Kartavya: My debut production

After having 2 stints of love affairs with photography and blogging, i recently fell in love for the 3rd time, with film making....

This love story goes back to Milestone 35 where i dont know why but i participated in AdAge ( the ad making contest) and i finally had a camera in hand. As luck would have it, I proposed the judges, they accepted and hence i fell in love with the idea of movie making.

So here presenting to you Kartavya, the first production under the Indian Magik banner ( yes guys i have named it Indian Magik) I received a lot of queries as to why Indian Magik. This name was the turnaround in my MBA career, it was from here that i noticed the change that France had brought in me. The confidence, the zeal, the passion to win. So guys till the luck of Indian Magik walks with me, the name's Magik, Indian Magik

So now coming to the movie, Kartavya. I was discussing one night with Priya about the movie making contest at MICA. It was then that the concept of Kartavya came up. A lot of plans came up, a lot of plans were rejected, one almost finalised ( on single parenthood) but rejected due to lack of child actors. It was after a lot of brainstorming that we came to the idea of the Vidharba farmer suicides.

Quoting from the movie " Vidharbha always remained a grim statistic with one suicide every 8 hrs. Most of these victimes between the age of 20 and 45, their most productive years. But have we ever thought what happens to the families of these deceased farmers" So we came about the idea of showing the aftermath of these suicides, hence prostitution.

With 2 days to the deadline we finalised the idea. Next morning got together a team of juniors to play the various roles and by evening we were set to shoot. With wonderful performances by Vidhi and Sanjesh the 1st day turned out to be real satisfying.

The next day the dead body scene and the landlords scenes were shot with lights fading fast. In the end the landlord scene had to be shot in the night itself.

Both the days the greatest difficulty we had was getting our actors to find time from their classes. I was running out of time with the deadline closing in and my actors had classes till 3.30 daily. so after their classes explain the scene, get them dressed and shoot before the sun set at 6.00 Once all this was done it took me almost whole nights sitting up and doing the editing work.

But it was real fun working with these guys. Esp the scenes which one can see in the making video. In one the dead body starts laughing as the scene is being shot. Another scene where the wife goes to the landlord had at least 15 retakes because someone or the other (including me) started laughing midway.

A really special thank you to all the actors, Vidhi, Sanjesh, Hitansh, Ridhima, Swati, Utkarsh, Andy, Anu. Sahil, Rohit and last but not the least Priya. Guys without u Kartavya would never and i mean never possible. Love u all

Yesterday Kartavya got knocked of at the contest in MICA.It hurt at first but then i realised what all this movie had given to me. Great friends, great appreciation, great learning, great recognition, another love.... what else could i ask for. My colleagues here at IMT appreciated my effort, thats enough of a victory. No MICA can take that away from me

You can see kartavya on the link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92It2g430Gk

Diwali Dream

Sorry for posting this up too late... Had written it on the night of Diwali but could not post it, so now its here for u

I am back home in sirsa for diwali. I have never been too much into religion and customs but just wanted to share a wonderful sight that I just saw from my terrace. Its 10pm and I had just gone up to see the sight from the terrace.

My home is near Sikanderpur village, 8km from Sirsa city and the interim space is full of green fields. As I stood there I could see the top of the village temple brightly lit up for the festival season. All around the houses were well decorated and the darkness of the night would occasionally be disturbed by the light of a rocket lit by some village kid. Bombs and other crackers blew of all around.

Then I looked towards the western sky, in the direction of Sirsa. The huge 8 km expanse separating me from the city was dark but as u looked towards the horizon I saw a sight which any city person would never see. It seemed like I had been given an outside view of a city during diwali. Every second a streak of light would come up into the sky and burst into a wonderful ball of sparkles. Once a red, then silver, then golden, then green. It was just outstanding. It seemed a completely different world all together full of light and glamour.

So lets hope that this Diwali brings all this light and glamour into your life. May all of you , with this Diwali, begin a new life of love, hope and success. HAPPY DIWALI !!!

Thank you guys.... 50 posts !!!!

Firstly before i hit on other topics, i have finally touched a long time dream of mine, 50 posts.... This blog has been a really memorable journey for me over the last 6 months. It has given a great opportunity for me to interact with a lot of my friends, share my life fundas with them, share my best memories and share my lows and downs with them as well. So before i go on to other posts i would like to thank you all for ur constant feedback and encouragement for helping me reach this milestone....
Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome, be it positive or negative, because its this critical feedback of yours that helps me improve my work. Keep it flowing and i will try my best to give u somewhat readable material....

Love
Sampark

Rawte Days,Mumbai, Part 4: Eating out..Daily

One of the greatest drawbacks of Rawte was the lack of a proper mess. That left us guys with nothing but outside food to hog on... So in this post i just wanna visit all those places in and around Nana Chowk, Chowpatty, Gamdevi and Grant Road where u can eat as much as u can for Rs20/- to have just a bite for Rs150/-

Heroes Restaurant at Nana Chowk was the first place that i had visited. The waiters were such who had come to recognise us by names for every day at least 3-4 orders did reach Rawte. The chinese sucked but the chicken biryani and chicken fried rice was great... Just that Heroes food meant red finger nails because the colour that they used was terrible

The best food that all of us experienced was Crystal at Chowpatty. A shabby looking, dingy place but the food, just as mom makes at home. Rajma chawal, hot rotis, dal fry, aloo jeera. Never felt away from home there. Even though it was so shabby any guy wouldnt mind taking his girlfriend there for a date. The food was that great.

I still remember that shitty looking place just outside the hostel where u would find taxi drivers and watchmen eating. Why? Because it was all you can eat for Rs 20/- Watery dal, thick chapaatis, 2 god knows what sabzis... But as students when u run short of money there was no better option.

On the other side was this south indian outlet (again i seem to have forgotten the name) where i loved to have wada sambhar for breakfast. I still remember Rishabh ordering Onion Uttapa from there almost every day. The owner was rude but when you are the closest and cheapest, you can treat customers that day. After completing MBA will surely go back to teach him some managing skills.

The roadside dosa beside Patel Hostel was also fabulous. The chinese dosa, the pav bhaji dosa, the cheese dosa... They were mouthwatering. People got off Mercedes and BMWs to have dosas there... Miss that really..

Once u crossed Grant Road station we get into this small lane which had a Kerala mess. Loved the chicken pepper and paraathas and the fish and the mutton... And for a wholesome stomach filling meal Rs30-35 was enough. And then the bananas that we bought from the cash counter when we left.. Loved going there with Arjun and Aamer.

Some special days all of us we would take the bus to Mohammad Ali Road to have hardcore non veg. Sheek kababs, Chicken roast, Shawarma followed by the wonderful Rs5 watermelon drink we had. Even though we knew how unhygienic it was, who cared, till u enjoying.

Burgers and Pizzas no better place than MamaMias. I never had enough money to buy the Rs 100 better burger.Always managed with a Rs65-70 one. the best thing i loved about these burgers was the fries that we got along. Sadly i always ran short of sauce. Always told him send more sachets but that idiot never and i mean never even listened...

Another place that i miss terribly is the Gamdevi Farsan Mart and Azad Tea house. The farsan wala, Mukesh Bhai was such a gem. Every morning he would open the shop by 4 30 and we used to get out to have garam garam vada pav early in the morning. By 5.30 we would be ready to hog on tasty jalebis... By 8 o clock the first lot of cutlets would come out and time for some cutlet pav.. Rishabhs favourite, patti samosa, it was the one which had a vegetable filling instead of potatoes.... mouth watering..This accompanied by chai from Azad Tea House was the perfect way to start your morning..

Hey i forgot one more place, Guru Bar. Sorry guys i dont drink but loved the egg bhurji that they prepared here. This place also has wonderful memories because its here that we saw Yuvraj hit his six 6s and India and Dhoni lift the T20 world cup trophy. Since this particular channel wasnt available at Rawte, all of us used to go to Guru and sit with a cold drink for 3 hours till the match got over. The owner got so irritated that he threatened to throw us out and that also half way through the final. Lots of convincing and coaxing helped us see Dhoni lift the trophy and Joginder Sharma bowling that fantastic last over.....

In the middle days we also used to run off to the Wilson College mess to have our dinners. The attendants there were always troubled by the residents there so they welcomed us who, not being residents, always treated them with respect. Some of us found the food bad but some like me who had seen worse places was like, at least its eateable

There were 100s of other places that i might have left out but guys these were the main amongst them. These were my struggling days where none of us knew where the next meal was coming from (read ordered from). so much so that today my stomach is immune to all sort of shitty food and rubbish that i can eat from anywhere and eat anything as such.....