In a world of his own

Debutant director Chetan Shah’s film, Sapno Ke Desh Mein, which saw a limited release on April 23, 2010, has been made — like Dibakar Banerjee’s recent hit Love, Sex aur Dhokha — on a digital format. Produced by Raw Films, Shah’s company, which he set up three years ago to raise money and make digital films, Sapno Ke Desh Mein is a murder mystery revolving around a group of college students implicated in the death of their institute’s dean. Caught in a web of deceit, they uncover a sinister plot and have to quickly find the real culprits before it gets too late. Shah talks to Tanushree Ghosh about the film

Why did you decide to release your film on the eve of the IPL final?
My film [Sapno Ke Desh Mein] is made on a small budget. The theatres gave me a date of release and — to my disadvantage — details were confirmed to me just a week ago, leaving me with little time to plan the publicity for the film. The ongoing IPL will certainly affect audience strength. Since we don’t have a publicity budget, we’ll release the film from one region to another. So, while the film has a limited release on April 23 in the four big metros, Delhi and Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, in other places like Pune, Mysore, Ahmedabad, Baroda, and Surat, the film will release later. A similar release format was seen in Dev Benegal’s film Road, Movie.

Why did you shoot your film on the High Definition digital format?
I’ve always wanted to make a digital film and use new, available technology. Plus, it cost us a lot less than the traditional analog format. For independent filmmakers like me, working on a HD digital format is much cheaper without compromising on the image and sound quality. The film will be exhibited at theatres equipped with HD projection systems, resulting in a huge saving on 35 mm print costs while offering clean images without pinholes and scratches, top quality six-track surround sound and avoiding messy reel change-overs.

You have been making documentaries, corporate films and ad films for 20 years. What made you wait so long for a full-length feature film?
As a filmmaker, I always wanted to do a feature. So, after I’d written the script, I went around auditioning for actors in Bombay, Bangalore and Chennai and getting together the crew for the film. Finance for the film was a roadblock but somehow we managed. In 2008, we shot the film in just 50 days. Pre-production, shooting and editing, however, took a lot of time.

Tell us about the cast and crew of the film?
The actors in the film are newcomers but have experience as theatre artistes. Prasanna, the film’s music director, has been a close friend and specialises in playing the Karnatic guitar.

I’ve experimented content wise, thematically and technologically in the film. For example, the guitar, acoustic and electronic, has been used in all its forms for our background score; we have done a layering of various guitar sounds to create a symphonic harmony.

Since the budget of the film was Rs 2 crore (we, however, managed to make it in Rs 1.25 crore), the cast, crew and service providers, worked for me in lieu of deferred payments. Everyone involved in the film has a stake in it and has contributed to the film’s production. For instance, the cameraman paid around 2.5 per cent of the film costs. Pratap Studio in Mumbai, for example, let me use the studios.

How are you promoting the film? Will you be taking it to film festivals?
No. Film festivals are not as effective, even though they’re a good platform to get an international audience. Sapno Ke Desh Mein, however, is made for Indian audiences and I’m banking solely on its theatrical release. We have focused on few press advertisements and Internet publicity. The film has to work on word-of-mouth promotion. This being our first film, we will be happy if it runs more than a week in the theatres. We want the film to be well reviewed and talked about and based on that we will chart our future plan.