" I remember almost everything about school, from the day I joined to the day I left. The list would be too long. However, the older I get, the more I remember the calm after Sunday lunches that seemed to pervade the School."

Where we you born, where did you study before Doon? Tell us a little bit about yourself before Doon.
I was born in Calcutta. I moved to Doha, Qatar at the age of 3. At the age of 6 I was admitted into Welham Boy’s School, where I remained until class 6. I joined Doon after that in 1987.

When you were a child what did you think you’d be when you grew up?
I had a hard time deciding between being an astronaut or a Formula One driver. I asked my father when I was about 5 what he thought and he answered, “Those are two very different things. Ultimately, it will be up to you.”

While I was in Class 12 in Doon I gave serious thought to joining RAW (Research Analysis Wing -- the closest thing India has to the CIA). I tried to do some research about it, but did not get very far, and gave up on that dream.

What made you join The Doon School?
My father and uncle both went to Doon. It would have been considered a family tragedy if I hadn’t gone.

Did you enjoy studying at Doon?
For the most part, yes. Even though there were a lot of negatives, and academically speaking I think Doon is very weak, I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for my education at Doon.

What do you remember most about school?
I remember almost everything about school, from the day I joined to the day I left. The list would be too long. However, the older I get, the more I remember the calm after Sunday lunches that seemed to pervade the School. Most boys would be on outings, and the rest would be too tired to run around the campus. I would often sit by the tennis courts, or in the Rose Bowl, and read a book or just lie down. Exceedingly peaceful and beautiful. I also remember the smell right before it would rain. Every time I smell that now, I am immediately transported back to Doon.

What about Doon did you like most?
I liked how they tried to give us an all-round education. I did everything from debating, to acting, to trekking, to sports, to writing, to social service, to…the list goes on. I think most schools in India are very one-dimensional where all the emphasis is on the Board exams. The children coming out of these schools might score in the 90’s but are about as stimulating as dirt.

On a side note I really liked the way Shomie Das engendered a kind of academic and personal freedom in the older boys. The former worked well for me, as I doubt I would have been allowed to take the subjects I took in other schools. Unfortunately, I don’t think the latter worked out too well as most of the boys took advantage of his generous nature and did some pretty crazy things. I personally enjoyed this as I bent a lot of school rules without harming anyone, and he often looked the other way.

What parts of Doon did you not enjoy?
The money aspect of it. There were a lot of rich kids flaunting their money around. It was terrible, and it was especially appalling to see how it affected the kids around them. I like to call this the Delhi-Puppy Effect. I also hoped that there would be more students from different parts of India.

If you could change one thing about Doon, what would it be?
Just one? How about these:

1. Admit people from less fortunate backgrounds. Doon is really turning into an elitist, rich-kid’s school.
2. Admit boys from regions other than North India.
3. Admit boys with eclectic talents, which would make the school a more interesting place.
4. Get better teachers. I slept my way through school and still did okay. We need people to inspire, to explore the material in different ways (including audio-visual presentations, field trips, hands-on experimentation) instead of cramming information down our throats so we can be somewhat prepared for the Board exams.
5. Make it co-ed! (And I do mean this seriously.)

Who are your role models? Are any of them Doscos?

My role models have changed over the years, so I will mention the people at Doon who have significantly shaped who I am, and without whom I shudder to think what would have become of me.

The first person would be Arun Kapur, my first housemaster at Tata B. He saw that I was a little different, but encouraged me to embrace that, and really accepted me for who I was. That meant a lot to me at that age. I never felt that I had to suck up to him in order for him to have a favorable opinion of me; I just did my own thing, and he liked me for it.

The second would be Shomie Das. Once again, I never felt that I had to brown-nose him in order for him to think highly of me. He gave me a lot of freedom and leeway to be who I was, when he could have easily brought the hammer down on me. I remember when I tried to print a poem I had written about him in the Weekly and got rejected by the Managing Editor. I went ahead and printed tons of copies and handed them out at dinner with the Weekly’s. Eventually, one copy made its way to Mr. Das and he called me talk about it. I was very nervous but was very surprised to find that he loved the poem and wanted to know why I didn’t publish it in the Weekly! He gave me a lot of freedom to discover myself.

And on top of this list is Amarnath Dar. AD literally plucked me from obscurity and turned my career at School around completely. I had submitted a short story to the Weekly on a lark, and he liked it. He encouraged me to write more, and these encouragements gently became commands, and I did write. He eventually got me on to the Weekly. He then encouraged me to try out for debates, speech competitions, plays; basically everything I had been too shy/lazy to ever attempt to do. In fact, after I had slept through the try-outs for some debate competition, AD gently took me aside during breakfast and proceeded to give me the biggest firing of my life, making sure that anyone within a six-mile radius could hear him. I never missed another opportunity the rest of my time at Doon, and it was only because of his guidance, and “gentle” encouragement. Everything I ended up doing in School, and beyond, was because of him, and I really cannot think of what my life would have been like had he not accosted me during hockey practice that one day in C form.

What inspired you to enter the film business?
I hated my job as a Benefits Consultant in Philadelphia, and my undergraduate film professor told me to check out film school. The reason why I want to be a filmmaker? Well, as soon as I find out, I’ll let you know (I can plug in some cliché about wanting to express myself as an artist, changing the world, yadda, yadda, yadda, but that would be a lie).

Where did you study film and how many films have you made?
I initially took some film classes as an undergraduate at the University of Rochester. I am currently finishing up the last semester of my MFA at the USC School of Cinema-TV. I must have made well over 30 short films, but that is all they are, short films. Which brings me to the next question…

Tell us about one of the films you’ve made. What was the most exhilarating moment during the making of the film?

‘ I guess the last film I made can be considered somewhat legitimate as it was shot on 35mm film, boasted a huge crew, lots of locations, professional actors, and was generally as close to a real movie as one can get without actually making a feature film. Some of the moments that stand out: shutting the entire departure area of LAX International Airport because I needed to get my shots off on time (and then having to deal with irate passengers as they rushed to their gates); simulating a plane crash inside a full-size replica of a 737; driving a cargo van filled with film equipment and no brakes; finally showing my mother what all those years as a broke, too-embarrassed-to-bring-up-in-conversation graduate student had lead up to.

What was the most difficult moment while making the film?
I think it was the time when I was supposed to get the truck to the location some 50 miles away, and someone had walked off with the keys. Or maybe it was that time when we were about to shoot and USC turned off all the streetlights forcing us to shoot inside a moving car out on the streets without a permit. Or the time when a location fell through two days before we were to film there. Or the time when…

Did you write the script yourself? Do you plan to write more scripts in the future?
Yes and yes. I think initially you have to sell yourself as a writer before you can convince anyone that you can direct. The first thing an agent asks after they have seen your film is whether you have a script ready.

Tell us a little bit about your next project?
I am finishing up my thesis film right now and putting the finishing touches on two feature scripts.

What’s your favorite film and why?
I hate this question, so here is my stock answer: ET and Pather Panchali. ET because I would watch it every day of my childhood, during the afternoon because it was too hot to play outside. And every time that ET “died,” I looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and cried. And then when he comes back to life, I clapped my hands and smiled ever-so widely. Pather Panchali because I had never been exposed to my heritage as a Bengali like that before (I was very young when I saw it), and it left an indelible impression on me. Even now, its raw simplicity is still spellbinding. Beautiful, lyrical, little moments that stay with you -- it is everything I wish my movies could be.

Who are your favorite actors and directors?
Randomly (this is an incomplete list) for directors: Satyajit Ray, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Beat Takeshi, Stanley Kubrick, Akira Kurosawa, Steven Sodebergh, Pedro Almodovar, Billy Wilder, Francois Truffaut, Ernst Lubitsch, Neil LaBute, Oliver Stone, Luis Bunuel, Vittorio DeSica, Wes Anderson, John Sayles, Peter Weir, Sam Raimi, Robert Altman, Roman Polanski, John Huston, Spike Jonze, The Coen Brothers…

Randomly (this is an incomplete list) for actors: Audrey Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Gregory Peck, Burt Lancaster, Katherine Hepburn, Richard Burton, Angela Bassett, Paul Newman, Denzel Washington, Michael Caine, Val Kilmer, Samuel L. Jackson, Humphrey Bogart, Laurence Fishburne, Emma Thompson, Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, James Woods, Chris Cooper, Ray Liotta, Marlon Brando…

Are there any good film schools in India that you recommend?
I think there is one in Pune that is supposed to be good (it used to be called PIFT, now I think it is called something else). There is a new one in Calcutta named after Satyajit Ray. Sorry, I have very little information about film schools in Indian.

Do you have any advice for other Doscos aspiring to enter the film industry?
Don’t quit your day job.

Did your Doon School education help you with your film career in any way?
Absolutely. Doon helped me tap into a creative side that I never knew existed. Doon also made me very tough, so I am better able to handle the physical, mental, and especially, the emotional pressures of what is a very brutal industry.

Do you have any questions for us or suggestions or thoughts about Doon Online?
I think Doon Online is a fantastic idea, and kudos to you for doing this by yourself.

The only suggestion I would make is to make the layout a little more eye-catching. There is a lot of text as soon as you get there, and the colors and layout do not grab your attention. Apart from that, it is an excellent site.

Posted at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

" Walia’s hot coffee at the Rosebowl while rehearsing for a founders’ play. The assembly songs. The bees. Founders time – I joint in 1985 – golden jublee. one hell of a founders."

Where we you born, where did you study before Doon?
Born in Calcutta. La Martinere School a short detour at Modern School Humayun Road and Modern School Vasant Vihar in Delhi before Doon.

What’s your background like? Tell us a little bit about yourself before Doon.
Grew up very much a Calcutta person – and still am fundamentally... Childhood was full of great memories – Gulmarg for the summer, month long vacations the whole of Calcutta would show up – most Doscos at that time were older there were some 15 doscos of around the same age group who went to Doon together – Cal party.

Watching the Sunday movie at Tolly was the highlight of the week the film used to be projected on a large white sheet suspended from what was the old Tolly Race Course pavilion – kids used to sit on the race track and watch. We were never allowed to finish the film – bed time was 8:00 pm and strictly enforced. At that time – remember – no television – black and white DD (that too started at 3 in the afternoon) showing krishi darshan. Video only came in around 1983. So for the first 10 years the only movies I watched were those at Tolly and that too incomplete. The frustration of which perhaps informed the career choice of wanting to make – AND FINISH – movies.

When you were a child what did you think you’d be when you grew up?
Don’t think I gave it much thought. though I did think that getting into the shoe business would be a good idea – since everyone needed shoes...

What made you join The Doon School?
Not sure I had a choice in the matter... there were doscos everywhere in Calcutta parents friends, their kids, mother’s brothers and cousins. It was preordained.

Did you enjoy studying at Doon?
Complicated answer. Ask me now and I’d say that Doon was the backdrop for my best years and memories. I owe it a lot - it is an important part the person I am now. But if you want a one word answer – No. Overall I was pretty miserable there.

What do you remember most about school?
Walia’s hot coffee at the Rosebowl while rehearsing for a founders’ play. The assembly songs. The bees. Founders time – I joint in 1985 – golden jublee. one hell of a founders. Winter mornings standing the sun outside the CDH thawing out. Watching Pranoy Roy’s World This Week at Shomie and Pheroza Das’ home. Play Trivial Pursuit at Sheshak Vira’s house till midnight..

What about Doon did you like most?
The institutions of the school, the philosophy behind the things that we were made to do – things like the daily schedule, STA, SUPW, debating, theatre – even the change-in-break were a product of years of tradition and history.

The fact that if you wanted as a student you could do pretty much anything no matter how wild and wacky the idea may have been. The sad part was that there were too few students being encouraged to do as much.

Putting up a play, running the historical circle, being involved in debating and a host of other activities, still finding the time to study and loaf around - the chance to multitask and manage your affairs and the sense of achievement at the end – great preparation.

What parts of Doon did you not enjoy?
Was quite unhappy till A form - didn’t go along with the back-slapping herd.

‘S’ and ‘SC’ were better – I decided to go off and do my own thing – but doing that in a overtly social place like Doon is quite lonely. Was absorbed by what I was doing and dint really give myself the time / opportunity to think about much else. I survived.

If you could change one thing about Doon, what would it be?
The selection process. The school should strive to admit a healthy peer group, masters. Parents’ and kids’ who have respect and adhere to the lofty ideals of its founders and are in sync of the ethos of the school.

Who are your role models? Are any of them Doscos?

What inspired you to enter the film business?
The Rosebowl. It gave me the opportunity and the exhilaration of finding myself as an actor. Then the encouragement to develop that till itwas clear that I would make a life in the performing arts, as an entertainer.

The move from theatre to film was a practical choice, it became clear that theatre would not be much of a career in terms of being able to live off it. Besides, the audiences for theatre are limited. Films offer both the possibility of a sustained career and livelihood as well as universal audience. Theatre is still my first love – and there is nothing I want more than the opportunity to perform at the rosebowl again.

Where did you study film and how many films have you made?
I am pretty much self-taught. I suppose I owe it to my Doon education that teaches you how to teach yourself. I never really enrolled (for too long) at a formal school to learn the craft. I was rigorous and disciplined about the way in which I accumulated the required experience. A lot of my learning happened through watching films, reading books and finally hands on going out and making movies.

for the record though I have taken a BA degree from the University of London in media and Communications and briefly attended the London Film School.

I have made about 6 short films of varying lengths. But have done a number of commercials, music videos and documentaries as an editor. A lot of my directing and acting however was in theatre – about 10 full length productions.

You recently made a film titled, “The Road to Ladakh” what was the most exhilarating moment when making it?

Being able to convince an experienced and professional principle crew from countries as diverse as Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and the UK who were recruited through a web site to fly down to India at their own expense and give between 1 – 2 months of their time and services free of cost. In fact, all members of the principle cast and crew whether Indian or European worked on this film free of cost. This was a reiteration of the strength of the project, for me a most flattering and humbling statistic.

The speed at which the whole project came together and was actually completed was quite astounding - from original idea (April 2002) to final print (Jan 2003). The making of the film lasted some 9 months.

The film was shot in a record 16 days, with a crew of 45 persons, 15 vehicles carrying generators, lights, a 20ft crane, dolly, tracks, tents, a mobile kitchen and even a huge Nomadic tent !

The crew were staying in tents to minimise the distance between locations and get in as much shooting as possible in the day time. At night temperatures fell below freezing while the skin burnt in the mid-day sun

By the end of the shoot we began to run out of film the last three sequences of the shoot were shot on a ratio of 1:1, which means if the actors or crew or anyone didn’t get it right – there were no second takes. In total we set up over 150 individual shots.

The film had to be completed within the 16 days planned because Rohtang pass would close down for the monsoon and some crew members had flights to catch the next day to go back to their respective countries. There was no room for spilling over and in-spite of loosing 2 whole days to rain, overcast conditions and being flooded out we still managed to get the entire film in the can on schedule – it was one hell of a mid-term !

What was the most difficult moment while making the film?
There were a few times that the entire production came perilously close to breaking apart. Every morning there was a ‘crisis of the day’, some highlights of these were :

Irrfan, the lead actor, broke his hand during rehearsals in Delhi, days before the shoot began. He had to be flown back to Bombay and almost didn’t make it – he has a plaster on right through the film and his injury was woven into the script and his character.

The local production manager (line producer) walked out of the film on the 3rd day of shooting leaving the entire production in disarray. Milan Moudgill, the actor who plays John Chako, had to take over as production manager for the whole shoot. We had to take loans from local shopkeepers to keep the production afloat.

Some members of the foreign crew had just flown into India the night before we took off for Manali. Jet lag, upset stomach and altitude sickness plagued many members of the team for the better part of the first three days. Irrfan fell sick with the altitude (thin air) and it took 3 days for him to recover – members of the cast and crew had to do his stunt driving scenes. Inspite of having a broken hand, a pounding head and possibly temperature – Irrfan not only stuck it out but delivered a very special performance.

For the first time in 10 years it rained non-stop for 4 days in an area (Spiti valley) that is considered a high altitude desert. The tents got flooded over-night in freezing conditions, crew members went down with fever, the only road that connects Kaza to Manali was blocked in four places by landslides, there was no petrol / diesel in the valley and all fuel was rationed out.

One of the drivers got intoxicated and smashed the windscreen of the jeep that Irrfan’s drives in the film. The windshield had a huge spider like crack through it. It was impossible to shoot the car from the front so the rest of the shots of Irrfan’s car had to be cheated, shot from the back or concealed by some other device.

Any particular reason for a travel film set in Ladakh?
The film is a surreal encounter between two lonely people. Ladakh provides the physical manifestation of their states’ of mind, a backdrop against which the two characters’ relationship unfolds. In some ways Ladakh is the third character in the film.

I have a special affinity with the road and the sense of exhilaration and independence of travelling in a car on a road. I did a 3 month road trip from Trivandrum to Delhi (via Bhuj in Gujrat) a few years ago before that I did the Manali to Leh road trip.

Did you enjoy writing the script? Do you plan to write more scripts in the future?
Road To Ladakh is the first significant piece of writing that I have done for the screen. For the near future at least I would like to direct only my own scripts. So yes, more scripts in the future certainly.

Tell us a little bit about your next project?
Its a coming of age film set in New Delhi.

What’s your favorite film and why?
Very difficult question. Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies for its wonderful performances, Abbas Kirustami’s Where Is My Friend’s Home for its simplicity, Zang Yhimou’s Raise The Red Lantern for its poignancy. All time favourites like Cinema Paradiso, for its nostalgia. There is a much longer list but...

Who are your favorite actors and directors?
Directors:
Satyajit Ray
Alfred Hitchcock
Mike Leigh
The Films of the Coen Brothers
Peter Brook, theatre, for giving us the Mahabharat.

Don’t have any particular favourites as actors but admire a host of them.

Are there any good film schools in India that you recommend?
There is the FTII (Film and Television Institute of Pune) - but I don’t know how its doing. For a country that makes the most films in the world every year we don’t have many prominent institutes. There is the Satyajit Ray Institute in Calcutta and a Film Institute in Chennai.

The magazine Cinemaya runs a great film appreciation course in collaboration with FTII. The FTII too runs a similar course in Pune over the summer. Both are highly recommended.

Do you have any advice for other Doscos aspiring to enter the film industry?
Tell a good story and tell it your way. Watch tons of films, go to film appreciation courses, read a lot, write a script, get a cast, shoot it, edit it - do everything yourself, make loads of mistakes and learn, learn, learn. The format you make your picture on be it digital or film is unimportant what is important is that you go out and do it.

Did you Doon School education help you with your film career in any way?
Big time. It taught me how to multitask, organise my head, put things together, how to carry a bunch of disparate people with you, it exposed me to acting and then directing – for which I am eternally grateful. It taught me how to teach myself.

Do you have any questions for us or suggestions or thoughts about Doon Online?
I want to know why Doon online not more actively involved in influencing / lobbying / engaging in the school’s changing fortunes. For instance, from what I understand, the school is going through something of a leadership crisis. Doon Online goes out to the most successful segment of Doscos (specially those that are overseas). They also happen to be the ones who are least in touch because they live in various parts of the world, why cant we mobilise the international community through Doon online, give it some teeth - the goings on in the school should be reported and ex-doscos invited to comment / throw their weight and considerable influence behind important issues that may change the face of school irreversibly ?

Posted at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)