The idea of Hola Venky! took shape in my mind when i was traveling with my first film Love, Wrinkle-free to the Cannes Film Market. Being my first trip ever to that part of the world, a lot of red wine ended up making its way into my system. Since wine drinking is such a tradition in those parts, and me being such a "traditionalist", I had to go with the flow, you see. Well, anyways, what started off as a way to fit into that world ended up with me feeling very "joyful", and coming up with a few weird story ideas, one of them transforming later on into Hola Venky! I have no clue how?! Ab mein kya karoon...?
Some of you might be aware that the Marche Du Film at Cannes is the world's largest film market. And the craziest. It was a huge shock initially but in hindsight, I feel it was the ideal initiation into the big bad world of world cinema. Within a day or two of being there, I felt happy and lost at the same time in the carnival'ish atmosphere. Happy because of the wine. Lost because films were being sold like vada pavs from stalls, albeit in a very very organised manner. I used to spend my time walking around through the countless stalls, amazed at the fabulous movies being produced around the world. Since the place was the equivalent of Big Bazaar multiplied 10,000 times, one had to sit down occasionally to catch breath. While seated on one of these trips, I noticed this Guy - middle aged, little pot-belly and a very serious looking face. He was surely an Indian, for he was the loudest in the hall. A few hours back, i remember seeing him at the NFDC Indian Pavilion, a place where all the Indian delegates assemble to drink wine(free), eat green apples(free) and generally look important(free). You can make out an indie filmmaker here by the hungry look on his face, Cannes after all is very expensive.
Anyways back to this Guy. This Guy looked very busy and had a walk that was very fast. Nothing special about it you might say since most of the humanoids involved in film sales and marketing have mastered the art of being at many places at the same time. I remember wondering at that time whether Humanoids get a heart-attack too? Maybe they do, or these guys were deliberately trying to invite a heart attack or at least a stroke so that they have a reason to turn "spiritual" or "Buddhist" post the attack. I don't know what I mean by that...anyways...!
I got a lot of pleasure thinking that this guy must be from one of those big production houses from India - you know the UTV-Viacom-BIG types who always have a look on their face as if a safety pin is pricking their ass, you know that look right? Ok, let's cut back to the story. He was in the Russian stall, using his Delhi-twang English and macho'ness on this Russian blonde at the stall. She was smiling but it looked like she was trailing behind him in comprehension by a couple of words, Russian being her mummy's favourite tongue and all! Something about this scene made me smile. I don't know why, i never know why, but it felt that there is a story somewhere hidden there...
I started observing this character in the film market for the next 2 days. Strangely he was looking quite troubled the next day. Gone was his Usain-Boltish walk. He was sipping on his wine, sitting in a corner at the Indian Pavilion. He looked like he was in some sorta physical pain, and was trying to hide it. Not wanting to spoil my idea about what it might be, I decided against going and talking to him. Instead, I remember spending 10 euros or so of non-existent money and buying a Cannes memorabilia Diary, and writing on the first page "Charles Dickens". I thought I will call my character "Charles" and Dickens was for effect. It just felt right. Then I scribbled a few lines, then left it at that. Thought that some day, i will get down to developing it into something. That was Cannes. Then came back to Vikhroli West. Wonder whether they have Cannes West? Next time, will check that out...
Then Love, Wrinkle-free got invited to Cinequest film fest at San Jose. Something about the place, its Latino flavour endeared itself to me. San Jose felt more relaxed than the rich-upmarket feel of San Francisco. Living in San Jose for a few days during the film fest, I noticed quite a few Mexican people - some standing near gas stations, some on the roads, and I remember asking my friend Giju about them. He told me that these are immigrants looking for work, and most of them may not even have legal papers to be in the US. I found it sad and interesting.
A couple of days before the film festival finished, I was feeling lonely and bored. So decided to explore San Jose a bit. While walking past a Latino pub, i heard this beautiful music coming from inside the pub. It felt like I have heard this music somewhere before, and I stood around outside the pub for a while enjoying the music. When I asked around casually to another bystander what this music was, he told me it was Mariachi. The energy, the feel, everything just felt great. I remember feeling very "happy" and humming back to the hotel room, and straightaway got into research mode on Youtube. Got to say that I fell deeply in love with Mariachi music that night. Felt the same amount of excitement as I felt a few months back in Cannes, but this time, without any wine to assist. The music was intoxicating enough. Scribbled down in my diary about developing some story around this.
So what has Hola Venky! got to do with Cannes and San Jose. Nothing except i got to tell you that I visited these two places:) Well honestly, the script as it turned out finally has gone through a lot of changes, but the seeds of the story took off from these two experiences that I narrated above.
After Love, Wrinkle-free released, I went through a phase thinking as to what to do next. One path led to Mulund. Other to Kurla. Ok, just kidding! But seriously i had to chose between writing a "typical" bollywood script within the set parameters of the industry, or sticking to my indie adventurous spirit and tell stories that have evolved from my experiences and observations. It is always a tough call, because making films is a lot of hard work. Especially indie films where i am hands-on involved at every stage, right from writing the script to fund-raising to casting and executing the project to marketing.
I decided to go with the heart. I thought that until the time a sensible, good producer realizes that I exist, and that I can write and direct sensible fun movies for very little money, I will keep my spirits up and work on my craft by making super low cost, high concept fun movies. Since these would be experiments, i wanted to keep the risks very less for the investors. That is when I asked myself: "What would be the minimum budget in which I can make a fun feature film?". So did a rough estimate and came up with the figure of 10 lakhs. So there it was. My plan was set. Make a movie under 10 lakhs!
So in February this year, i got down to write the Script, using observations and experiences from these 2 incidents that i narrated to you about earlier. I have fictionalized it heavily as it happens during the writing process, changed the settings and characters. Since the budget was non-existent, I wrote keeping in mind the locations that I can source for free. As for characters, I kept in mind friends and friends of friends who i had met during the previous US trip during the film festivals. Essentially wrote them into the script. This helped since these guys who are not actors didn't have to try too hard.
And once the script was ready, i realized that a film under this budget was a possibility only if I kept the crew to the basic minimum. My logic was that no body is going to watch a 10 lakh movie for its cinematography. So decided to stick to a character based story without resorting to any of the big movie "good looking" shots. So the decision was made - work with a bare minimum crew - me, my cameraman, sound recordist and my producer friend Giju. That is it.
Easier said than done. It was quite a task to shoot this way since I had shot Love, Wrinkle-free with a 48 member crew and now suddenly, I was physically carrying equipments along with my 3 member team for the shoot. No Assistants. No Make Up ladies and Lightmen. No nothing! It was a very tough shoot, but looking back, got to say, there are more pluses than minuses. I even started enjoying the hardships. At times I did think as to why I was attempting something like this. But then my heart would remind me that when I decided to take the plunge into film making, my only goal was to be able to make films. I never thought big films or small films, just good fun films that I can relate to.
I hope that if I continue making good small films, someone somewhere will watch it and over a period of time, there will be a small audience for my kinda films. Plus, I am this independent sort of guy and I believe I have enough courage to last the distance. If things go wrong, i have my backup plan of becoming a Waiter at Arambol Beach. Not bad at all eh?! So I jumped right in, and went about the process of executing the movie. How the journey turns out, no one knows. But got to say, the journey till now has been very humbling and i have learned a few things from this experience.
So here i am, finding myself at the Post Production stage of the movie now. We have one more month of hard work to go before the movie is completed. Lots and lots of people backed us to reach this stage. My friend Giju, other friends from US who opened their homes for us to shoot, Roger Narayan the lead actor, Sonia Balcazar...many others...Nalini, Amelie...my small crew who was ready for the adventure, and didn't crib, despite the hardships...everyone. It is amazing how people go out of the way to help you if you follow your dream and have the clarity.
Hola Venky! is an experiment in the sense that it was shot at a budget less than the budget of a single song of some of the Indian movies. We have some innovative ideas on recovering the 10 lakh investment and if that happens, we would have cracked a model where a guy like me, whose sole interest in life is to make engaging films, can make a living without having to go through the typical route - which involves a lot of creative compromise. This way I retain my indie spirit and when I die, i die with a big wide grin, having done exactly what I wanted to do. I wish and pray that I retain this energy to take on the new challenges that await me. Like they say "Nothing is impossible, if you keep away from Andheri West!!!". Ok...,that is my quote ok:)
Theek Hai! Till next time, adios friends, enjoy your red wine( i have gone back to a beer a month!)
PS: If you think the film deserves it, you can help us finish the post production of the film by donating at www.indiegogo.com/holavenky. Many friends have already contributed towards this and I am thankful to each one of them. You can also spread word about this unique experiment by sharing our FB page: www.facebook.com/holavenky
Thanks, and enjoy your day
Sandeep Mohan
(Writer-Director/"Hola Venky!")
