PEM: From architecture to film writing, screenplay, script writing & direction; how and why was this transition? And how was the overall experience for a typical Marathi Boy from Nagpur.
TD: My childhood has gone into watching my parents perform on stage as amateur artists. Despite their busy schedules – my father being an architect and my mother, an All India Radio employee, both of them pursued their passion fervently. Watching their routine did have an impact on my mind, subconsciously.
Let me tell you honestly, I was attracted to the world of music by fluke. I was fortunate enough to come across a musical band when I joined architecture college. I used to be a singer in this band for all 5 years of Architecture. I came in touch with people from music production, composers and the likes of it; all in their formative years. I started to work with them, learn from them about the nuances of music making while studying. By third year I got all the more involved in this field. Also, during the same time, I wrote lyrics for them.
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Frankly speaking, I have never studied nor read poems or film lyrics but my lines were appreciated by everyone. That indeed gave me the confidence to write more. Eventually, I started to work with them in production of music videos, editing, and other facets of film production.
Me and my friends were getting paid for all the music videos, non-fiction films, documentary films, advertisements, audio albums etc; this was during my fourth year. By this time I had made up my mind to continue working in this field instead of pursuing a career in architecture. I knew that if I wanted to grow and make a career out of this; then Mumbai was the only place to work on a larger scale. Thus, I shifted base to Mumbai.
After graduation, I made a short film “KALAKAAR” (starring: Rajit Kapoor). This film gave me a chance to attend various Film Festivals for the next year and half. It received an overwhelming response and appreciation all over. It gave me an opportunity to meet people like Anand Gandhi (Ship of Theus), Rahi Anil Barve (Tumbadd), RS Prasanna (Shubh Mangal Savadhan), Kaivalya (Shubh Mangal Jyada Savadhan) etc. We all are contemporaries and have started more or less at the same time. All of them have now made a name for themselves with their exemplary works. I have been in the Film Festival circuit for 2 years, my short films have gotten awards and recognition all over. This opened a vista for my journey in the film industry.
PEM: Being an architect, how has your perspective changed towards film making or production designing. Or has the architectural training helped you in any aspect of film making?
TD:There are certain things that studying architecture helped me in film making; the most important, being personality development. Other than this, a sense of visual presentation and production design do play a key role in film making but there are production designers who overlook this aspect.
I feel, Story Telling is the most important thing in film making. This aspect has nothing to do with my training as an architect. It’s more about how the story has to be presented in a way that is visually appealing to the audience. And direction comes next in line after the story. Saying that, I call myself as a story teller and I love to present stories in the most visually appealing manner to the audience.
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