. Apparently the vanity caretaker invited some of the drivers and the metro sexual PAs to watch a movie in the vanity. All of them did pay a price later. The lucky ones were fired. You can imagine what must have happened to the vanity caretaker.

Shoot Day1: Messed Up

This was the most messed up Day 1 in my career. The crew reached the location on time. We announced breakfast before we realized that the catering is not there. Paul wanted to get hold of a walkie-talkie and we realize that the security hasn’t arrived and neither have the walkies. It was blame game time. The arrangements by were made by the producer and his associates. They did not give the numbers to Kawal. They blamed Kawal and Kawal blamed them.

Half way the shoot we realize that the track is short. 10 minutes more and the track starts to squeak. This causes delay. A temporary solution is found – powder, oil and cold water is applied to the track. We do not finish the last scene. We have a balance of one shot. There is no communication between the two crews, no time to spend with each other. We eat food separately and we leave separately.

This was not all. The house owner created a ruckus in the middle of the day. Apparently, during the shoot the security people stopped him from entering his own house. The man did tell me that he would be coming at 10:00 AM. I was on set and did not inform the security to allow the man in. OK… I goofed up in a way.

Fred Holmes & I

Paul in discussion with Fred

Come One, Come All !

We spent the entire day on auditions. The Auditions were organized by 2 guys, Andy & Sandy, who are somehow related to the producer. They got almost the entire town for the auditions. It took way too long to finish the auditions. I was involved in it actively, and by the end of it the director was happy the way I handled the actors & the auditions despite the language barrier. The producer’s associate who had previously commented was sitting there but speechless. I made sure to look at him with a look that offended him.

By the end of the day we had locked most of our cast. Only 2 key characters weren’t decided.

Communication Barrier

We set out for a recce this morning. Kawal and I showed the director all the places that we had shortlisted. They were according to the brief and the script that was sent to us. But, the director was looking for something more urban. He liked farm houses better than the punjabi village. He liked plantation by the riverside better than the green fields of Punjab. We landed up changing all the locations.

While we were looking for locations, we met a person who would be a potential cast. He was asked to do a line. While I was about to explain to him what he was suppose to do, the producer and the location help jumped in and took over. Later I was told that I was incompetent. I was told by one of the associates of the producer that I am useless as I can’t speak punjabi and am incapable of handling things in Punjab. I took offense and slashed back at them by saying that I don’t like people interfering in my work and telling me how to run my show. I also told them that I handled Rajasthani actors despite the fact that I did not even understand what they spoke.

We reached back to the hotel. A new commotion awaited. Kawal was asked to send back his assistant Ayub. The poor guy did not even last two days. It wasn’t that Ayub was incompetent, it was just that there was no budget for him.

So now Kawal was handling substantial amount of things all by himself.

Heart Land: The First Day

This is the first time that I am so apprehensive about a film shoot. Not that I am nervous about my job or the shoot but more because of the people I am dealing with. First, the money is not good. Second, it’s a film by a first time producer. He has wealthy relatives who have invested in the film. They don’t trust us and they treat film making as any other production meeting, due to which there have been delays. This is going to be my first day with them.

Kawal has already reached Ludhiana, he is working on various production logistics. He is there with a production assistant Ayub. Too much work and too less people.

I was suppose to meet the American crew at 12:00 PM in Gurgaon at a Guest House. I received a call at 10:30 AM saying that the meeting has been called forward to 11:30 AM. How am I expected to reach on time? At 11:30 AM, I get a call from the producer demanding an explanation on why I haven’t reached. Well the answer was quite simple – Next time, please inform us on time. I reached there at 12:00 PM. The Costume Designer and the Art Director followed me shortly. We were introduced to the American Crew and Cast. In comparison to our Indian crew they are old and more experienced. The Director, Fred Holmes,  the line producer, Cathy King and the 1st AD, Paul have over 20 years of experience. There is so much I can learn from them. Now, I am kicked about the project.

There was a 20 min. meeting between the American line producer and us. Some of the American Costumes and Props were handed over to the respective departments. They were assigned some work to be carried out on urgent basis. Soon after the meeting I left for Ludhiana on a Tempo Traveller with the American cast and crew. The Producer left for Ludhiana with his uncle in an Innova. The Americans could not understand the Indian Traffic and the Indian way of driving till I explained them that driving in india is like playing a video game with one life.

Overloaded bus

Buffalo Attack!

Traffic Disaster!

Then we came across a nude boy on the street. The boy got excited seeing foreigners on a bus. Seeing us, he started dancing – flaunting his assets. I guess he must have heard of Slum Dog Millionaire.

What I liked about my new friends was their thought of treating everyone as equals. They are uncomfortable if the drivers don’t eat food or if there are people picking up their equipment. They are so used to doing work by themselves. Moreover they treat each profession with respect. They took offense when the driver of our tempo traveler did not get his lunch. They could not understand the system. I did try to give a vague explanation but they could not get it.

We were suppose to take 5 hours to reach Ludhiana, but we took 8 hours because the tempo traveler would not go above the speed of 60 Km/h. The Americans got really pissed because the producer had told them that it would take only 3 to 4 hours. I guess this is what happens on a low budget film.

We had scheduled a recce because we had expected to reach by 4pm but we reached at 11pm. That was it. A great messed up beginning.