Sunayana Kumari Joins Team 'I AM'

Hey Everyone,

Wanted to share with you all about Sunayana Kumari, another new joinee to the team "I AM". Here's what Sunayana had to say about how it all happened for her

A brief conversation with actor Rahul Bose (no, unfortunately he’s not a ‘friend’, as a lot of you might presume) led me to this gig. “So you’ve studied journalism and now you want to work in films?” – he quizzed me rather skeptically over the phone. After listening to me answer in the affirmative, he told me that he’d call me as soon as something came up. While I was expecting to receive this ‘call’ by sometime next year, my phone which lay next to me began to buzz his name again in a matter of seconds. Once he was on the line, he wasted no time and asked if I would like to assist in Onir’s latest project. “Onir, as in the director of My Brother Nikhil?!” came my inapt response to that query. From my shrill tone it became fairly obvious to both of us that I would only be too glad to work on this project.

I was scheduled to meet Onir for an interview on the 27th of July, which was a Monday. Sunday night therefore was spent going over blogs dedicated to this latest venture by Anticlock Films. As I sat on my bed reading about the series of shorts and learning that while meant to entertain they were also based on significant issues in our society, my excitement level began to soar. I remembered the uncharacteristic, emotionally charged speech I had made to my parents in a bid to let them allow me to work in films. I had said to them that eventually I’d make films that were politically and socially conscious and hence noble and hence they should let me and so on and so forth…. But here I was about to do just that in my very first assignment. Yes, I consider my self lucky.

Luckier still because I am part of the best team ever. The team comprises of individuals who are sophisticated in their knowledge of film making, kind to me and above all, a lot of fun. The Omar shoot has been a great learning experience and I can’t wait to start work on the remaining shorts

Omar Shoot: Day Two

19 AUG 2009, Wednesday

One night, one location and one scene.

I worked with junior artists for the first time last night. It was quiet unusual directing them especially the foreigners who played their part really well and made the scene look natural. However had to work on the others as time passed, a lot of them were drained and we had to keep them active and involved.

The dialogue between Jai and Omar takes place in a coffee shop were they meet for the first time. We shot the scene at the CCD on carter road. It‘s very fascinating to observe Rahul Bose and Arjun Mathur play implusive and erratic Jai and Omar respectively.

Unlike last night we faced no interruptions and we managed to complete the scene by dawn. Both Onir and Arvind seemed quite happy with the way the scene has turned out. Looking forward to day three now.

Archis Achrekar

(Assitant Director)

Omar Shoot: Day One

18 AUG 2009, Tuesday

Yesterday evening the cast and crew of Omar gathered outside the Joggers Park of Lokhandwala to shoot the second installment of the five short film series.

For Omar, Onir and DOP Arvind Kannibaran developed a different style for executing the story by deciding to shoot it entirely at night. Shot on 16mm Arvind had a complete handheld setup created low key lighting and used swift pan and zoom creating a different look for the film.

Unfortunately we are running slightly behind schedule. Our first day didn’t go as planned. Our intention was to complete five scenes however due to restriction of shooting at night only, a mild shower and mob interrupting sometime we completed only two scenes. But the film is progressing fine. We intend to complete the remaining scenes on Thursday which we have reserved as a spare day.

Inspite of things not going in our favor it was interesting to see Onir not loosing his patience the entire night.

The performances of Rahul Bose and Arjun Mathur were simply brilliant.

The experience to be on set is always different. However what makes this experience unique is the healthy environment we have in our office which also prevails on the set. The direction team headed by Amar has a smooth functioning and understanding. In short I am having a great time working with the other ADs, Onir and Sanjay!

Looking forward to day two.

Cheers

Archis Achrekar
(Assistant Director)

OMAR TRAILER