Human makes mistake. I am human, therefore! This week, after watching the movie "Uma", work of an award winning Director, I made the mistake of telling a group of three persons that everything is excellent about the movie except that without Mahishaurmardini (Mahalaya) pieces in the background / foreground one would always fall short of recreating Durga Puja; Anjan Dutta in his character role could have been less loud and there were too-muchness in the use of the dialogue. "I want to make a master-piece." Last week after watching Boom-Boom "Satyameba Jayate", I didn't say anything to anybody, even to myself. Earlier, after watching "Dhadak", while leaving the hall, I just murmured if that was the only way to end the movie which invoked an angry retort from a fellow spectator, "Why not if that is what our society is."
The Karma caught up with me soon. I was asked to shoot a 3 minute long promotional video for an upcoming 3 month long program. For this, I had to fit myself into many different roles, that of script-writer, background designer, dress designer, make up man, director and also, actor. And there was only 24 hours of time for all these with no relief from usual office and household work.
I started with a visit to the studio. The camera crew showed how it would be done and examples of few such promotional videos which were shot before. Most importantly, they provided lots of encouragement and told me that I need not be nervous. A slot of 2-3 PM was given next day i.e. today.
I started writing a 3-minute script and came up with a one pager. People who I sought feedback from uttered the minimum but a look of disagreement said what they wanted to say, that I could have done much better. After one iteration it appeared to me as okayish. It was late evening, too late to get a feedback on that. Then, started working on the background design which was completed late night.
The director in me told that there must be lots of energy, enthusiasm, cheerfulness in the delivery with a matching get up. The actor in me, facing the camera first time for such a promotional shoot, had everything in contrast in him. The shirt has to be single coloured, preferably dark. The trouser could be anything as the shot would be above the waist.
Found that the dark, single coloured shirts in the stock need to be ironed. The earliest I could get it done from outside was this evening. Who does not know that self-help is the best help? There was a visit to barber's shop. He was surprised as it was ahead of the schedule. Little touch up after which he reminded that I need to pay another visit before Durga Puja.
It was 1:15 PM to return home after conducting midterm project viva. There were 30 minutes for a rehearsal. Got a quiet room and started reading the script loud. My own voice appeared strange to me. Got accustomed to after reading it few times. Daughter got drawn from next room with a camera in hand and there were funny takes.
Reached the studio at 2 PM sharp. The camera crew told that reading out from script was not allowed. This was known to the director in me but the actor in me was praying for the opposite. "Can there be a prompter, a screen in front wherefrom I can read it out?" The crew looked at me meaningfully. They understood that they had a difficult job ahead of them. And the answer to the question was negative.
Some effort with the chroma software and background fixing, combing of hair for which mobile phone camera in selfie mode came handy, and we were good to go at 2:30 PM. The studio was to be released for other work at 3:00 PM. Take 1 survived 30 seconds. Take 2 about a minute. Fumbling after going good for 2 minutes in Take 3. For Take 4, camera crew asked not to start all over again but from where I stopped in Take 3. They concluded by that time that I was not in a position to finish a 3 minute's script at one go.
It was 2:55 PM. The persons who would take over the studio at 3 PM was at the door. One crew asked me to go for another full take as they wanted to make some change in proportion of my image and that of the background. I began all over again and behold, the whole 3 minutes' shot was okay at one go in this Take 5. The crew were very happy for their accomplishment. I was in a state of disbelief, "Did I do it?" The next slot persons watched this take in the monitor. They entered when I was packing up and congratulated.
Endnote: It was a lesson learnt. Never ever critcize a script-writer, director, actor, etc. Who knows whether the persons from that make-believe world can make that famous "Om Shanti Om" dialogue (Kehte hain ki, ... agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho to puri kayanat usey tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai) work in the reverse direction, too?
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