Dhananjay Gokhale | Balutedar 02 - Ship Captain : Mahesh Junnarkar

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Balutedar - 02

Balutedar 02 - Movie Director, Producer, Cinematographer : Sanjay Jadhav

Screenplay By Abhijeet Pendharkar | Based on real life incident "An interview with Mr. Sanjay Jadhav" Conducted By Dhananjay Gokhale
For DVDs write to gita@dgonline.in

Characters :

SANJAY JADHAV

as a person is just like any other guy round the corner. His un-assuming manner masks a creative genius. He has a very visual & dramatic way of expressing himself. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether he is talking to you or talking to himself. His creative talent is backed up by reading, studying & thinking which reflects in his views/opinions. Everybody knows Sanjay by his work (as a writer, cinematographer & director).

DHANANJAY GOKHALE

is a shrewd guy who knows how to bring the best out of an individual & how to deliver it to the audience as a package.

VOLUNTEERS

are set of self-motivated individuals. They are helping in this 'endeavour to give back to society' without any expectations. Smile on the faces of audience is the reward they seek.

THE AUDIENCE

is mixed set of people. They already have experienced the glamorous, bright, shining side of the silver screen & are keenly interested in knowing what happens behind the silver screen.

Disclaimer:

Characters in this film are NOT fictitious. You may, in fact, desire to have resemblance with them in terms of their competencies.

It's the first day first show (of Balutedar 02). Booking window is closed with a "Houseful" sign. AUDIENCE are eagerly waiting for the curtains to lift. VOLUNTEERS are nervously biting their fingernails. DHANANJAY is busy organizing his thoughts.

BLANK SCREEN [PITCH BLACK]. FROM THE BLACK WE HEAR: DG Tune
FADE IN:
LOCATION: JYOTSNA BHOLE SABHAGRUHA, PUNE

SCENE 1: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: WIDE ANGLE

THE 'CLAP' SOUNDS. SCENE STARTS.
DHANANJAY is sitting on stage. SANJAY walks in. Crowd erupts in excitement. DHANANJAY greets SANJAY.

CUT TO SHOT2, TAKE1 | CAMERA : ZOOM IN

SANJAY is felicitated by Captain MAHESH JUNNARKAR. WE HEAR DHANANJAY IN THE BACKGROUND [VOICE OVER].

WoW! And we thought such things happen only in movies!

CUT TO SHOT3, TAKE1 | CAMERA : SANJAY'S CLOSE UP

SANJAY is little bit drawn in the past.

Situation calls for a song on friendship here! Lekin kya karen? There is no budget! (but alas, no budget)

SCENE 2: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY & SANJAY have settled down. DHANANJAY pulls his first card up his sleeves.

'Clap' is a way of establishing scope boundaries!

This process is awfully in-efficient due to following reasons:

	It involves 50% rework (requiring dubbing)
	In a close-up shot, splash of chalk pit on the clap may lead to an actor sneezing
	In a wide angle shot, sound of clap may not be audible

Given these facts, an 'Alternatives Analysis' is highly recommended.

SCENE 3: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY moves discussion towards camera handling.

SANJAY, visibly perturbed, responds with emotion,

Don't get Sanjay wrong! Handling camera is no joke. Some people have made a living out of cameraman's mistakes in Hollywood films. Yes, AXN TV runs a serial on this. It's incredibly funny to see an aeroplane flying in an ancient movie. Cameramen are so hysterical about this; they suffer from what they call as Cashier's decease! Always worried about "Tally hoga ki nahi" (would it tally or not?). May be that's why a camera is fitted with a view-finder. So if you want to handle camera, "pahele thoda seekh ke aao, fir camera ko hath lagana kyon ki HD mein sub kuch dikhata hai, dost!"

SCENE 4: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY pulls one of his favourites.

CUT TO SHOT2, TAKE1 | CAMERA: FLASHBACK

On the sets of a television serial.
Director GIRISH GHANEKAR. SANJAY's first break through in acting career - lead role.
SANJAY walks on the sets. GIRISH looks at him &

SANJAY devastated! His dream to become a Dilip Kumar is shattered!
GOD has not given him the face! But he does not give up. He asks GIRISH:

GIRISH is a good guy. He nods. On the set, SANJAY's attention is focussed on one guy at the centre stage.
The guy carries an aura around himself. He is stylishly dressed in a leather jacket & 6 pocket trousers.
The guy behaves like a king & goes ordering around - 'Arre ye hatao, esako edher lao".

CUT TO SHOT3, TAKE1 | CAMERA: CLOSEUP, MONOLOGUE

WE HEAR SANJAY THINKING ALOUD ON VOICE OVER.

Needless to say the King of the sets is the Cameraman! This is an example of 'Expert' type of power. And it doesn't come easily. SANJAY got to touch the camera after 3 years. That too because, in those 3 years, he passionately devoted himself to learning photography (Roman Photography, Latin Photography).

SCENE 5: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY capitalizes on SANJAY's grasp of photography.

This left me 'comment'less (as in speechless). So I toyed with an idea of inserting an item song here. But damn ethics!

SCENE 6: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: WIDE ANGLE

Time for a photography hands on. DHANANJAY plays a clip from ‘Mumbai Meri Jaan’.
The clip shows a scene from a shopping mall.

Writer is a key stakeholder who generates requirements. However impossible they may seem, cameraman cannot say 'No'.
There were at least 500 people in the mall. How do you make them NOT look at the actors? What happens if someone waves at the camera? What happens to continuity (between different angles) if people move around? And you cannot yell at the people. You have to treat them with respect.

SCENE 7: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: WIDE ANGLE

Naturally the discussion moves towards writers.
DHANANJAY plays a clip showing construction of a building from design to execution.
The last scene shows frustrated face of the site engineer who says:

SCENE 8: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

Taking a cue from 'site', DHANANJAY steers discussion towards 'on the site of a shooting'.

CUT TO SHOT 2, TAKE 1 | CAMERA: WIDE ANGLE

On the sets of a typical movie. The camera moves around to show the director, the cameraman, the actors, costume designers, light boys, art directors, makeup-men & spot boys. Everybody waves at the camera.

CUT TO SHOT3, TAKE1 | CAMERA: TWO SHOT

Topic of home territory lightens up SANJAY.

Spot boys are the ones who serve food on the sets. They come from a different background & are completely ignorant about the artistic context on the sets. Their way of going about their jobs sometimes creates funny incidents. SANJAY narrates the story of a spot boy who always used to ask two options for any food item. Reminded me of the Coffee Ad sometime back in which a guy walks into a coffee shop & is bombarded with so many options that he finally walks out in sheer frustration saying 'I only wanted some coffee'.

CUT TO SHOT4, TAKE1 | CAMERA: TWO SHOT

SANJAY explains to the crowd.

CUT TO SHOT5, TAKE1 | CAMERA: TWO SHOT

SANJAY tells about 'creating a maahol' on the set.

SCENE 9: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY plays a clip from 'Dombivali Fast'.

Obviously! It's a Marathi film. Je kay dive lavayache te writer, director & cinematographer yanni ch. (its all about competencies..)

----------------------- INTERVAL ---------------------

An announcement takes place during interval - DG Productions has announced a prize of Rs 10000/- INR for anyone who finds out who 'ROGER' is!

SCENE 10: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY shows a famous quote from Akira Kurasava marking greed as a base for performing better n better..!

SCENE 11: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY, not forgetting the 2 PDUs offered, looks for take away,

You take any interview of anyone associated with film industry. Invariably, you will see a connection to their school teacher. It may be the 'noutanki' (smart mischievous deeds) done during school days! Sanjay is no exception. He gratefully mentions the positive influence of his school teacher (Mrs. Ketkar).

SCENE 12: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY throws a quiz at SANJAY:

This question is actually about roles & responsibilities; & Sanjay is very clear about them. Cinema is the eye (view point) of the director & it must speak director's language. Cameraman is a writer for the camera. In Dombivali Fast, the blitch process was deliberately skipped; leaving black & white colours undeveloped to create the feeling of hollowness. Jogwa was the story of girls (flowers) offered to deity. Upendra has fire burning in his heart which is symbolized by fire in the frames.

SCENE 13: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: WIDE ANGLE

DHANANJAY pulls a fast one on the audience. On stage screen shows a
set of letters C_ _ _ _ D. DHANANJAY to audience:

For a while, all sincere project managers in the audience get busy in solving the 'fill in the blanks' puzzle.

DHANANJAY, with a mischievous smile,

CUT TO SHOT2, TAKE1 | CAMERA: TWO SHOT

DHANANJAY, asking about the success formula, to SANJAY,

Why do you think 'Tom & Jerry' is such a super hit show?

SCENE 14: SHOT 1, TAKE 1

CAMERA: WIDE ANGLE

DHANANJAY brings a sentimental angle.

Cites how Nana Patekar provided tremendous emotional support. Also,

The show must go on, isn't it?

Question & Answer


Q.	Like in project management, does a change in scope happen in film industry (such as change in climax)?
A.	Generally happens in Ad films. Not in movies. In movies, the end is known in advance. (As creators, we) must know what we want. If Anarkali has to die, she has to die. Only change that may happen is change of director if not able to handle.

Q.	How about engaging project management professionals (aka us) in film industry?
A.	[Pointing at Dhananjay] I have already engaged one.

Q.	How do you manage film making as a program?
A.	There are three phases involved in making of a film. Pre-production (approx. 6 months), Actual shooting (about 1 month) & Post-production (approx. 6 months). Lot of documentation is involved in each of these phases (such as schedule, scope etc).

Q.	How is conflict management done?
A.	There is only one rule. Nobody must say 'No' to anybody. Of course, the producer may say 'No' to payment though. There is a lot of respect to creativity & a great PR helps. You have to be a good human being. (Meaning you have to be nice to people as) there is a lot of insecurity. A spot boy may become a producer one day. And there are cases where a producer has become a spot boy.

Q.	Is there something like an aura surrounding the clap, numbering and the director's chair?
A.	Nothing like that. It is somebody's vision. Chair pe kaun etana paisa kharcha karega? (who would spend so much on director's chair to create an aura?)

Q.	Is there any incentives or performance linked bonus?
A.	Before Duniyadari, the director's way of talking to me was something like – "Sun, ye light thoda edher shift karo" (hey..you..move scene hear). After Duniyadari, it dramatically changed to – "dada, mein kya kehata hun, agar es light ko thoda edher shift karen to kaisa rahega?" (Excuse me, may I suggest you something..?) And of course this change in behaviour reflects in remuneration.

Q.	Is there concept of taking Voice of Customer (VOC) in account?
A.	I have done a lot of study (of audience mentality). First they will ask their neighbour – how is the film? If neighbour says it's good, then they may think about it. Besides, you have to have at least 1.5K in your pocket to go for a movie with family (considering popcorn, cold drinks, food & transport).

Q.	Dhananjay shows a clip from '12 Angry Men'. Asks audience what they noticed. Then asks Sanjay what a cinematographer noticed?
A.	Audience noticed the drama (plot, characters and emotions). The cinematographer in Sanjay noticed camera shadow falling on characters in the last scene.