ravi deshpande

rites of passage part 1

2011-06-11T20:05:00.011+05:30

rites of passage part 1

Dear Aum,
You will embark day after on a Solo journey of a different kind. It is aptly called "The rites of passage". You might want to go someday to the works of Arnold van Gennep to understand the genesis. But let me make it simpler for you. The Rite of passage is a state of transition induced by a separation or shift from an earlier environment, group, or in your case the family, to a new environment which is your school, and then a a return or a reinclusion...
http://feverihad.blogspot.com/
Learning The first thing that you will learn is that any shift or transition or separation is quite painful for us humans, and it teaches us some emotional skills to tackle the pain. I honestly hope I learn some new skills for what has to come...
It is a very emotional moment for us, and the only relief is that you are going to a school which will offer you much more than this busy, overpopulated, and mis managed city.
When you read this, you would have probably spent some time at the school, "grown up" a bit, maybe sprouted a mustache...
Loneliness The empty spaces, moments, and one way endless monologues will trouble you much more than they will hound us. We both and you have to traverse this path together in order to reach a better destination, a better future. The Mumbai city does not offer that morrow...
Friendships
That's beautiful. Lots of friends. Some heartbreaks, some shocks. Some relationships that will last a lifetime. Loads of sharing. You will enjoy this Aum, because you are so friendly, helpful, understanding, and appreciative. You also have to learn inclusion. It is a natural progression and will happen. You must learn to nurture relationships because they are a gift. Friendships are the treasures that life offers. There is little else that will give you more satisfaction than this.
More to come...

Sahyadri

2011-05-25T08:27:00.006+05:30

Well, he did get in.
He is happy and our eyes often get moist at the prospect.
Aum

Gurgaon-Dubai Dejavu

2009-03-02T23:11:00.002+05:30

Spent better part of the last week in New Delhi.
It so happens that most Advertising Agencies have shifted to Gurgaon bag and baggage. Friends have followed suit and prefer to live in the vicinity of their work spheres.
I am as sympathetic towards them and their kin as I am towards my life in Mumbai. Gurgaon makes fun of history in the most palpable manner;
1. There never was a discipline called “town planning” in India or the region. Harrappa, Mohenjadaro, The Indus valley civilization never existed and thus we do not have a tradition of city planning. The Sydney Botanical gardens are of no use to the populace there. So are all the green areas developed by cities around the world a whim and fancy of some urban planner.
2. Global warming is a myth. Climate change has not made India lose an island recently (Lohachara island). The fact that Gurgaon is in a sensitive seismic area & prone to earthquakes is a falsity. There is no danger to our progenies or us. For generations to come, Gurgaon as a city and New Delhi as the capital of India will continue to exist without scars from the vagaries of weather, disease, the lack of water, or the abuse of the environment.
3. The following “non-issues” do not matter to the deciding authorities
A. The depletion of ground water
B. Increasing air pollution
C. Lack of proper solid waste disposal and sewer system.
Hence the powers of the Haryana govt have decided that 58 more sectors will be developed in addition to the already existing 57 sectors in Gurgaon according to the Master Plan 2021.
On the other hand, you could say that this is glaringly true of any new city in India. Or is it that being a mere filmmaker, I do not comprehend the complexity of issues faced by the builders, the planners, and the decision makers…
& In the same vein, it does not pain me to see this plunder and rape of mother earth. India is shining and winning everywhere.
It is not a recession here but just a slowdown.
I go to sleep a without a worry, a happy man.
Cause the next morning will herald a glorious day of new achievements, newer breakthroughs by Indians, and a vision that continually assures me of the bright future that my two boys will have.

Venita's Diwali Saga

2008-10-29T13:27:00.002+05:30

I don't know about you guys - but I had a really exciting Diwali.

I was arrested, hauled off to the cop station and held for three hours. I attach my column with the paper 'Herald' in Goa that explains all. If you want to read my other columns ( quite an exciting read I promise - one of them is 'How I started A Riot') you can go to www.savegoa.com

To put this in context - for the last two years I have been involved with the Goa Bachao Abhiyaan - a group that has been fighting to save Goa from an awful fate. The Government is busy making plans to sell Goa to Mining Interests, set up hideous SEZ projects, and turn the lush countryside into a sea of concrete.

In my village I have started the Moira Action Commitee and we have been questioning illegal construction for some time now. This happens invariably at the 'Gram Sabha's which are the village gatherings where one gets to question the Panchayat and those in authority.

Here I thought I was just a writer - but I have become an accidental activist. Right now my life is schizophrenic. I am writing a script for Karan Johar while my life is a film by Shyam Benegal.

Go ahead. Enjoy the story.

The Accidental Activist – Will this happen to you next?

I am an ordinary person. I could live next door to you. I have four dogs, two cats, and a daughter that I adore. I write scripts for business and books for pleasure. Like you - I believed that we lived in a democracy and we all had a right to speak up and be heard. I believed that we were safe in Goa. In the past few days I've learnt to think differently.

On Sunday the police forcibly hauled me off my seat in the Moira Gram Sabha, dragged me to a jeep, drove me to the police station and detained me.

All I was doing was attending a Gram Sabha. I had barely stood up to ask a question when a villager interrupted by producing the columns that had featured in this paper and demanded that I apologize for writing them. My reply was simple. If I had written even one thing that was not fact, they were welcome to protest in the same forum by writing to the editor. I would certainly not apologize. I believed that we still lived in a democracy with the full right to have an opinion and air it. I was told 'We will pass a resolution saying you cannot speak in the Gram Sabha until you apologize'. Instead of controlling the situation the Sarpanch said 'Reply to him'. I refused.

The tactic changed. 'Remove her from the Gram Sabha! She is not on the electoral rolls.' Suddenly the lone protestor was a group of men baying that I be thrown out of the Sabha. They ran towards me, threatening to drag me out of the hall.

I sat firm on my chair insisting 'I am on the electoral rolls. Let the rolls be produced and checked.' ( Electoral Rolls for Moira – Part Number 8 Serial Number 809). This was completely ignored by the Sarpanch and Panchayat. They sat back and watched as I was surrounded by ranting men issuing threats 'we'll see how you live in this village… we'll see how you step out of doors…' Ironically they were also protesting the fact that I had in my columns in the Herald spoken of 'rowdies' at the Gram Sabha. And their protest proved ample proof of what they denied in words.

There I was – one woman surrounded by a group of screaming, threatening men. The Sarpanch scribbled a note on a piece of paper and the police swung into action. Did they take into hand the rowdies who were trying to intimidate me? Of course not. They grabbed me and forcibly dragged me from my chair. I was pulled out of the Sabha and shoved into a police jeep. When friends insisted they come with me they were pushed away from the jeep and I was driven off.

Two women panchas sat and watched a single woman being intimidated and manhandled without saying a word. A Sarpanch who writes 'Advocate' before his name ignored every rule of the law and wrote a police complaint without verifying the facts which it was his duty to do so. His complaint said I was to be removed because the Sabha had passed a resolution to that effect 'unanimously'. This is the same Sarpanch who refuses to cancel building licences despite the unanimous Gram Sabha resolution that they be revoked.

I made phone calls. By the time I arrived at the police station press and moral support had started to arrive. The police refused to give us a copy of the complaint until the PI arrived. After a wait of three hours he did. His explanation? 'Madam the Sarpanch is in the authority in that situation. We will do what the authority tells us.' I believed the police were meant to uphold law and order and be the instrument of justice. I now learn that they are merely there to do what the authorities order them to – whether it is right, wrong or motivated with malice.

By the time activists from Utt Goenkara, GBA, Aldona Bachao Abhiyaan, and other concerned villagers had arrived, the police had changed their tune. I was now informed that I had been taken into police custody for my own safety. So was anything being done against those who had made me unsafe in the first place? 'You please write to the authorities and complain about the Sarpanch. We will take up the matter then.'

I believed that we were safe in Goa. I believed democracy assured us the basic right to speak up. But I have now learnt for myself how voices are silenced. By wrongly bending the rules. By using the police as an unquestioning blunt instrument in the hands of those in power. By using strong arm tactics to intimidate and threaten.

It will take more than a bunch of village rowdies to scare or silence me. It is the future of my village that I am speaking up for. The place where my daughter will grow up. I will go a long long way to protect her inheritance.

But what terrifies me is the silence they have already forced on others.

The Assagao Gram Sabha was held at the same time as the Moira Gram Sabha. The previous day in Assagao a seventy year old man had been brutally beaten by goons because he had managed to get the Sarpanch finally brought to book. It should have been a stormy Gram Sabha. Instead there was silence. The topic was not even brought up. In that entire village not one person dared to speak up to condemn what had happened.

The violence, the goondaism is on my doorstep. And I live next door to you.

I know. I understand. You're an ordinary person. You don't want trouble. But you must speak up.

It will be your door that they break down next.

--
'You must be the change you want to see in the world' - Gandhi
Venita Coelho
Casa Coelho
House No. 876
Bambordem, Moira V.P.
Goa - 403507
9867166057 / 832 2470861

Of rain and plastic-the last three months Part 1

2008-08-08T12:09:00.023+05:30

The Ghats

When i start out for a shoot or a reccee, the mood is upbeat. Add rain or the onset of monsoon - the promise of a good time to be had. I have tired of Mumbai locations as far as advertising films are concerned. Barring a Dabur in Mukesh Mills, I have shot most commercials out of Mumbai in the past few years.
Had the opportunity to shoot a small Cibaca relaunch film in Pune. I was lucky to have my favorite team in place.
My Favorite Crew
To begin with, Ravi Yadav, the DOP.
He was free from his myriad assignments after RACE, and tagged along happily. It's such a pleasure to work with this simple, unfussy, speedy craftsman who understands the brief in a jiffy.
His team works like invisible silent men; one hardly hears a shout or a bad word from any of them. Efficiency to the hilt.
It has been nearly a decade that i have worked with him, and not once has the man put me down.
He always has a kind word for the assistant directors, a joke or two for the art direction team, and great rapport with the production.

Secondly, my support system of the last 3 years, Dilip More, the Art Director.
Not many people know that Dilip has constructed the set for the goa fest two years in succession. Neither do they know that Dilip has been consistently working with Tarsem on his India shoots.
People do know that he is the only art director in Mumbai who treats his assistants like friends...Check out his chief Mahesh Salgaoncar and his idiosyncrasies. All photos by Dilip himself.

Dilip and Mahesh are from JJ school of arts.

Mahesh also has a striking resemblance to Dilip Acharya, my Production Manager.
To clinch the team was my best assistant director to date, Divya Rao.
Here is an example of art direction team's spirited dare devilry.

This was Divya's fourth film with us, and Ms. Dependability was all over the place, with her beaming persona.
The film was not difficult. But the approach I had taken was a bit labored. I was doing a Colgate film for the first time. The sensitive-sensible creative Sneha Nihalani had crafted a charming film for the brand. However, the pan-india-small-town-but-not-rural-not-down-market look, feel, and tone was a grey area for everyone. There were concerns galore whether the client will buy in to the look-'why don't you just shoot it in mumbai', etc. fears and apprehensions.
I wanted the client to get a feel of the India outside of Mumbai - our sensitivities have got smudged by the Film-Industry-recreations-of-India-within-Mumbai. The real India is out there, a few hundred kilometers away.
Coincidences Cibaca is lal-red, and on the day of the shoot, the entire art direction team accidentally wore red.
A musical Discovery
The films chief Harish Mishra, suggested a new music director, Ajit Varman. I met the man and was floored. I was sitting across this great composer who has given music to vijeta, saransh, and a load of other films. His compositions are being copied to date, and the man is wonderfully brimming with new music.
In less than 2 months, i have done four TVCs with this great man.
Took a while for the client to buy in to his indigenous clutter breaking tune. So we rerecorded with another music director duo. Finally, the client saw reason.
Another Colgate
By then they offered me yet another colgate film.
For this one i had the perfect location fit in kolhapur.
Kishyabapu's mala
Kolhapur is a fun place. You get to stay in a palace, see varied sights and people that enrich your senses.

images from my cel: new office

2008-03-31T15:57:00.006+05:30

The wall by Laxman PatilThe smoking zone
The view from my room
From the smoking zone
they are still drilling holes in the walls.
i am penning the list of 'to dos'. There are tons, including this post.

Ravi Deshpande Pictures New Office

2008-02-22T21:59:00.003+05:30

396/13, Ground Floor, Prem Villa, Diagonally Opposite Gurudwara, 16th Road, Near Rajesh Khanna Garden, Santacruz West, Mumbai 400054. Tel: 26602667.
9820017223 - Ravi Deshpande
9820230510 - Dilip Acharya
9820730254 - Swati Deshpande

Kalesaheb

2008-02-22T20:21:00.007+05:30

It's 2 months since I shifted from the old office in Bandra.
What i miss is Kalesaheb-Arun Kale!

Kalesaheb was across in the opposite garage. Kalesaheb was a partner with Mohammed Khan in the glorious Enterprise Nexus days. To date, Kalesaheb's work is of a higher order than the norm in Indian Advertising.

Kalesaheb came much after i started working out of Excella.

& over the years I have grown fond of this simple but yet great man who evokes respect by his work, his work ethics, his passion for design, his endearing benevolence for the young, the talented, and the needy, and his endearing relationships (Advertising people who had worked under him used to rush to meet him the moment they came to know that he was in the garage opposite).

Every now & then, his friends (A directors, painters, and artists) of 40 years and more frequent his office to share, to discuss, and to thrash!!!

& I have learned to tread with trepidation to restrain my eagerness when i show my completed TVCs...

Mrs. Kale is sunshine-easy to smile. And as eager to lend a helping hand; a bounty of energy!!! & the talented Apu Kale that i lost to the US. I had nefarious plans to use him as an AD.

I’ll miss them…

Adieu to the Bandra office

2007-12-21T12:56:00.005+05:30

On the 1st of Jan, 2008, my landlord lands up at the office I've had for 8 years.
"I have sold the property, Ravi. You will have to vacate..."
For 8 years, we have inhabited this beautiful, quiet office in the by lanes of Bandra.
"Some misunderstanding...My sons made the deal when I was in America."
He has been a nice man to know all these years.
"I would not have thought about this had you not told me 3 years ago that you wished to shift to a bigger place..."
He is still a nice man cause he can face read me.
So be it. Welcome 2008 with the first poke!
We will leave this place with fond memories, attachments to moments stuck to these walls; ppms at midnight, diwali get togethers and ganesh aratis. Heated discussions, breakdowns, and the air filled with mirth and laughter. My assistants will remember the endless nights on edits, and the early mornings before the shoots...
Me and Swati will miss it for the warmth we infused in to it...I had designed the office interiors with all my love for Swati, while she was far away in

Australia

...

Kolhapur shoot

2007-12-20T14:44:00.000+05:30

Tanned to near black, hoarse throat from shouting at the unit, and apprehensive about the end result. Isn't it always like that???

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

2007-12-03T11:16:00.000+05:30

Finished the book last night at 1.30. Tossed and turned for a few hours. Saw a bit of Jackie Chaan's Medallion on some tv channel for a while. But the color of the film was too goddy and vivid as contrasted with the evocative, black and white world that i had inhabited for the past three days.
The images of the book, and Dr. Babasaheb's angst kept me awake till the wee hours of the morning. Wished the Doodhwallah good morning and managed to doze off.

Back at work, but need to pen some immediate reactions before i can switch hats to this mundane world of immediate and perennial crisis.

Mr. Vijay Surwade spent most of his working life collecting photographs and memorabilia about Dr. Ambedkar!
Wherever that he lived; from small shanties in Ulhasnagar, Thane, or Kalyan, he saved the originals from leaky ceilings, and damp walls - whenever that he had the faintest clue of finding a photo or a scribbling, he would rush to the place
(whether it be Aurangabad, Nagpur, Baroda, or Nagpada-Dadar), and chase the original owner to part with the invaluable asset. He would coax, cajole, pay, and what have you till the owner relented.
Thus we have an unbelieavably rich harvest of history speaking through photographs and the text by Vasant Abaji Dahake (but not in that order).
What is interesting is that Dahake does not illustrate his writing with the photographs. The only division that the text allows itself is paragraph breaks; no chapters, headings, date wise dissections at all!!! Vishwasrao does not underline the photographs or the events by any undue, unwanted 'editorial' tippani, asterixs, references, etc. The text is as clean as the presentation of the photographs is; easy on the eye - let the content speak for itself!!!
The book comprises of a very brief introduction by Prakash Visshwasrao, followed by Dahake's factual text, and then the rich collection of photographs and documents.
And then are beautiful sketches of his colleagues, and lists and details...A mammoth task. At the end of the read, its not a history lesson, and yet, i remember every event by it's date as i see the event illustrated by a photograph. But it is with heavy emotion that you look at each phoyograph; Vishwasrao has already inducted you through the introduction of those events writen by Dahake.
So it becomes a personal experience as one gazes at these photographs, and time flies past. The photographs speak of many more stories. These portraits of warriors, thinkers, revolutionaries...At times lost in their thoughts while the photographer clicked the event for posterity, at times not so preoccupied but belonging to one another in an indescribable bond that is crystal clear with the sameness of their countenance, sameness of their purpose-how else can 50 people in a photograph have the same expression???, at times displaying the tenseness of the moment, at times using the moment to be somewhere faraway...and most importantly always with an intensity that bespeaks the responsibility of the cause that they stood for.
It is rare to come across a photograph completely framed, or dictated, or 'directed' as a PR exercise or for some motive. There is a certain purity to each of these portrayals of events and faces.
These are portraits of a man engrossed with his mission, and of his people who by their body language speak a truth that they lived - the truth of a struggle of a higher order!!!
Amidst these gems, one sticks out as the only mirthful photograph.
Dr. Ambedkar resigned from his ministership in Delhi and returned to Mumbai on 18th November 1951. RaoBahadur C. K. Bole had no place to sit on the Boribunder Station. So Dr. Ambedkar plonked him on his lap. And behind them, the police are perturbed and issuing instructions to the followers. Unaware of all that, Dr. Ambedkar, his wife and old Rao Bahadur share a moment they will cherish. So will I.
I wonder whether the English version will be able to retain the charm of the marathi...More as I digest it further...

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar

2007-11-29T14:52:00.000+05:30

By Prakash Vishwasrao for Lok Wangmaya Griha. Sanjay Surwade. wonderful book. Still reading it. After a long time fell in love with a book. Last was Francis Fukuyama's Trust.
Although I am happy that the copy that i have is in Marathi, it's also available in Hindi and English.
The story of the collector of memorablia and photographs, Vijay Surwade is stuff one can make a film out of.
Morning spoke to my father in Pune about the book, and the relevance of Ambedkar's views today. He vision is inscribed in our constitution, but we have forgotten most of what is pertinent to society this very moment.
"Hard as it is for someone my age understand, the generation of Poles who have grown up since the fall of Communism have virtually no historical memory of what it represented; they take Poland’s contemporary democracy for granted and feel little emotional connection to the great struggles of their parents’ generation."
That's Fukuyama on Nov 22nd on his blog.
The same applies to the youth of India.
We have Ambedkar's photo just about everywhere; in schools, colleges, at weddings, in all the government offices, in public places and what have you. We have made a God out of him and forgotten his teachings, nay his guidelines about how society and the government should behave.
A revisit is of utmost importance for sanity to return to a nation steeped in the whirlpool of a post modern consumerist kitsch. There will be more of ambedkarism here on my blog as i continue reading this fascinating book...

Veer

2007-11-12T14:53:00.000+05:30

My 6 month holiday is over. Veer is born. He and Swati are well. He is beautiful!!!

Ten Years

2007-07-26T15:45:00.000+05:30

Samir Sarkar uploaded some info on his facebook account about us working together on the French film 'Hanuman' a decade back.
In 1996-1997.
& Suddenly, i felt the span of the decade rush past; ten years of hard work, of friends lost & made, of unions & partings, of places seen & not seen, relationships, joys, & humbling hurts.
There are places in my heart that are empty with people that i have lost to Yama, or to their own world views.
Like holes in the heart.
Sanjay Saghvai lost his life due to a hole in his heart a few days ago. Wamanrao Deshpande died of a heart attack although he didn't have a hole in his heart.
If we list the dear ones we lose in a lifetime, it will make a personal directory of wounds. & Pain.
At the end of ten years, there is more remorse, regret, & sorrow.
The remnants.
Emptiness.

Arun Kaul is no more

2007-07-21T15:45:00.000+05:30

It's silly to spend a day at office crying. But that's how time has lapsed.
Booked a flight to Delhi amidst moist eyes.
But just then Neelaabh called, "We will cremate him in the afternoon. Tu mat aa."
Too late.
& It's too early for him to leave.
He still had to see Neelaabh's award winning work & Bilash's films.
Arun Kaul gave me two dear friends for life; Neelaabh Kaul the cinematographer, & Indraneel (Bilash) Kaul, the scriptwriter-filmmaker. He also gave me one of the first few 'breaks' when I started working as a director fresh out of the FTII, over 2 decades ago.
He did much more for Kashmir (& not just through his serial Kashmir Diaries) than other page 3 Kashmiris. People have great regard & admiration for this die hard old school warrior of the Indian film industry. They always will.
He would make it a point to meet everyone when he came to mumbai after he shifted base to New Delhi. On such occasions, I would touch his feet out of respect, & the next moment, he would light a cigarette, share a drink, & chat about everything under this earth with the passion of someone young at heart. He would share his dream of writing more scripts, making more films, of tackling newer subjects!
Up untill a few months ago!!!
Bilash has sordid tales of those months about hospitals & doctors of Delhi who misled him with false diagnosis & awry medicines!!!
The 2 boys have lost their father, & I have lost a great friend!
These two boys who will be men now will carry forth the father's legacy; try & fulfill the dreams he had & the dreams they do on the canvas of cinema!
"Kaul, 74, is survived by his wife and two sons. He breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences this morning after being hospitalised for nearly a month.

Kaul, who was running "Vyeth" (Kashmir name of river Jehlum) Television, shot into fame when his film "Diksha" won the best film award for the year 1992.

He has been a screenplay assistant of veteran film maker Gulzar for the films 'Lekin' and 'Ijaazat' besides having written the screenplay for the film star-studed "Chandni" of Yash Chopra.

He has also produced a film named "Ek Adhuri Kahani" directed by Mrinal Sen.

His television documentary "Dharma Kshetra" won the NFDC Award in 1986.

In mid 1990s, his production house, Vyeth Television, started "Kashmir File" on Doordarshan in which the excesses committed by militants were highlighted.

The programme was closed after its anchor reporter, Saiuddin Shafi, was gunned down by militants in broad daylight for raising voice against the terrorists." Newspaper Report

"You don't write your blog anymore?" Jeevan Gabriyal

2007-07-17T14:30:00.000+05:30

Last week spent at Isha Yoga Centre in Coimbatore, the week before that in Pondy, being with Aum at the Arvind Eye Hospital while he got operated for his squint, & the week before in Dubai & Sharjah. No time to blog or think through ideas. Each journey has been a once in a lifetime experience & I hope I get time to pen down the titbits of learnings.
& the week prior to that i was busy acquiring a waterfall & a farmland for Aum to grow up on.
There are 9 tvcs of ravideshpandepictures on air right now. I assiduously avoid mentioning the specifics; the clients have spent huge amounts on their airing, & just about everyone has seen them till they have become eyesores!!!
But am happy to get back to the familiar shores of advertising & mumbai. The rain gods have spared mumbaites this year or so it seems to date.

Har Akshar

2007-04-16T11:45:00.000+05:30

High in the hills of panchgani, nestled in the red soiled school-country next to the mahabaleshwar strawberry country i found a picturesque old school that Freddy Mercury went to - St. Peter's.
Three days of shoot is not really a hectic affair unless it involves the rain machine, an old bulky crane, storm fans, & a motley crew of hundred to be lugged up & down steep slopes. It was precisely that sort of a tough scenario.
But even tougher was the task I had set out for myself; to make the video simple, like a semester ending playback exercise - no gimmicks, no effects, no visual wizardy. Evoke childhood memories of school-time with simple shots. So the effort was to go completely opposite of what we view on the tube, channel after channel. A video that looks like it was shot twenty years ago!!!
The video's on air. The 30 seconder ad culled out of the video too is on air.
We first recorded the song in Rishi Kamerkar's voice. & Vijay's. & it sounded superb! Justin Uday did a superfluous job. There was a soul to the music.
But the client wanted a celeb voice so we had to go with Shaan & Mahalaxmi. It still sounded fine.
Har Akshar Har Yaad Simti hui hai...
That's the second project with Pushpinder Singh that has left me satisfied.
Made a few more TVCs in the past 2-3 months. There are eight of them on air right now.
It's time to relax, to spend with Aum & Swati, & to ponder over the features waiting to be made...

this blogger thing

2007-03-08T17:24:00.000+05:30

Hardly have much time at the comp nowadays. & when I do, Blogger has to throw open these ultra refined, newer ways to sign in with entirely new steps-to-do-it. Damn irritating. & slow as hell!. So most of the times I just don't post & veer away to agencyfaqs.com, or bbc.com, & logout.
Summer is here - its early & its rude! In Chennai last week the airconditioning malfunctioned in the hotel & i was struck by a blast of hot air when i opened the window. Further into Andhra, towards Nellore, we were soaked in sweat when we stepped out of acd comfort to partake lunch.

Besides tales of weather here & now, there's quite a bit to rattle; the cancer scare of last month, the beauty of coorg, & so on...will do so soon!

my dear dear vc & her undefatigable spirit

2007-01-29T21:17:00.000+05:30

THE REASON I LOVE THIS WOMAN SO MUCH!!!
Yes, I did the disappearing act again.

Bombay got on my nerves for the umpteenth time. I chucked up my job and headed back to sleepy Goa. But Goa has been far from sleepy these last few months - and I have been right in the middle of it! I have been part of a flying squad that swoops down on tree cutting... organizes local protests...co-ordinates mass rallies and generally urges the public - UTT GOENKAR!

To begin at the beginning. In August the Government announced the Regional Plan for Goa. This is the long term planning document that the government is duty bound to do for each region. But this one was a disaster. Over 50% of agricultural land was being converted to settlement zones. Mining areas were being increased by 400% and five of these were in the middle of national forests. There were Special Economic Zones that would mean the cutting and filling of mangroves - overall it was less a plan for development and more a plan for disaster. Rumour had it that the government had accepted over 1500 crores in bribes from builders lobbies to shape the plan the way it was. And so the fight began.

It started with absolute amateurs who just wanted to do something to stop this Plan. The Goa Bachao Abhiyaan was formed. It is led by a doctor, a housewife, an architect and a motely crew of people who had nothing but their indignation to fuel them. We started with public rallies - and were overwhelmed by the thousands that turned out in support. We began going from village to village explaining the fallout of the plan and how Goa would become a concrete jungle. We formed a flying squad that began to visit construction and destruction that had begun to force the authorities to stop it. We got stay orders, and filed FIR's and camped at the government offices. It was crazy - but what a blast! I'd never been an activist in my life. Just a fighter.

I suddenly found myself meeting with lawyers and town planners, and communidade representatives, and organizing villagers, and leading cops on raids - and stopping to wonder from time to time what the heck I was doing!

And here is the INCREDIBLE NEWS. A peoples movement has actually achieved the impossible. The government yesterday announced the scrapping of the Regional Plan with retrospective effect. It's still sinking in. We actually got a government down on it's knees.

Hooray!

Just thought I'd share this happiness with you.

Venita the Activist ( VENITA COELHO)

No Government better mess with me!

tempted

2007-01-16T16:33:00.000+05:30

Tempted to switch to this exciting place, the den that houses some great minds & some wannabes like me. passionforcinema.com

Pushpi & Maharashtrians

2007-01-16T15:24:00.000+05:30

Over six months ago, Pushpinder Singh asked me to find a writer who understands the "pride" of Maharashtrians, the Marathi "bana". Pushpi is like that. He knows Marathi culture as much as the life & times of the 10 Sikh Gurus.
I asked a few friends. All of them suggested Pravin Tokekar, a celebrated journo. I called Mr. Tokekar. A warm voice answered the phone. He knew of Pushpi & agreed to pop in at the Bandra office the next day. I was surprised that he agreed to drive down all the way from Thane on a sunday. Every script meeting was a combo of fish, mutton, police canteen, purepur kolhapur, sayba, & suchlike.
The poetry that Pravin wrote for us turned into my favorite ad film. The client thanked me profusely for having made the film. There was no money made but everyone felt happy.
I was happier because I had a new found friend with the same likes & dislikes, a guy with whom i could converse with ease, someone who understood the circumstance of my mind.
Pravin had recited a story which had all of us rolling on the cheap carpet of the seedy motel we stayed in during the adfilm shoot. Six months hence, Pravin came today, prepared to embark on the script for the feature. A marathi film!!!

national launch

2007-01-15T21:45:00.000+05:30

HINDUSTAN LEVER FILM
The product has been in the market for a while. However, because a film is being done now, Levers calls it the national launch. I've tried the product & it's quite effective. So the PPM for the film was today & I drove through the island city shifting between 1st & second gear, all because a minister had come to amchi mumbai from navi dilli & the police were out in full attendance with nakabandis.
AMCHI MUMBAI
For those who dont know Mumbai or Bombay-its an island city with just about 3 roads linking the suburbs to the business area called Nariman Point. It is the fifth most populous metropolitan area of the world and the most populous city of India. It houses 20 million people & is also one of the most expensive cities of India.
So when one of the roads is blocked, which is what hapenned today, the load shifts to the other two. Itseemed like a few million people out on the roads today & jams galore!!!
Over all, the Mumbaikars are a decent lot of drivers. Patient, not lane jumping, honking addicts. It's the taxi drivers, the tempo, bus, & truck drivers who have the road rage, the tricks of the trade to infuriate even the most placid temperament.
We had savin tuscano in the car who does not let me play what he terms as "video games" while i drive so I satback & suffered through the chaos & landed late for the PPM.
SIX AUDITIONS FOR AN ADFILM IN 4 CITIES
The eventual film is going to be nice. "real" & not addy. & hence me as the director of the film. Doing a levers-lintas film after nearly 3 years now. I suppose I scared the shit out of them with my real, down to earth gritty adfilms till this opportunity came along!!!
What I do like is the real approach- we have audtioned SIX times to find a housewife who can act...for the north as well as for the south!! So we auditioned in Pune, ND, Chennai, & Mumbai. Again & again!
It's nice to get back to advertising after the 4 months with features... atleast one can write & share experiences...
Nextpostwill be about the feature experience...Owe you one...

back again

2007-01-04T17:23:00.000+05:30

I received 2 dozen mails, some dated as far back as feb 06 from blogger last week. Prompted me to check the blog. & discovered a horde of changes. Wow!
Welcome to the brand new year. For all you know it will turn out to be the same heartbreaker last year was, what with the bomb blasts, the excessive rain, the deaths in hte family & the deaths of friends...
& failed efforts, like my try at a feature film...

my friend anna's idea finds fruition

2006-09-22T16:18:00.000+05:30

‘ctrlD’. It’s the big idea for the industry that was waiting to happen. With ‘thefilmcorporation.com’, the needle in the haystack syndrome for talent, locations, equipment, & what-have-you sourcing gets resolved. Free flow of ruddy useful information a click or an sms away. The interactive nature of the sms scheme & the site will make it a hub, an ‘adda’. This portal will make several issues transparent, which to date remain in the ‘variable’ bracket with respect to timelines & costs. I am happy for all the newcomers as well as the myriad talent in the nooks & corners of the country who can showcase their stuff & benefit.‘ctrlD’. It’s the big idea for the industry that was waiting to happen. With ‘thefilmcorporation.com’, the needle in the haystack syndrome for talent, locations, equipment, & what-have-you sourcing gets resolved. Free flow of ruddy useful information a click or an sms away. The interactive nature of the sms scheme & the site will make it a hub, an ‘adda’. This portal will make several issues transparent, which to date remain in the ‘variable’ bracket with respect to timelines & costs. I am happy for all the newcomers as well as the myriad talent in the nooks & corners of the country who can showcase their stuff & benefit.

back home

2006-07-28T20:14:00.000+05:30

what a relief!
flooded with backlog & spaced out with jetlag.
to look at aum sleep, to watch aum play, to hear him sing, to hug him & sleep, to carry him on the shoulders, & to play with him!!!
awake till 2 last night trying to convince swati to come to london for the shoot...
she doesnt want to.
5 adfilms from different agencies & all of them have the same deadline-yesterday!!!

dejavu

2006-07-25T16:20:00.000+05:30

sunday woes
2 hours on the road now. the electricity failure in the area has affected the entire kings cross station operations. go down to the kings cross tube & the underground is shut. so walk through a myriad diversions (everything is dug up along the way) to kings cross thames. buy a tkt, go down 3 flights & am told it’s shut. help a lone chinese woman cart her heavy suitcase up. broken english. meet a black man on the road who is seeking alms. give him a pound, climb a bus to euston. hot, hot, hot! sweaty caribbean family next to me. a fire engine chases the bus through thick traffic with alarm on full blast. get off & lug her suitcase to euston. down a few flights to the underground & in to the train. get off wishing her luck. the flight home is in an hour & half. wonder whether she caught it. euston to oxford circus, change the line to waterloo.
happy travelers at the eurorail junction. it’s the end of the week & not many people at waterloo junction. & now onwards to windsor & eton riverside. all on a sandwich since morning.

a week in london

2006-07-25T16:06:00.000+05:30

sunday, 22nd
halfway through the bath & the power goes off. the british lady across my window peeps, & embarrassedly asks whether i have any electricity.
the bane of london
so its like any other indian city-power cuts, water cuts, trains run late, people smoke just about everywhere, traffic jams galore & they jump the signal all the time. the mayor of london is exasperated at the burglaries & the pre-teen pregnancies.
the good thing about london
what’s good is that londoners are a happy lot. they keep the city clean. the food is superb. & they have a panache for doing things right. the touristy areas such as oxford street, leicester square are as crowded as linking road-it’s the sale season & european tourists along with londoners throng the shops for discounts. i bought 3 pairs of shoes & am very happy-they will last me for a long long time.
one needs to walk here! shyam & naman to gether made me walk at least ten miles. my legs say i did 20.
lovers abound at every nook & corner, hands & lips locked in love & lust at street corners, stations, stores, restaurants & cafes. there’s beer flowing from morning till the wee hours of the morning at the roadside cafes.
the elderly
the aged have got habituated to loneliness-they travel to pubs & sit at tables with a pint or two for hours without a word to another sitting across from them.
heritage
londoners have great regard for their heritage. the structures are preserved & displayed with pride-londoners will make a museum out of just about anything.
indian productions & british connexion
there are a lot of indian productions active here. boney has camped in london for the last one & half month, met aseem at pinewood-he resumed shooting yesterday for a british feature, manu & gang are at the fag-end of the second film, satish kaushik is acting with my friend tanishtha chatterjee in a major english film, sudhakar bokade is in manchester, & so on.
meeting shyam
shyam sunder. my friend of a decade & more. don’t find the time to meet him in mumbai… we spent hours yesterday, chatting in my 3 bed spread at king’s cross & walking the length & breadth of oxford street. he has been in the industry for over eight years now, & is itching to make his own film. the computer shop boy from shimoga has grown up to be a bright mature man with several score connexions in the film industry. whether in mumbai, chennai, or london, he is forever on the phone. his bill, he assures me has touched several lakhs sometimes.
naman ramachandran
butted in to naman & laxmi’s weekend. bought a doc martens. went through half a dozen lanes, took the tube to camden. his house has the most fabulous vibrations i have come across in months. i have this thing about placesthere & then, i decided & announced that i am staying the night. spoke to naman till it got dark. collapsed with fatigue before midnight. he took me to a temple of sorts-the apple store.
the apple store
the new macbook pro!!! for just a lakh twenty! wish i had the dough. the who-tommy song buzzed in my head-feel me, touch me, hear me! there is nothing in the computer hardware world which is as superior a design as a mac product.

rude mumbai or downright rude london?

2006-07-22T03:15:00.000+05:30

the brits still hate us!!!

today at leicester square. was to meet the gang to see a night club at nine in the night. got out of the tube & was told to come to a store called switzerland. So i turned to the aged couple manning the newspaper stall just outside the stn. to my shock, the guy who had just sweetly aided another tourist a moment ago with directions shook his head violently & shooed me away. round the corner was switzerland!!! its an anomaly compared to the rest of the angrez janata's treatment. but i have learnt the hard way to get in to a store, which belong either to pakistanis or bangladeshis & ask for directions.
if you approach any body else out here, & look the way i do, you are going to be illtreated, & even by a sweet old couple. should write this to the lonely planet & see if they publish this in their guide notes!!!

the good thing about today

well, there will be enough bad things to stuff your day to feel miserable, & then there is that one meeting, that one good thing that makes it all worthwhile. I was out looking at locations way out in london, when i was told that the day is free. called naman & he didnt pick up my call. called shamrao & ditto. so called manu, & he said come to datchett to the set. so off i went to waterloo & tried to search where datchett was. called manu several times. damnn! its next to windsor! if only he had said so...
anyway, took the train & landed at datchett. no sign of manu. got off the platform & called him. so there i am at the rly crossing & he is on the other side.

he takes me to this glorious property which is costing him 5000 pounds a day to shoot in, & i meet mohanlal, gopi, snatosh thudiyal, his assistant who has worked for me on the binod pradhan shot rahu dravid tvc, & manu's mother & dad. So i get to tell mohanlal about his shirt that i wore for 2 years, speak to gopi about his fight with his ailment, & share manu's dad's concerns about the shoot, & so on...
& a lovely indian khana after 5 days...

then we go to radisson where they are staying & i feel like a country cousin because of the budget constraints that the brits are working with. & then a whirlwind tour of the countryside with an inimitable character who is a caterer called ronnie from jalander!!! & then i try to rush back to central london & then to leicester square. Phew!!!

the location we saw today at nine in the morning.

so like mumbai

2006-07-20T00:59:00.000+05:30

a simple beautiful chairthe cafe outside the station

so why does it feel like i am in amchi mumbai & not in london?
the ride to the outskirts-north london, rickmansworth for locations left us all sweaty & drained. It was hot! for londoners, the hottest day in years!!!
on top of that, the drivers on all the lines were told to go slow. the trip from rickmansworth to bakers street was about 40 minutes that seemd like hours. came back to drench myself under the shower, & guess what!!! no water. several areas, including camden & kings cross, where i am put up are without water.
mumbaikars, you have company. london's going your way!!!
so here i sit, bare with a malibu rum & a roast chicken on the side; fat sweaty me alone in a 3 bedroom pad with the windows thrown open for some breeze.
a bit tired of working on the breakdowns of the script, so am blogging to pass the time till sleep comes my way.
in this quiet apartmental block, i heard the cries of an infant. the first & only loud sound in 3 days. remembered aum & missed his tantrums.

london morning

2006-07-18T14:15:00.000+05:30

breakfast at the cafe downstairssandwich street, near king's cross.

sure, its a costly place but its squeaky clean. & the weather is gorgeous. best thing about the breakfast was the cheerful owner who kept whistling through his chores.

awwa 95 is no more

2006-07-18T11:00:00.000+05:30

my grandma. cant find her snap in the mac. but her image is etched in my mind.
she bore 16 children. & she smiled & loved all of us, her grandchildren, equally. its a part of me that is forever lost.

racial discrimination on the BA flight

2006-07-18T10:11:00.000+05:30

just realised the rude way that history was in vain.
the brits still treat the indians the way the angrej did eons ago.
& here i am to direct a brit film.
lovely sunny morning. its 5 am and am unable to sleep.
its a 3 bedroom apartment. so quiet that i wonder whether i have any neighbours at all...
they seem to ahve liked the screenplay. am still woozy from the jetlag.
& eyes are still swollen from the wailing & crying bout day before after awwa died...

who

2006-07-12T16:41:00.000+05:30

who???

who is this that can think up a series of blasts at peaktime in the compartments of suburban trains?
who could have planted these bombs physically?
did they wait after they left the bombs to see them blast?
did they feel a sense of satisfaction at a job well done when they saw fruition?
did they pat themselves on their backs for killing the lives of normal, innocent people getting home from a hard day's work?
who is this that wants to carry the guilt of a thousand deaths?
who the fuck is this asshole?
who?

the blasts

2006-07-12T16:05:00.000+05:30

photo by presanth krishnan

why???

i share the credits for writing santosh's film "the terrorist". it was an extension of my diploma film on the indira gandhi assassination. it was called "looking back". the film ended with the protagonist breaking down.
the twin towers, the london underground, the mumbai blasts in the nineties (i had made yet another film on mumbai back to normal for the government to be sent to all the consulates!!!)
& i feel the pain yet again.
i cry with the bereaved families, & with the injured who will relive the nightmare all their lives.
i am helpless.
this heap of the dead at the doorstep of every hospital entrance last evening is an indelible image of the helplessnes.
there is no explanation, no justification, there are no words that can heal this pain.
why?
the tv makes u numb, but the memory & the sorrow is a seed of hatred for every such heinous act.
why this suffering?

why?

two weeks later

2006-07-12T15:58:00.000+05:30

whrilwind two weeks. writing a screenplay for a feature length film in two weeks is, well, almost an impossibility...
& amidst the lokmat film post production.
yesterday the film was presented to the client, Devendra Darda. He gave me a compliment I'll not forget for a long time.
"Thank you for making this film for us, Ravi"
Wah. Aisa response pahili baar aya life mein. Four days to go before I leave for UK for the prep of the feature film.

reason to delete photos

2006-07-01T11:24:00.000+05:30

Gundya,

let me recommend a website for u.. www.kidshealth.org

It says to keep ur kids safe from weirdoes online and in real life, avoid posting their pix on the web..

I thought they were being over-cautious, but thinking it over, i think its better to just send private pix of kids to people via mail on a list, rather than posting them on a blog.

I don't know.. just a thought...

I am so paranoid abt the times we live in, i tell my sons, and i started when B was 5, that if ANYONE touches him in his private parts, he is to tell Dad or me. He should know that he can come and talk to us, because that film, MONSOON WEDDING quite spooked me out. And although thank God, i never had these bad experiences in childhood, friends of mine tell me that they have been molested as children.. Boys and girls, alike...

Sorry to be so grim, but we share parenting concerns, na...?

from my dear friend.

some images from my cel in june

2006-06-29T15:33:00.000+05:30

swati on location in pune

chandar & jigu at the bandra office

two interesting marathas with misal pav at khed shivapur

phew! miles to go

2006-06-29T13:36:00.000+05:30

in pune 5 days ago, went to meet a friend to share pravin tokekar's poem for the lokmat adfilm. & he asks me to write & codirect a british feature film. desperate measures, & he needs me on the job.
could never say no to a friend in need, so i am off on the 15th to shoot this english british film with a foreign cast & crew!!!

the honeymoon travels party & avantika's fall

2006-06-14T12:41:00.000+05:30

& just the day before she wanted to join salsa classes
avantika called yesterday morning at dawn.
"ru awake?"
"yeah"
"can you come home? i am in pain. i have hurt myself..."
"oh, no! not again!", i thought.
she had taken close to a year to recover from the fall in vietnam where she had crushed her heel!!! 90% of such cases never completely recover, but being, thin, athletic, & brave, she had willed herself to get back into action!
so instead of sending the new car for its first service, i drive to her place in versova.
the apartment is easy to find; its vivid color strewn across the open entrance & around the house-avantikastyle!
she sits huddled in pain on the floor, but quite composed. a few moments later, i have to rush inside & find a napkin for her to dab the flow.
give her some orange juice & few biscuits from the kitchen. & a combiflam. the foot looks bad, bad, bad!
it takes quite a while to unravel her story into a comprehensible flow. the film she was shooting for, "honeymoon travels" finished on schedule & the crew threw a party.
they danced till two. she found herself on the floor & couldnt rise. there was also a police raid at the khar joint. her friend dropped her home at about three. she thinks she has probably sprained her foot. i dont want to say it, but know that its a fracture. the combiflam takes about 15 minutes to effect. but still, i had to pick her up ot the lift & into the car.
swati run around from each department of the hospital to the cash counter to keep making payments as i wheeled her around the casualty to the xray to the operation theatre.
the pain subsided, but her other foot which was crushed in vietnam last year couldnt bear the brunt & swelled up.
& then the phones kept ringing from her friends & relatives through the day.
for once i am praying to god, to get this beautiful, bright, sensitive, talented girl back to normal.

8th day of fever

2006-05-31T17:15:00.000+05:30

different pathological labs have different results
today is the 8th day that aum has fever. every six hours, the fever rises. while the ph medical blood report stated his wbc count at 1800, hinduja's count was 4600. the blood culture shows no sign of malaria, it has some lesser amounts & values on other factors. my dear friend kiran kelkar has always lent a patient ear over the past 2 decades, & this time too, he advised caution & asked us to be patient.
the state of our hospitals
took him to asha parekh hospital or bcj yesterday, paid up in full for an ac room till the 4th. went up to find a room with a fan & a building under construction a few feet away from the window!!! in the corridor outside sat an ayaah making cotton swabs & placing them carefully in a surgical decanter.
but offcourse took him outta there in a jiffy!!!
the drive to bhatia hospital
aum didnt want to go to the hospital. after all hospitals now are synonymous with syringes & pain. he played in the car, & in bhatia, he enjoyed watching some painters mix paints.
wonder when he is going to recover.

aum unwell

2006-05-26T13:54:00.000+05:30

the sea had swelled at bandstand this morning. the heat does not abate. the forecast is 34 degrees at the peak & 28 degrees at the lowest.
woke up to find aum on swati's lap-the same image as when i slept last night. his temperature rose to 4 inspite of the crocin. my right shoulder is in pain carrying him around the house, to the doc & back. his fever came down finally at about ten after the ibugesic & 2 cold sponge baths. & promptly, he resumed his masti. but for the last two days, he's just been a few kilos of lump on my shoulder & on swati's lap.
maybe a viral, says the doc. wait & watch his misery.

some of the happy moments at the zaroor shoot at aum beach

2006-05-22T17:48:00.000+05:30

2 days with aum

2006-05-22T17:32:00.000+05:30

the sheer joy of being with aum for 2 continous days!!!
the garden, the bed, the masti baths, & the chats amidst toys & games...the boy has grown up to be a talkative, sharp, agile 4 year old (few more months to go). my anger & my commanding nature has rubbed off on him. he tries to lead rather than be a part of the group.
the heat has been terrible but the three baths a day get us back to normal.

so lil time

2006-05-12T14:43:00.000+05:30

in an industry where everything is needed yesterday, it is rather frustrating to see your films on air after 4-6 months. now both the boost chocoblasts will be seen on air simultaneously. thats after 4 months post the completion of the films. the dhara tvc was released after 6 months. & now we have been sitting on the approved rahul dravid maxnewyorklife tvc for the past 2 months. it will only come on air after a month or so. i hope zaroor condom tvc doesnt have the same fate. its shaping up quite nicely on the edit table.
this is where we shot it last week & got totally tanned.

of tall men & tall claims

2006-04-21T11:17:00.000+05:30

all those people...
no water between bandra & andheri since day before yesterday. shifting to sasural today. wonder what happens to those tons of families who dont have an option. and the heat soars upwards steadily.
reminds me of anthony quinn
a lovely evening with a pleasant advertising veteran.
gullu sen.
he'd asked me to meet him at taj lands end in the evening.
for long i had felt that this well read man could become a friend. so instead of just posing as an advertising producer, i went as myself-wife, kid, jasmine & with my thoughts & ideas of the world.
he regaled us with stories, insights & some tasty chinese food.
he told me about this book by amartya sen where the concept of 'boxed in' is elaborated upon. we are all hedged in by a definition by the other. so the relationship, whether personal or professsional gets limited. must read.
morning walks
my friend from chennai, nagraj smily art director visited us last week. every morning, i would find his bed empty.
he would rise & step out for long walks to watch the city come alive, store the city architecture, people, & nuances, down a roadside chai, ponder over the madras-bombay divide, & return. softspoken nagu has done this for years. his curiosity & hunger to see & learn is insatiable.
a vastu expert, he suggested changes to the house to swati over breakfast, & over lunch at the office to me. after being an independent art director for nearly a decade, he is trying to make his mark in the hindi or bollywood terrain.
tall claims
its the time & age for celebrity endorsements & brand ambassadorships.
i have done a sehwag for boost, a dravid for maxnewyorklife, & was about to do a dhoni for mysore sandal soap, & a rani for dabur amla.
recently, while presenting the creative for a well known soap which has tied up with a cricketing personality, i am asked to correlate the brand with the personality. i do the same vis-a-vis the script but the suits across the table (17 of them) dont get it. they are shy to admit that they have signed on a male, which does not confirm to the normal advertising route of employing a female to sell the soap. strategy has not been discussed internally, & they are still fumbling with the premise.
while this throws up the issue of celeb versus non celebs, i wonder time and again about;
pray what is shahrukh doing in the tub? ab all over, rani with the bubbles, ash at the adda? the creatives have a tough task to mix n match the celebs & the brands.

mahesh dies

2006-03-24T12:10:00.000+05:30

mahesh, cd at ogilvy bangalore died day before
remember kieslowsky's comment in his bio-he just gave up on life...
35 is just not the age to give up. its strange, its sad, its shocking. but more than all this, it speaks of burning out, candle in the wind, & landing at airports.
mahesh landed at the airport & died. every time i land i will remember this...
didnt know him, but knew his exeplary work, didnt know his medical history but am shaken by his demise.
simon died at mica on holi day a few days back. another maverick, greatly admired in the advertising circles.
after a sabbatical of 8 days, i bought a bottle of whiskey last night to raise a toast to this twosome i wish i had known & worked with...

been awhile

2006-03-20T13:35:00.000+05:30

sometimes one just gets bombarded with work that occupies your every waking moment. thats what had hapenned the last 3 weeks.
the rahul dravid tvc sailed through the presentations. clients maxnewyorklife as well as the agency, equus ticked it with smiles. but alongside came work from all quarters;
creative for sahara corporate-reestablishing the faith of the investors & the public in the company which has been growing leaps & bounds (in certain sectors, as much as 425%). that took up a hectic 15 days of confabulating with elvis of persept, rererererewriting the scripts on several films with chetan shashital, vijay maurya, the gang at the office, etc.
& then the speculative work on the relaunch of the glorious mysore sandal soap.
& the preparatory work for a fanta with rani mukherjee which, much to our relief didnt happen, the preparatory work for a parachute & some more on zaroor. ooof!!!
what did happen was a film for mcx, the premier commodity exchange of india. and an eye operation to remove a nodular infected cyst.
but will defi blog more with interesting stuff (read: things that interest me!) soon enough.

shoot with rahul dravid

2006-02-27T10:34:00.000+05:30

the shoot with rahul dravid went well. binod pradhan is a joy to work with. maxnewyorklife guys were like team members on the shoot. the rest of the details will be uploaded on dravidtvc.blogspot.com in a while.

bird flu in india

2006-02-20T10:44:00.000+05:30

here we go again. first it was a scare, & now it is a grim reality.
this is just a precursor to calamities & worsening scenarios as seasons change.
its pleasant in mumbai today, sunny & warm.
but the summer is going to be a difficult one with electricity & water cuts, & the temperatures soaring higher than before.
i look at my plants every morning & wonder what awaits them this monsoon. i pass by the shanties in low lying areas & wonder what illness will befall the children who frollick with gay abandon on the roadside.
gloomy monday morning...

the writing touched me

2006-02-14T14:50:00.000+05:30

http://myextraordinarylife.blogspot.com/
came across this blog with writing that made me remember my break up & the pain that i went through over ten years ago.

the strange case of charu

2006-01-28T15:18:00.000+05:30

we were relieved the day that charu joined as a maid. we are further relieved that she was given the boot today.
for the first three months, we could not believe that the going was so good. this lean girl had the tenacity to handle aum day after day; she could show him the world; the ganesh chaturthi, diwali, fish in the pond, train tracks, et all. she managed to feed him, bathe him, & put him to sleep!!! she even satisfied both the inlaws with her devotion for the spirited three year old.
we took bold steps. went for dinner for the first time in years, swati joined office, I asked swati to join me in ooty for a shoot…
we paid her well, bought her new clothes, started a marathi newspaper of her choice, took her with us on our visits to pondicherry, madras, pune…
she was a pale, frail girl when she joined us but slowly & steadily, she had begun to look healthier.
every now & then, swati & me would wonder at our good fortune. swati’s friends without maids envied her, & the gang at the office marveled at the regularity (both mine & swati’s) & of the dabba from home.
the only rankling thought was her lack of fondness for the opposite sex. she hated men. for reasons far removed from our reality-her sister’s hubbie was a so & so, her father was a drunkard into abuse, & such like common gore of the maids.
three months later, her mood swings & her attitude changed. she would mutter to herself nonstop if she missed her afternoon nap, she would not rise if I had an early morning flight, or if it was a morning shift. swati added 2 more servants to ease her task, but still she slackened furthermore. she started to argue over little things with swati, & I routinely found dirt in aum’s ears after a bath!
& then, ten days back, she left for a day to boriwali to meet her brothers only to return nonchalant yesterday night. & all of those ten days with swati in a plaster-a fractured ankle, me with my new teeth-aaargh!, & aum at full throttle 14 hours a day! swati called n number of times, left sos, but charu did not heed to the pleas. then stories poured in of how she had done the same thing to the aged in the next building, to the celeb in pali who went out to kill her…
the clincher was her adamant & argumentative 90 seconds at the door, defending her decision, almost as if she had not done anything untoward!!!
& there are millions that are homeless, somehow braving the vagaries of weather & the pit in their tummies. you want to give them ‘ashray’, feed & clothe them, pay them handsomely, & then you receive brickbats in direct proportion to the love showered.
anyone out there have another opinion about maids?

thewisdomtreesite

2006-01-23T10:57:00.000+05:30

they have created a lovely space for ex students of the ftii to chat and aptly called it wisdomtree!
http://chandrayaan.com/wisdomtree.htm

sorted

2006-01-19T16:23:00.000+05:30

the new cel is not as good as the last one. its the same config but with an i. the boost chocoblast sehwag theme tvc is still stuck but i have eased out of it. too many other things to do in life.
swati had a fall yesterday & the fear is that she has stretched a ligament a wee bit towards excruciating pain & outta action zone.
the canadian documentary of my friend is proceeding as planned. bhavya in delhi & dilip in mumbai are handling the production. and the dharatvc is on air. we will hear the response in a week, hopefully.

my nokia 6210

2006-01-18T15:15:00.000+05:30

yesterday my nokia 6210 slipped & fell headlong in to the whisky glass. & now its drunk n dead. all the new cels are too fundoo & slow.
this one lasted long-nearly two years.
need a fast cel phone now.

monday morning

2005-12-19T10:57:00.000+05:30

its that time of the year when everybody in advertising is busy clearing their desks & confirming bookings for the new year binge. for me, its time to take stock of the year gone by. obits & births, losses & wins, the good & the bad, the highs & the lows.
a bad year is a good tutor. it makes one strong, turns your senses on alert mode.
manoj tapadia, cd at lowe called this morning. "i was cleaning up my cel addressbook," he said "& i was wonderign whatever happenned to you..." so we spoke awhile & tried to 'catch up'
its a strange world; out of sight, out of mind.
he's done quite a bit: wrote the dialogues for balki's film, made a few tvcs for lifebuoy, & so on. when i really catch up with him, i will post the news here.
this year has been diffi & different. it was a time to rebuild, relook, relearn, & realign systems & methods at the production house. all of six months went in what is routinely termed as hr. work was satisfying, but it was less than the usual haul.
the team is stronger, beefed up, well trained, & raring to go. & the process of adfilmmaking refreshingly is altogether different. the inputs from all & sundry is thrusting a new attitude.
end of the day, or end of the year, it matters if you smile with hope, rather than if you smile with smug satisfaction.

dhara

2005-12-03T17:48:00.000+05:30

dhara tvc is over. now you can view the making of, the photus, the storyboard, the crew, etc., here.
to quote the words of the agency,
"Hi! Ravi,
Finally the big day happened for us.The film smooth sailed through Chairman presentation. It was applauded and appreciated by the whole Dhara fraternity present."
asif shakeel
manager brand communications
mudra

my canadian friend

2005-12-01T11:23:00.000+05:30

she's fiery, restless, & extremely creative. she has lesser patience than me with inefficiency, but has the grit & guts to move to another country with her teenage sons & try to become a filmaker. she has faced opposition, brickbats, resistance & defeat time & again-& faced it all on her own. she left a succesful advertising career as a writer to join a production house in mumbai as a flunk for two years & thereon to canada.
now she revisits india.
my canadian friend has already shot half of a documentary on a renowned classical singer in canada & is coming to india to shoot the balance. both are from india but have taken canadian citizenships.
she is flummoxed at the reams of paperwork that has to be completed to be able to shoot here. india is strict, strict, strict!
the processes are still filled with pile ups & backlogs.
her lament: its so difficult to do business in india, so diffi to shoot here, & so impossible to live here...
i remind her that shooting in benares is going to be a toughie. saravana, my bright production guy just shot there & brought back sordid tales of crowd control.
however, me & dilip at the office are looking forward to this docu shoot-its been a decade since i witnessed a documentary, & the travel ought to be fun.
i will keep an update here about this venture, with photus & all.

the good thing about blogging

2005-11-24T16:58:00.000+05:30

the earlier post sounded wishy washy. read it again after 6 days & decided to junk it. thats the nice thing about blogs-you can delete stuff.
its aum's birthday tomorrow. he will be three. reason to rejoice, raise a toast, smile the whole day long, hug friends, & live.

what is this blogging thing?

2005-11-16T17:35:00.000+05:30

my dear classmate from ftii (batch of 85-86), professor at srftii calcutta has the title as the query. i am sure a lot of my friends when they visit this blog will wonder what i am upto...
in the last 42 years of life i have made very many friends from all walks of life.
i love them deeply & feel that without having known them, without having shared their ideas & work with them, & vice versa, i am a zero.
this place is a project in continuatuum of further sharing on a public forum ideas, mundanities of life, thoughts, confusions, philosophies, culture vulture dialogues & didactics, ad infinitum.
it is a page that i visit often to pour out not only my personal angst, joys, & sorrows, but also to showcase current work, my current interests, scripts, & what have you.
& some recipes too. everything amaresh, that one likes to do, think, create, & hence wish to share.
with tushar bhatia, & several in the field of music, i discuss, drink, & eat music.
with so many mothers of my friends, i discuss & devour recipes.
& such like.
as varied as you & me are, there are things that we treasure-yesterday i bought a passolini & an ozu dvd. made me the happiest man on this earth. saw a bit of it last night-but then aum came & pounced on my paunch & i had to put away the laptop...
samazha kya?

ponder ponder ponder - ravi deshpande

2005-11-16T17:31:00.000+05:30

jyothi has 2 down to eartrh comments about the ponder ponder ponder note. you can also read her blog at this newly created site
http://jyothikapurdas.blogspot.com

my portrait by sachin kamat at ooty last month

2005-11-16T16:42:00.000+05:30

maybe sachin wont approve of the composition. he wanted to retouch the snap in photoshop, crop it & then showcase it. sachin has shitloads of snaps on his drive, some worthy of awards, & some that one can just keep watching for hours. he has shot clouds from his innumerable flights around the country, festivities from visits to far flung cities, & so on.

lets just wait till he uploads them on his blog.

the fluid principle

2005-11-16T10:37:00.000+05:30

finally the dvd is ready.
can step out in to the adworld with the new look, the new identity, the new vision for the future. in a couple of days, i will be able to upload the basic images to this blogspot.
water as the motif.
water which changes form all the while, which flows according to the gradient, changing mass, velocity, & dimensions. water which takes form according to the circumstance.
water which turns to tiny droplets & then merges with the big mass, ready to change direction & form with the next impetus, with the next interaction…
water is pure: it embraces, cleanses, rejuvenates, refreshes.

ponder ponder ponder

2005-11-16T10:22:00.000+05:30

outlook: some questions
what does one strive for really? to sort & unravel the deep mysteries of the universe & beyond, or does one exist to better one’s existence?-& of the ones that are near & dear to you.
or better the future?-this moment has already gone past.
or does one strive to prove one’s mettle? to prove a superiority over another? or does one strive to raise the income bracket one is in? does the steel mittal strive to earn more millions or to form some sort of a philosophy to his acquisition turnarounds? is it only the creation of wealth that one lives for? or is it to have more power?
is hatred, revenge at the core of one’s existence? is it just one of the thirsts, wants, needs, the reason to survive?
or is it to be better than the neighbor, better than the classmate, the colleague in office, the cousin who is abroad, the steps to success someone has set & defined?
to each his own answer.
all the essential querries of life are simple, but the answers complex & varied, shrouded in theory, isms, & interrelated with the sciences.
the answers are no longer robert bachish-simple & egalitarian, nor even freudishly justified & precisely defined. all have the grey blurred edges to them.

just another day at the office

2005-11-07T12:15:00.000+05:30

back to work after the diwali week-pune with parents & sisters & siblings...the tyre burst on the expressway was scary, & the bills roll in today for the repairs. also spent part of diwali writing a screenplay for tiwari's scriptwriting class in sydney univ-the final submission. will soon be posting it here.
but the lull that sets in due to a festivity is diffi to correct in a day. everything moves at a snail's pace.
punegune is off to dubai tonite to set his new villa in place for the first visitor-me, and then his wifey & twins. if the dvd isnt burnt in time, wont be able to make it to dubai in ten days.
shomir wakes up & sits in the armchair by the window & his 2 mobiles to make his routine 20 calls to the estate agents of andheri. wonder what news he will carry back home tonite. last nite he said that they are overstaying the welcome, but i beg to differ. its a joy to have friends over. and lil aum loves the two of them.
he has learnt to lie a lil. "i had a bath", he says with complete conviction, stilll attired in his night suit & pyjamas. "i finished my breakfast. can i go out & play?" the life of a 3 year old in the city is boring, holed in to four walls or the compound of the building. birthdays used to be a get together of friends. his birthday at 'should we have it at pizza express?' 'or should we do it at independence day?' is like a pre production plan for an adfilm.
i had a visitor (a creative director) from canada with a charming script for a furniture firm. if that happens, then i can post the different stages of workings of the film.
the oil film is still in the cans with no response from the client & the agency. would love to post a report on the shoot out here.
came across an interesting blog today
http://nakedmind.blogsource.com/
the lady preeya speaks candidly about the state of her mind & her relationships. the fact that a 40 year old indian lady is letting go of inhibitions is heartening.

extra sensory perception

2005-11-07T05:58:00.000+05:30

everytime that nitin paranjape of abhivyakti media for development comes to mumbai i get this urge to call him. he's been here since yesterday. his family has accepted the recurrence of these strange events as an anomaly that they have to live with. have never quite put my finger on this. it has stopped to surprise me now, though at times i would get this spooky feeling run up my spine.
last night my beautiful friend irene had a baby girl. this is o.com's second daughter-he has a beaut from his earlier marriage.
i have a couple from pondy visiting us. they leave each morning to meet estate agents & to see houses to rent in andheri. they return with hope-they root in on a flat, only to be told the next day that the price has changed overnight. or some such lame excuse. shomir's last count of estate agents he has met is 12 in 2 weeks!!!