On Location 8212; Dreamers

The voice is golden. And the film-maker? Well, Khodus Wadia, the voice behind De Beers, Kit Kat, Philips and Garden Vareli, among a hundr...

The voice is golden. And the film-maker? Well, Khodus Wadia, the voice behind De Beers, Kit Kat, Philips and Garden Vareli, among a hundred others, will have to wait till Dreamers, his first fiction film, goes to festivals abroad. As of now, this adman-turned-theatre actor-turned-director is oozing confidence. The night of July 15 is too crucial for Khodus and his crew. Two more days left to complete the shoot. The crucial scenes, at that.

His two protagonists 8212; the relatively unknown Mehrunnisa Hassan and Sagar Arya 8212; are as enthused as their director. quot;The film depends a lot on the performance. In fact, it totally does. The script is not outstanding. It8217;s about a Hindu boy and a Muslim girl in love. They spend the last half hour of their lives at a friend8217;s apartment before and in the course of this half hour they decide to end their lives. It8217;s as simple and as complex as that,quot; says Khodus as the couple get ready for the next shot. As he says his deep and confident quot;action!quot; no-one is allowed to even mumble. Dead silence, except the shot that is on. quot;The audio won8217;t be dubbed, you see,quot; says his assistant later when Khodus cuts the shot, with a demanding, quot;I want intensity!quot; to Sagar. quot;It8217;s a 40-minute fiction,quot; says Khodus.

A telefilm? There isn8217;t much scope in India at least. quot;I8217;m fully aware of that. In fact, my target audience is primarily international. I see this film slotted on Channel 4 and international fests,quot; he clarifies. A stepping stone towards bigger projects, certainly not as much in terms of financial returns as of international laurels.

He flits across the lights and corrects an angle as he talks about the nature of the film, making sure the technicians don8217;t rest for a second. quot;I have to make sure every technical detail is right, the impact that I hope to achieve depends solely on the treatment and the performance.quot; Mehrunnisa, a film graduate from New York and a trained stage actress, is at ease, plonking herself on her screen lover for the rehearsal.

For Sagar Arya, Dreamers is a dream role8217;. quot;I have acted in television serials like Humrahi and Indradhanush before doing Basu Bhattacharya8217;s Aastha. But this is certainly the role for me. I8217;m putting my best to it. I have to, for a pat from Mr Wadia. If I get that, it means I8217;ve done a great job. I just hope I don8217;t bungle the role.quot; As for the confident Mehrunnisa, she couldn8217;t have afforded to miss this. quot;I fell in love with the script the first time I read it,quot; she says. Hindi films aren8217;t a no-no for this actress, used to roles of Shakespearian heroines and a big role in Roberto Christiani8217;s Wings of Hope. Why unknown faces in a film that Khodus has his hopes pinned on? quot;I did not want stars. At the same time, I couldn8217;t have trusted novices with a script like this.

Mehrunnisa is a trained actress and Sagar has had some exposure. Don8217;t ask me how I chose them. My next film will be based on that!quot; He finally grins. Perhaps the shot that just got over was the best take of the evening. The shoot has just begun for the night. So has Khodus Wadia8217;s journey in films. But why such a short film? quot;No reason. Just a creative experiment. Something along the lines of Roman Polanski8217;s Knife in the Water.quot; We are talking creative here!