Ad filmmaker Vinil Mathew feels his experience in the advertising world and acquaintance with the camera helped him a lot while making his debut feature movie 'Hasee Toh Phasee'.
Vinil feels an ad filmmaker has the advantage over assistant directors as they have the experience of having called the shots and leading a team.
"Being an ad filmmaker gives you an edge while making a film. One has the sensibility to get the audiences attention as they tell a story in merely 30 seconds. People around you- be it the producers or the actors- are a lot more comfortable and confident working with you as I have previously worked in the same medium," Vinil told PTI in an interview.
"Unlike an assistant director or someone else, I know my camera, I know my angles. As an ad filmmaker one minute I am making a chocolate commercial, in the the other I am making a car advert. It makes you versatile. I am aware of the new technologies," he said.
With his debut in Bollywood as a director, Vinil has joined a long list of people, who have made a successful transition from the world of advertising to tinseltown, which includes Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Pradeep Sarkar, Dibakar Banerjee, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Shoojit Sircar, Rajkumar Hirani and many others.
Vinil says although there are definite advantages, it is not a guarantee that a good ad filmmaker will go on to make nice films.
"I don't think it is generic. All ad filmmakers don't end up making good films. It all depends on how you decide to tell your story."
Vinil says 'Hasee Toh Phasee' is one of the few scripts that he was toying with a year back and the only one that was liked by Phantom Films, the producers. The film stars Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra and will hit theatres on February 7.
