Saturday, June 9, 2012
Yahoo article on Love, Wrinkle-free
Love, Wrinkle-free
Yahoo! India News – Fri 27 Apr, 2012 3:30 PM IST
In
an era where commercial Bollywood cinema is mostly what the world
outside of India knows of the Indian film industry, the makers of ‘Love,
Wrinkle Free’ are vying for a spot outside the proverbial box. Indie,
low-budget, alternative, niche, the names are many for those that colour
outside the lines of mainstream cinema. Indian born Sandeep Mohan who has previously assisted Sanjay Leela Bhansali decided to try his hand as an independent filmmaker and writer. Mohan is also an Emmy Award nominee for his work on Siddhanth.
American resident Giju John an engineer in America by profession but a musician at heart is the second part of this duo. An avid dancer, John is the musical part of this partnership. What began as just a lyrical association grew to John becoming producer of the film.
Set in the midst of Goa, the story explores the ever-changing relationship between the middle aged Goan businessman Savio, and his 46-year-old wife who is suddenly pregnant. Their adopted teenage daughter, and a woman photographer who Savio comes across, provide the entertaining twists in the tale.
Drawn to the idea of representing a "new India", director Sandeep says their idea stemmed from wanting to draw on the true nature of Indians today, "As Indians are getting more and more exposed to the world outside, issues like "smooth skin", "youth" and "good looks" are taking on a more prominent role among the people. This is a new-India where relationships are being tested by these new values, and how a dysfunctional family copes with these issues.
The film has received accolades at several film festivals and is getting ready to hit Indian shores.
An interview with reelmag.in
Love, Wrinkle Free is another Indie
grabbing eyeballs. It’s a fun filled comedy with a dash to sensitivity. We
happened to talk to the director of the movie Sandeep and here is our interview
with the man…
Q:
Hi Sandeep, many congrats for your movie Love, Wrinkle-free. When we saw the
trailer, we were literally ROTFL. Tell our readers a little more about the
movie...
SM: Thanks Sujoy. The trailer is doing its job I heard. The buzz is
slowly but surely building up for the movie and I am excited since it is my
debut movie. So trying to stay positive and enjoy the process and hopefully
learn some lessons from it. I do hope that people will switch off their
televisions for a few hours and come to watch Love, Wrinkle-free on the 25th of
May at PVR.
Love, Wrinkle-free is my way of looking at
the world around me - I see people in cities obsessing so much about youth,
looks and smooth skin. I think more people visit skin clinics and
hair-transplantation centres than temples or churches these days and it is
clearly a sign of the times that we all are living in. I and me and the way I
look has become far more important that that small organ somewhere inside your
chest called the heart! As a story-teller, all this is fascinating stuff and I
couldn't resist exploring this theme in my debut film as a writer-director.
Love, Wrinkle-free is set in Goa in the
Roman Catholic world. It is a fun story of a dysfunctional Goan family - the
husband who is middle-aged is 8 years younger to his wife, and their adopted
teenage daughter who has started to worry that she doesn't look like either of
them. She has started to believe that she is Tibetan probably! The tone is real
and light-hearted. Using subtle humor, I have tried to explore this obsession
among all of us to retain our youth and smooth skin for a longer period of
time. The film was shot in 22 days in Goa. I hope I have managed to do justice
to this theme and you guys come out smiling and relaxed from the cinema halls
on the 25th of May
Q:
Edible lingerie? Where the idea popped up from? Candypants?
SM: Well, frankly I don't remember exactly where the edible lingerie
idea popped out from, but it looks like this is quite popular among a few
people who like to enjoy life's kinky side.No harm in people having a little
fun this way and keep the spice in life going. Imagine if more people are happy
in this country, we will have more organised traffic on the road, less honking,
and what not. So edible lingerie has its advantages and hope that Love,
Wrinkle-free helps in popularizing such "healthy eating habits":) and
more Indians go on to win gold medals in Olympic sports:)
Well, on the serious side, when I was a
copywriter in an ad agency, I remember working on an underwear ad campaign, and
when I used to go this underwear office, I used to see guys and gals - the
hardworking MBA sorts, going about their business just like in any other
office. For them, what they were selling was no different from selling cars or
candies or cough syrups. It was a job. The idea of the lead character evolved
from this memory. Savio Monteiro, my lead character is obsessed about the
underwear industry. And the rest of the story evolved with my frequent trips to
Goa and observing the life as it goes by there.
Q:
The story has a click value. It’s definitely going to be liked by certain
sections. But a poster like that and obvious hints that movie can be a sex
comedy, do you think that this movie will get a nod from masses?
SM” Well, the one poster that you are referring to is not the final
poster, but definitely is a catchy one. Love, Wrinkle-free is a sweet,
refreshing film set in Goa and it is a movie the entire family can sit and
watch, according to me. I don't think in these times, the mention of the word
Edible Lingerie is going to scandalize a youngster or their parents. They are
used to Chikni Chamelis and Munnis shaking their assets as if their life
depended on how far they are able to shake it! Parents should be more worried
about how their son/daughter has access to "how to make bombs" in 3
easy steps on youtube channels etc.
Love, Wrinkle-free is a much more sensitive, sensible comedy and hopes
to cater to all those people who love good characters, a good plot, good
performances and good fun in their cinema experience. So do come over to PVR on
the 25th with the whole family since this is not a sex comedy at all.
Q:
As a filmmaker and a movie buff, which movie are you waiting for? And why?
SM: As a filmmaker, I am waiting for "To Rome with Love" -
Woody Allen's next film. I hope he lives forever and god gives him a long life
so that he can surprise us with such simple and stunning movies. In India, I am
looking forward to Shanghai which is from one of my favorite Indian director
Dibakar Banerjee, and also "Love, Wrinkle-free" which is directed by
a close friend of mine by the name Sandeep Mohan:)
Q:
Anything you would like to say to our readers...
SM: I would like to invite them to see Love, Wrinkle-free on the 25th
and let their friends know about it too. I can promise you that the way we have
portrayed Goa, is unique and authentic, and is definitely something which you
have not seen in Indian films for the last 10 years. More power to the truly
indie films and look forward to seeing you guys at a PVR near your house soon.
Take care and Never Give Up.
A write-up by me in madeaboutmoviez.com
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Kushal K Shah: (Sorry for long comment,Spoilers ahead) I loved the film.Yes,it wasn't as
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rasikruskin: I liked the way you have chosen to mention scenes from his lesser celebrate
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Chhatrapal: Best review of Shanghai ... Of course the film is much better than regula
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Ameet Bhuvan: i agree with omkar. for one, the film is not a remake, and more a tribute
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Ajay Nair: Another friday... And comes Dibakar Banerjee's Shanghai...If its a politica
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 India License.
“Love, Wrinkle-free – India’s first “Supaindie” movie!
Featured, Indie & Fest — By Admin on May 14, 2012 2:05 pm
Being
an Indie director is fun. You get to do a lot of things for very less
pay. Which other profession gives you that pleasure. That is why I love
this medium, I think. Even in the IPL, they forcibly pay you a lot of
money just for sitting in the dugout and clapping. I don’t like IPL
although I like cricket. Another reason that I’ve been avoiding IPL is
because my labour of love for the last 2 years, my debut film, “Love,
Wrinkle-free” is releasing on the 25th of May when the second Semi-final
of the IPL takes place, you know what I mean…I have this feeling that
if I don’t watch it, I can call this season of IPL a flop, and then more
people turn up to watch my movie….you know what I mean…So fellow assholes, sorry what are we, oh ok, so fellow students of life, according to me, Independent Films in India should be broadly divided into two categories – BigIndie and SupaIndie.
1. BigIndie: Independent Films produced by Studios. Usually with good budget. (BigIndie needs to be pronounced like Bhiwandi)
2. SupaIndie: Independent Films produced by individuals with micro-mini budget. I have named these kind of films as “SupaIndie” since the Director gets a chance to act like Superman and take on multiple responsibilities in them(Supaindie is inspired from that famous character from the Children’s magazine ‘Tinkle” – Supandi. So pronounce it that way).
“Love, Wrinkle-free”is a SupaIndiefilm – a fun-filled, light-hearted, refreshing take on Urban India’s obsession with good looks, smooth skin and youth. Staying in Vikhroli West, far away from the maddening “filmmaking is only my birth right” Bollywood crowd, I’ve managed to make a film with the help of some friends. Exactly 2 years back, I finished writing the final draft of Love, Wrinkle-free. Things looked very bleak, even for an indie-spirited never-say-die guy like me. But I followed a few crazy rules and now my debut movie is ready for release on the 25th of May. If a simple middle-class guy like me could do this, I am sure you can too…wherever you are in the country.
You should make your own rules, don’t listen to me if you don’t want to, but still sharing whatever worked for me.
“CRAZY WISDOM RULES FOR SUPAINDIE FILMMAKERS”
1. Don’t keep a beard. This way, you won’t think of yourself as the next Anurag Kashyap or Dibakar Banerjee. You will also retain some originality since you won’t be trying to be someone else. These guys are amazing directors because they have their own unique vision, and you don’t want to be second-rate versions of them. Better be a first rate version of yourself. So start saving, invest in a decent shaving razor and shave daily.
2. Stop smoking like a Chimney. Instead have Beer once a week. Since you cannot smoke Beer, it doesn’t cause passive smoking related illnesses in others, you don’t feel guilty, and more importantly, beer brings that “strange-silly” grin on your face, which is extremely critical if you want to be a Supaindie filmmaker.
3. You should shoot a minimum of 8 scenes a day. Your actors might want to murder you, but that “strange-silly” grin from Rule 2 will help you here. Before going to Rule 3, try that grin now. Just like in filmmaking or “making out”, the more you do it, the better you get at it.
4. 75% of your crew members should have acted in your film. Use them only for the roles of Junior Artistes. At times, it is important to show them their place. At other times, respect the hell out of them.
5. Directors should never travel in a car during the entire duration of the shoot. A Kinetic Honda or a two wheeler is allowed. (This way, the crew remains grounded and doesn’t ask for a BMW to transport them from the hotel to location)
6. No Vanity Van should be used for the entire duration of the shoot. Vanity and Supaindie don’t gel well, if you know what I mean…
7. You shouldn’t use a Track longer than 3 metres during the shoot. This rule comes in because that is all what he had in “Love, Wrinkle-free.”
8. You shouldn’t use Jimmy Jib, Crane or Steadicam for your shoot. Same reason as Rule 6.
9. You shouldn’t take more than 22 days to shoot your movie.
10. You should be the writer and director of the movie. I don’t know why, but it looks good when it comes in the title ‘Written and Directed by….”. Supaindie filmmakers should learn to enjoy the small pleasures of life.
11. Your marketing/promotional budget should not be more than 1/10th of your production budget. It can be lesser too, if your producer insists. Producers are the guys with the brains, and they might be having a reason to slash the budget, you know what I mean…
12. Your Editing machine should be in your home and not in some studio. That way you don’t have to buy too many Director-type T-shirts to wear to go to the Studio. Save that money to buy a Razor as mentioned in Rule 1. Don’t add this expense at any cost to your Post-production budget. Supaindiefilmmakers are honest people, and honesty gives them the strength to hold the beer mug high, remember that.
13. You should do the Casting in your movies on your own. That way, actors will be thankful to you and not some Casting Director who disappears before the shoot.
14. You should not use any Assistant Director for the entire duration of the Post-production, which would mean carrying the hard disks yourself to Pre-mix, Mix and D.I Studios. This way, you know what a 1 Terabyte Hard disk means or weighs and brings you literally in touch with your film on a daily basis.
15. No frontal nudity is allowed in a Supaindie movie. The only exception is when you are filming animals since they don’t normally wear clothes. Censor Board is getting more and more progressive these days and allows these nude animal shots, you know what I mean…
5 Bonus Tips for Supaindiefilmmakers:
1. A Supaindie director should be able to talk about any topic for a minimum of 5 minutes. Do intersperse your sentences with “you know what I mean…” after every 25 seconds, you know what I mean…
2. Supaindie directors should use these magic words “It’s required” to actors who offer too many suggestions while shooting. These words have a magical effect on them and they are charmed into letting you shoot peacefully.
3. A Supaindie director doesn’t differentiate between actors. Because all of them are Gods, and you should genuinely worship them.
4. A Supaindie director should have a wife/husband/parents who allows you to use the living room as a Pre-production office, with a few Assistants and Production guys roaming around, and making a mess of your already messy house.
5. A Supaindie director should do Surya Namaskars daily. This will keep the beer belly to a manageable size, and makes you look reasonably fit when you go begging for funds for your next Supaindie movie.
Love, Wrinkle-free and all the best. These are humble suggestions. Me no expert. Make your own Rules. Do push yourself to go and watch India’s first Supaindie movie “Love, Wrinkle-free” when it releases on the 25th of May.
An article in The Indian Express...
| Love, Wrinkles & Goa |
| Somya Lakhani Adman Sandeep Mohan's debut as a filmmaker comes with the critically acclaimed film — Love, Wrinkle Free — that deals with the issues of old-age pregnancy and ageing. It was while working as an assistant director with Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam that 21-year-old Sandeep Mohan realised that he was not meant for such mammoth-sized cinematic projects. “I learnt discipline and paper work. That was the greatest lesson,” he says. Soon, Mohan realized that he wanted to make tighter, smaller human stories and till he had anything concrete in hand, he dabbled in advertising. Almost 13 years later, Mohan - the filmmaker (not the adman) is marking his debut with a witty, light-hearted film that has a serious theme. Love, Wrinkle free is due for release in India on May 25 . Set in Goa, the film is about Monteiros, a middle-aged couple dealing with the wife's old-age pregnancy, and fighting age issues at the same time. “We live in a world that is obsessed with looks and youth. This film is about how a middle-class family deals with such obsession,” says Mohan. Annie, in her forties, (played by Shernaz Patel) has only one dream – to be a part of the church choir that only wants youngsters to sing. Stand-up comedian Ash Chandler plays Savio, Annie’s 37-year-old husband, who wants to start his own business of "edible lingerie" and the two live with their adopted teenage daughter, Ruth, whose main concern is her Tibetan looks. “Annie is coming to terms with growing older – holding on to a younger husband and fighting wrinkles, literally. And when she figures out that she is pregnant, she feels that she is young, and young enough to be part of the choir too,” says Patel. The trailers are a treat. The film has been shot in picturesque and cliché-free locales of Goa such as Arambol and Ashwem beach, while the music is refreshingly contemporary and very Goan. “I know Goa very well and I wanted to show it in the most authentic way possible, away from its typical representation,” says Mohan, who shot the film in 22 days on a very tight budget of Rs 85 lakh. Taken to various film festivals across the world – Cine Quest Film Festival, San Jose; MAMI, Mumbai; IIFF Tampa Bay, Florida and Marche Du Film, Cannes Film Fest – the film has generated positive reviews overall. “People have come out smiling and we have had house-full situations at a number of fests,” adds Mohan. However, it’s Chandler who seems most excited. “In New York, after the film's screening, a gentleman asked me how I was related to the project. I was amazed that people did not associate with me the persona of Savio, since I am mostly looked at as a stand-up artiste. This is my first lead role in a film and it was challenging because I have to be consistently good; you can’t have just one moment of glory,” he says. |
An article in The Hindu....
Love in the time of wrinkles
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Arika, Shernaz Patel and Ash Chandler in a still from 'Love, Wrinkle Free' -
Sandeep Mohan
Pitched as an ‘anti-ageing comedy', Sandeep Mohan's ‘Love, Wrinkle Free' is a quirky indie film about relationships.
Director Sandeep Mohan and producer Giju John are like
two-man army. They haven't hired a PR machinery to pitch their labour of
love, quirkily titled Love, Wrinkle Free. From sending e-mails to
taking the call on production nitty-gritty, they have shared the onus
between them. “The experience has been worthwhile and I learnt a lot
from it, even though it was strenuous,” says Sandeep Mohan, speaking to
us on the eve of the film's release. Love, Wrinkle Free opened to good reviews in Mumbai, Delhi and a few other cities and is expected to be released in Hyderabad soon.
Sandeep is one of the newest additions to the growing list of indie filmmakers who want to tell their story their way. Love, Wrinkle Free is
Sandeep Mohan's comment on society, its obsession with anti-ageing
solutions, told through a tale of relationships. “The story is my
reaction to things that I saw around me. I saw youngsters, who didn't
actually require makeup, taking to heavy makeup and ending up looking
older than they are. And there were older women who were addicted to
makeup hoping it would make them look younger,” says Sandeep. The
cosmetic comment is just one part of the film, which is set in Goa and
narrates the story of Savio (Ash Chandler), his wife Annie (Shernaz
Patel) and their adopted daughter Ruth (Arika Silaichia) and their
reaction to Annie's unplanned pregnancy.
Shernaz
Patel was the first to come on board before Sandeep signed on Ash
Chandler, Seema Rahmani and Arika Silaichia. “We didn't have a casting
director. I happened to meet Ash Chandler and spoke to him for a few
hours. The passion towards his work and the fact that he was unaware of
how funny he was (despite his much-appreciated stand-up comedy acts)
made him endearing. He had to be my Savio. He and Shernaz brought in all
their experiences to the film. Shernaz was my sounding board. She is a
terrific actress and under utilised in cinema,” says Sandeep.
While
shooting for the film in Goa, Sandeep discovered his ability to
multi-task, driven by necessity. As with most indie films, this project
too was shot on a show-string budget (money was pooled in through crowd
funding) and it was tough to hire too many assistants. At one point,
Sandeep was checking up on hotels for the crew's stay in Goa. “All this
experience will help me,” he says.
The film was
wrapped up by the end of 2010 and then got selected for Mumbai
International Film Festival, followed by Cinequest Film Festival in San
Jose and South Asian International Film Festival in New York among
others.
Sandeep smiles when he looks back. A few
years ago, he was a drifter and a confused one at that. “I was 21 and I
tried to do many things,” he says. He worked for a firm that produced a
current affairs programme for Zee Television, before moving to
advertising and finally to movies. He was one of the assistant directors
for Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. “I learnt
discipline from Bhansali. I didn't have formal training in filmmaking. I
learnt on the job, first with Bhansali and then by working on music
videos and corporate films. I realised that when I make my own films, I
would be comfortable narrating personal, human relationship stories than
larger-than-life stories,” he says.
With Love, Wrinkle Free out
in cinema halls, Sandeep wants to step up work on his next project. “I
want to finish the script and begin work by December,” he says.
An article in The Hindu...
Funny folds
-
From 'Love, Wrinkle-free' -
Sandeep Mohan
interview Independent filmmaker Sandeep Mohan's debut comic film
Love, Wrinkle-free holds a mirror to our obsession with good looks
Drinking more red wine and less beer apart, directing a
feature film topped Sandeep Mohan's resolutions for the year 2010. As a
young writer, who had assisted Sanjay Leeela Bhansali on Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and
had written the script of popular TV show ‘Siddhanth', India's nominee
to the 2007 Emmy Awards, Sandeep was not clueless about the process of
filmmaking but had to gear up for the many challenges. Foremost was
finance but perseverance helped the film come through.
Curiously titled Love, Wrinkle-free,
which will release on May 25, Sandeep's debut effort stars Ash
Chandler, Shernaz Patel, Seema Rahmani and Ashwin Mushran. Set in Goa, Love, Wrinkle-free is
a story about Savio, a 38-year-old senior area sales manager who works
in an innerwear company. Savio's mundane life gets hit by a bolt from
the blue with the unplanned pregnancy of his 46-year-old religious wife
Annie. Their adopted teenage daughter Ruth's reactions to this pregnancy
and Savio's chance meeting with Natalie, a travel photographer, who
wants him to do something unique for her, throws the protagonist
off-balance.
In this day and age when corporate
funding and big banners/production houses are de rigueur, ask Sandeep
why he chose to make an independent film and pat comes the reply,
“Having worked as a writer for a few years, I realised that the only way
I could get creative control over the film is by going independent. As a
writer-director, I bring in my own unique vision based on my
life-experiences, and I wanted to stay true to it while telling the
story. So in that sense, the decision to go independent was taken even
before I wrote the script of Love, Wrinkle-free.”
The
story, Sandeeps adds is purely fictional. “My job as the director was
to make it believable which I think I have managed to.” Explaining the
name of the film, he says, Love, Wrinkle-free is a reaction to urban Indian society's obsession to look young and have a flawless complexion.
Sandeep
claims that this is one of the better movies made about Goa in the last
10 years. “Goa is shown the way it is and not as seen through the eyes
of a tourist. Love, Wrinkle-free is an entertaining film, made
with a lot of heart, and sensible audiences are going to come out
smiling from the cinema halls,” he says.
Getting a
talented star cast was another challenge. “The casting was done by me. I
got in touch with Ash, Shernaz, Seema, Ashwin and Sohrab, and after
reading the script, they were so keen to do the film that I didn't have
to do too much convincing. I always wanted these actors, and their
performances are the highpoint of this comedy.”
And social media chipped in when Sandeep required finances.
“Crowd Funding, as they call it is a boon for people like me. Forty
investors from all over the world invested in this film. Since none of
these investors get involved in the creative process, it helps you tell a
good story,” he says.
Sandeep will soon begin work on his next film based in Himachal Pradesh.
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