THE FIRST DAY OF SHOOT...

1st Nov'08...
I met Uttung at his place and we left for location in his car, It was a silent drive... none of us spoke...there were a million thoughts and feelings rushing through our minds as the day had finally arrived!

We were beginning our film from a 180 sq.ft. room in Worli's B.D.D. chawl...it was the first day of a fifteen day schedule...it was the beginning of our first film...
There was a muhurat planned right outside the chawl where there was a temple. This film was also the first venture for our producers and hence invitations were sumptously extended to friends, family and other invitees along with - THE MEDIA!
We were beginning to get behind schedule as we could not shoot until the muhurat happened and some invitees/ dignitories were yet to arrive. Meanwhile the interviews had begun...i could not help from getting goosebumps when i saw Uttung interacting with the media for i knew one thing - if anyone did deserve success and fame- it was Uttung Shelar. Although he was thoroughly uncomfortable in the limelight i could see he was finding his ground as time passed...

Knowing him i knew that all he wanted to do was to start shooting but there were some formalities still pending...
However with each passing hour i was getting increasingly uncomfortable as i knew we would not complete the sequences planned for today...it was nearing 12.00 noon and we had yet to begin.
Finally with half a day almost gone, the muhurat happened...Sandeep Sawant director of India's official Oscar entry film "Shwaas" gave the clap and the camera rolled...there was no looking back now...

The first shot of the film required BHARAT JADHAV to climb the stairs towards camera and have a conversation with his neighbour - UMESH BANE- in the corridor outside his room.
There were around 200-250 people excluding some 30-4o children gathered to witness the shooting. For the area that were were shooting in, happens to be a major base for the Marathi film audience where our actor Bharat Jadhav happens to be an icon.
Thus amidst the chaos and delay the first shot was OK'd after the 4th take...Uttung had taken one more giant step in his journey as a director...the film had been taken to another level in its making process for a shot had been canned..."ACTION" and "CUT" had been called by the director...Uttung's dream was beginning to see light as ATTAPITTA was beginning to take shape.
The day ended at around 10:00 p.m., we had not finished what we had scheduled for, the day's plan had to be re-arranged taking into consideration the expected and unexpected delays.
There were two more days of shoot left at the location and we had almost 15% of our film to be shot here…tomorrow we were going to be joined by another “STAR” of the Marathi film industry- SANJAY NARVEKAR… so the crowds were going to be larger, the adjustments were needed to be more intelligent and sharp…and all the while the energy had to be maintained…14 days were left for the first schedule to complete...

B.D.D. CHAWL- WORLI SHOOT ENDS!

After the much awaited and eventful first day, the tone had been set for a schedule that was going to be daunting and challenging in all fairness! I was making sure my mental and physical stamina does not desert me at any point.

On the second day the crowd turn out was larger. The news had spread that Bharat Jadhav was shooting in BDD chawl No. 69 and the fact that Sanjay Narvekar too had arrived made matters more exciting for the dear public.

We had expected this and hence planned the second day shoot entirely indoors- on the first floor room which we had shown to be the house of Ashutosh Pawar (Bharat Jadhav) in the film. As a result we could manage a controlled shooting atmosphere.

The third day was going to be demanding. We had to take an extreme wide shot where Bharat Jadhav walks through the area in between the chawls and then chats with some boys sitting at the entrance of the chawl.

By the third day the unit had become familiar with each other…the usual frictions and bonds had started taking shape. Now for those who are unaware let me explain to you the magic of a film shoot…it is not the actors or the songs or the stunts that create the atmosphere…it is the “film unit”…the crew.

It is a very weird bunch of people who come together for the duration of the film shoot…spend most part of day and night with each other, working under pressure in harsh environments. There are people who are extremely passionate, there are people for whom shooting is an everyday affair and your project is just ‘one more day’ and there are people who are simply difficult! There is fighting…arguments…camaraderie…team spirit….everything!

As such, we (direction department) needed to capture the wide shot mentioned above in a certain manner, for which the cameraman- Prasad Bhende- had asked for a certain lens. The lens did not arrive!! We were not going to get this opportunity (to shoot at this location) again; there was only one solution- “Get the best result in whatever you have!.”

We did precisely that.

After the initial shot there was some interior work and again we had to move to the terrace of the chawl- which I must mention was quiet a daunting task!!
Considering the sunlight available and the time we would need to can the scene we had to be up there by 3.00 p.m.

At 3.30 p.m., we were still down on the road where we were to complete a sequence wherein Sanjay Narvekar comes with a car and then follows Bharat Jadhav to a point near the chawl and they have some interaction before both of them together drive away.

The crowd was unmanageable…Uttung was screaming his orders for no one could hear anything in the noise the crowd was making. The cops did little to help. I was running in every possible direction to push people out of the shooting area. I was getting very angry and was showing it too.
I believed very genuinely that no one at that point understood the importance of crowd control. I was being nasty to the production team and wanted to physically push each one of them for their lack luster manner…but that would have achieved nothing and were thoughts of a man who was in a mad rush! Temper has always been an area I’ve fallen short off.

Alas, we had to change the sequence!
It was decided that Sanjay Narvekar would simply begin following Bharat Jadhav as he exited the chawl and then meet him at Worli Sea Face!- a location at which we were going to shoot at some later date! It was there that the remaining scene would happen.

I have always believed that film shoots are all about crisis management...this was yet another instance of it.

We reached the terrace at 4:15…the sunset was going to be at 6:00. We had an hour and forty five minutes to complete a very important sequence of the film. However while we were shooting downstairs some equipment had already been shifted on the terrace.

Now, BDD chawl used to be a prison for freedom fighters during the British rule and as such the chawls are all match box structures stretched out in long rows, all of the same height and run into numbers as high as hundred and above! As we reached the terrace there were people on every single terrace…waving hands and calling names!

We began to shoot, the light was dipping fast, finally there was one shot left and the sun had packed up for the day. A decision had to be made- Do we shoot this shot somewhere else? Do we shoot it now despite the fading light? Do we change the shot?

Uttung said, “Let’s take the shot.” No retakes were possible. It had to be one go.

The camera was rolled and we canned it. The shot was Okayed and is the same one that’s used in the film…it did not look as bad as it seemed then. Risk taking is film making…at many levels.

The night had begun and we had yet to knock off an ambitious shot wherein the camera- planted on a 35 feet arm of a crane- started from a group of boys playing carom on the ground floor and went right to the first floor window of Bharat Jadhav’s room where we see him reading a book.
Fortunately by then people had lost interest in the shoot. The crowds had thinned out. We could film peacefully…as we neared pack up, Uttung asked me to run through our work list to see if we had left out anything…we had not.

At the end of Day 3 we had finished off one location and 15% of the film…our next stop was Goregaon west…it was going to be Nandkumar Deshmukh’s (Sanjay Narvekar) home and at pack up time, this home was being painted for the shoot the next morning!!

We hoped to be pleasantly surprised by our art department the next morning…

FASTEST PREPRODUCTION!

From our past experience on films i and Uttung both were used to at least 4-5 months of pre production before the film goes on floor.

For the uninitiated, Pre-production involves planning and locking your plans for the shoot on paper and in the minds of all the technicians involved. It means finalising your cameraman, art director, music director, costume designer, scouting locations and locking them, conducting auditions and locking the cast, drawing out schedules and preparing for any other emergencies that might occur.

The most time consuming part of this process is to find people with the similar vision as yours so that they understand and enhance the look that you have seen for the film.

On the morning of 20th Oct'08 we were yet to know whether the film will be made or not!! We only had on two things locked- THE SCRIPT and the DATES OF BHARAT JADHAV AND SANJAY NARVEKAR and those dates were from 1st Nov to 15 Nov!!!! We were 10 days away from those dates and still unaware.

On the night of 20th Oct'08 the project was locked. The production man was got in. after the meeting with the money people..I, Uttung and our production man- Pawan vaidya sat on the lawn outside the palatial mansion where we had gathered to lock our project. After a long silence where we all smoked in contemplation Uttung asked Vaidya, "Can we do it?", "It is difficult", he said. "But not impossible...we can do it.", i barged in for i did not want them to get too practical and too pessimistic! "Yes it can be done but..." began Vaidya. "We are doing it then!, all the best guys...we are going to make a feature film!"

That was on the night of 20th Oct'08...

The next day we stepped into our office and the war began...there was no computer or printer...my lap top came in handy...there were no chairs in office everyday some assorted furniture would come in from well wishers! we had to get the key crew and the Scott began.

We did not have large pay packets to pay anybody and we also anted them to say fast IMMEDIATELY! and yes...the last 4 days of the month was Diwali!!!! so we just had 6 whole days to prepare for a feature film which we had to shoot in 25 days flat on a shoe string budget without compromising on the creative and storytelling!!!

The hiccups began from day two itself....some people back tracked, some locations that were verbally finalised were leased out without consulting us!

We were going to begin from Worli's BDD chawl and we needed a room there to be worked upon for there was a definite look decided for it. We were two days away from the shoot when our art director backed out! We had become immune to set backs by then.

We knew one thing for sure- the harder we will be pushed back...the smarter we will push ourselves forward.

In 6 whole days and nights - the technicians were in place, locations were locked, casting was done, requirements were were ready...

I met Uttung near his building on the morning of 1st Nov'08 and we drove together to the location.

We were on our way to start making our first feature film!

A THOUGHT WAS BORN...AND SO WAS A DIRECTOR!

The thought occurred to Uttung- Director and the man behind the story and screenplay of AttaPitta- sometime in 2006 in a discreet village on the outskirts of Maharashtra. Those were the times that every director/ writer goes at some time in his life. It is a time when you have to simply wait for you have knocked on doors and entered through windows yet there is no opportunity that is allowing you in! At such times you might be willing to have patience but it is the pressure that builds around you that makes you anxious!

As such Uttung sat across a highly recommended astrologer who was predicting Uttung's life...his future...Although initially disinterested Uttuung could not help but get amused at the exact details of his past that were revealed by the astrologer and then by his predictions for the future! It was that evening when the thought occurred to Uttung...

...WHAT IF THIS MAN(the astrologer) WAS THE ONE WRITING MY LIFE???

What could i do to make sure he writes good things or how would i find out? It was a vague idea then but there was enough curiosity behind the thought and Uttung began developing it...Over two years of work- sometimes just in the back of the mind while sometimes with complete concentration-the screenplay and plot development of the script happened.

And Finally, what started as a wild abstract thought soon became a feature film- ATTA PITTA...a story that portrays through very real and amusing characters, a very subtle narration of the reliance we human beings have on hour own fate and on our own actions.