AUTOBIOGRAPHY of the film DEADBODY

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Of the film  

DEADBODY

Where is the honour in being a common man?

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Written and Directed by :: Ambrish & Pradeep

Production by :: Beyond Dreams Entertainment

Premise :: The idea of democracy

Genre: Drama, Satire

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The idea of this short Film ‘Deadbody’ was conceived during the duo’s visit to Gandhi Ashram in Vardha, Maharastra; a pious and imposing place which induces spontaneous reflections on the Great man’s ideas and ideologies without any audiovisual aid - only silence spread all around like early morning mists. What a symbolism that is!! As one goes there one realizes what the modern India has truly missed. The idea of a democracy was never understood by the common man; and they were never made to understand by the leaders post Gandhi. If today’s educated youth finds it honourable to be a pizza salesman, a barmaid, a Bollywood dancer (and item girl!) rather than being a farmer, an artisan, a teacher, a scientist where is our progress as a nation?

# 9th JUNE 2011 :: Developed the concept of ‘DEADBODY’ when a very close friend Ashish wanted to make short film in 16mm camera with a minimum budget. Every Idea needs a spark.

# 11th JUNE 2011 :: Completed the FIRST DRAFT of the film. Pitched the script to all our friends and received a very good feed back.

# 14th JUNE 2011 ::  On our way to Ganpatipula read an article in Mumbai Mirror & Times of India :: Incidentally somebody had stole Gandhiji’s Glasses from Vardha recently. Our script and the same premise the protagonist steels the ‘Gandhiji’s Charkha’ from Gandhi Museum. In our two day stay at Ganpatipula we decided to direct the film.

# 19th JUNE 2011 :: Created the Blog with snap taken on our visit to Gandhiji’s Home at Vardha in Oct 2009

# 23th  JUNE 2011 :: FIRST DRAFT of the script registered at writer’s association R. No. 201977 Script ‘ DEADBODY’

# 25th JUNE 2011 ::  Met Yash Patnaik ‘BEYOND DREMS’ pitched the idea of a short film ‘DEADBODY’ he liked it agreed to produce it. When Yash and Mamta Patnaik, the producers, listened to the film’s idea they were excited about the project. Yash provided us with a studio set. But we could shoot only during the night after 10pm and till 6am. Without disturbing the shooting during the day at the set. We had the Set now we needed the Cinematographer. We called up our friend Asit Biswas a Cinematographer.

# 26th JUNE 2011 :: Had a long discussion with Asit regarding the film & its making, finally decided to shoot it in 16mm.

# 27th JUNE 2011 :: Visited the set with the DOP.  Met Deepak Bhingardive production manager, thought of casting him as one of the character in the film(Inspector Bhonsle).

#30th JUNE 2011 :: Designed the first look of the Film along with the one line for the film.

DEADBODY

Where is the honour in being a common man?

In the evening meeting with Yash Patnaik he suggested the name Mohit Raina

for the role of Ashoke. Asked us to met him.

# 30th JUNE 2011 :: Met with Mohit Raina for the character Ashoke. On the cloudy rainy evening at Yari road Bru World Cafe  we sat waiting to get the first reaction from Mohit while he read the script……5min….10min….15min… and the first thing he said was “…I am thinking of keeping a little Stubble look …” and we knew the very moment we had our character Ashoke already in place …now we had to find remaining two important characters DCP Raj Singh and Alia (Ashoke’s GF)

# 1sh JULY 2011 :: As we discussed the progress of the film with Yash & Mamta they suggested Shubhangi & Rushad Rana name. In the evening we mailed the film script to Shubhangi Atre for the character Alia. We decided to shoot the film on 4^th night and the 5^th night.

# 2nd JULY 2011 :: Shubhangi agreed to play the role of Alia. Only one more important character was left Raj Singh. We called up Rushad Rana & later mailed the script to him. And we waited for his reply. …Waited ……By evening we had all our characters. Every thing was falling in place. 2 days for shoot

# 3rd JULY 2011 :: Met with Shubhangi Atre ( for the character Alia) & Rushad Rana ( for the character Raj Singh) at the location both. Finalized the crew.

We had everything in place. 

# 4th JULY 2011 :: We had some problem with the 16mm stock and had to switch to the RED Camera for the film. We finally managed to arrange for one by 5pm just few hours before the shoot……..All the Crew and Cast was at the set by 10pm and we started Shooting by 1:00 am…..

# 5th JULY 2011 :: Shooting first day(Night)

# 6th JULY 2011 :: Shooting completed by 10:30am.

# 16th JULY 2011 :: Again we called up our friend Devendra Murdeshwar(editor of Fashion, Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji, Murder 2…)agreed to do the editing of the film……

# 3rd August 2011 :: Edit locked

# 4th August 2011 :: Film for sound design (Hitesh Chaurasia)

# 9th August 2011 :: Sanjay Wandrekar(Background score for 3 Idiots, Double Dhamaal)agreed to do the background Score for the film……

# 16th August 2011 :: Sound design completed

# 20th August 2011 :: Background score Completed.

# 21st August 2011 :: Started Final Edit with graphics/ subtitles etc

# 25th August 2011 :: finished Final Edit with graphics/ subtitles etc..all funds are finished by now …we needed more money for mixing and DI tried from all source but failed…have to complete later on when funds arrive…. Are little sad about it…

# 26th  August 2011 :: submitted film ‘Deadbody’  for Censor Board

# 29th August 2011 :: the film was examined by the board

# 30th August 2011 :: Another bad thing happened there was an objections by the Censor Board ::deletion of the particular scene(Scene 11) suggested.

# 31st August 2011 - 04th September2011 :: HOLIDAY in Mumbai  ( Eid & Ganesh Chaturthi)

# 05th September 2011 :: Meeting with RO Censor Board

Dear Sir,

Sub: Request to reconsider our film ‘Deadbody’ for censor

Kindly refer to the short festival film ‘Deadbody’ submitted on 29th  August. In the light of the discussions we had on 30th August regarding the objections of the Censor Board we reviewed our film and also discussed with our producers.

We all are unanimous about the fact that the deletion of the particular scene as suggested by you will seriously harm the film. It’s because all the issues this film deals with converge to the said scene making it most vital portion of the film. 

  : Censor Board ready to get Censor Certificate with Cut only or have to go for RC

 06th September  2011 ::The film reviewed again by the Censor board

Dear Sir,

Sub: Request to reconsider our film ‘Deadbody’ for censor

It’s because all the issues this film deals with converge to the said scene making it most vital portion of the film. 

So we request you to please please reconsider the film for censor.

 : Finally the Censor Board cleared the film without a single Cut.

Thanks to the Board member:: Rajeev Masand, Pallavi Acarya, Rakhee Bhalkikar, Laishram Mema, Prakasha Raut, A.H. Siddiqui & Vidya Kadam. Who deed justice to the film by passing it without a single cut.

 07th September  2011 :: The film completed. Will be soon entering into various festivals India & abroad. 

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Thanks to Mamta and Yash Patnaik, the producers to back the concept, so were the artists who haven’t charged us a single pie for their performances, and everybody came together to make this effort transferred from paper into the screen.
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Censor Board & the film 'DEADBODY'

26th  August 2011 :submitted film ‘Deadbody’  for Censor Board
29th August 2011 : the film was examined by the board

30th August 2011 :Objections of the Censor Board ::deletion of the particular scene(Scene 11) suggested

31st August 2011 - 04th September2011:HOLIDAY in Mumbai  ( Eid & Ganesh Chaturthi)

05th September 2011 :Meeting with RO

Dear Sir,

Sub: Request to reconsider our film ‘Deadbody’ for censor

Kindly refer to the short festival film ‘Deadbody’ submitted on 29th  August. In the light of the discussions we had on 30th August regarding the objections of the Censor Board we reviewed our film and also discussed with our producers.

We all are unanimous about the fact that the deletion of the particular scene as suggested by you will seriously harm the film. It’s because all the issues this film deals with converge to the said scene making it most vital portion of the film. 

  : Censor Board ready to get Censor Certificate with Cut only or have to go for RC

 06 th September  2011 :The film reviewed again by the Censor board

Dear Sir,

Sub: Request to reconsider our film ‘Deadbody’ for censor

It’s because all the issues this film deals with converge to the said scene making it most vital portion of the film. 

So we request you to please please reconsider the film for censor.

  : Finally the Censor Board cleared the film without a single Cut 

FILM STILLS :: DEADBODY

Film Synopsis :: DEADBODY

Short Film (Fiction)::

DEADBODY

Where is the honour in being a common man?

Written and Directed by :: Ambrish & Pradeep

Production by :: Beyond Dreams Entertainment

Premise :: The idea of democracy

Genre: Drama, Satire

Synopsis: A middle class Mumbai youth Ashok starts to realize the irony of this democracy when his dying freedom fighter grandfather wishes to have a last look at a ‘Charkha’ – and desperately trying to get one for his grandfather he breaks into the Gandhi Museum...

The narrative of the film starts with a comment on today’s Indian middleclass which in a sense has failed this country with its excesses, corruption and ruined the cities. We have kind of lost the subtlety that has been such an integral part of the Indian ethos. We are so completely ‘Mind F**ked’ by the western culture that our own sense of right and wrong has just evaporated; our education is surprisingly directionless, our attitude has been brazen lately as if we are excreting on a Gandhi, an R N Tagore, an Ambedkar…!

We in fact buried the very idea of democracy that Gandhiji propagated and with it took the independence struggle to the doorsteps of millions of common men. The idea and symbolisms of Democracy were somehow snatched away from the psyche of the nation..!

We are ashamed to call ourselves ‘Aam Admi’! Isn’t this nation built as a democracy – a country of the people, by the people, for the people?.. Why then ‘aam admi’ is treated like a pest?  …What happened to the promises of a democracy?...Where is the honour in being a common man?

…..

The narrative ends with Ashok’s emotional outbursts..and then...he’s forced into this epilogue: ‘Did I miss something?... Don’t know, don’t care...!’  

The deletion of the particular scene as suggested by you will seriously harm the film.

To

CBSE, Mumbai

Dear Sir,

Sub: Request to reconsider our film ‘Deadbody’ for censor

Kindly refer to the short festival film ‘Deadbody’ submitted on 29^th  August. In the light of the discussions we had on 30^th August regarding the objections of the Censor Board we reviewed our film and also discussed with our producers.

We all are unanimous about the fact that the deletion of the particular scene as suggested by you will seriously harm the film. It’s because all the issues this film deals with converge to the said scene making it most vital portion of the film. 

So we request you to please please reconsider the film for censor.

We’ve spelled out our view points on your objections as discussed on 30^th August.

Objections:

Indian National Flag:

1. No contempt of flag as the character is stating a historical fact only. We have avoided giving any reason or remark about the flag – derogatory, contempt inducing or whatsoever.

You can even notice the character has never once named ‘National Flag’ or ‘Rashtriya Zhanda’!

2. The national flag we are showing is a pastel coloured sketch drawn by a child – just as the children do in their painting classes. So it also is not a visual contempt of the national flag.

3. The visual comparison of Ashok Chakra and Charkha is only metaphorical of how we as a nation have forgotten Gandhiji’s idea of economic self reliance of the common man.

Lok-Tantra  Raj-Tantra remark:

1. The comment is simply an emotional outburst of a common man – a metaphor for what Gandhi had visualized about this country and what it has become instead.  He isn’t playing any office bearer or any political leader of this country. So his words shouldn’t be taken as any official remark on democracy.

Visual interpretation of the common men of the pre and post independent India never changed. Reason: all the British Buildings – the symbols of the Queen’s rule; and all the royal mansions of the erstwhile kings were made into public buildings – from where our leaders ‘ruled’.

Examples are Red Fort and Rashtrapati Bhavan.

2. An interesting observation by noted journalist Inder Malhotra (pls. refer Edit page, The Indian Express, 15 August, 2011) at the midnight of 14 th August 1947, when people were flogging to the flag hoisting ceremony at Red Fort he noticed this girl who was explaining the event to her kid brother ‘Nehru ki Taz Poshi hai’ ..!

Our character in the film is just expressing these sentiments. He has nowhere insulted Democracy or Lok Tantra. 

..Netaon ki Rajwada ke Ghulam ban kar reh gaye..

1.            In continuation of the above point, the character is in fact making a metaphorical remark on self that the common man never felt independent. Somehow he felt ‘obliged’ to serve the people who in fact were supposed to serve him.

2.            Interestingly people still call ‘Police Colony’, “Teacher’s Colony’, ‘Doctor’s Colony’ and so on – sounding close to the ‘British Colony’ – making a too huge psychological difference between the people who serve the government and who don’t.

3.            So, to reiterate, our film has never ever insulted, criticized or made any uninvited remark on the country or constitution. Instead you can notice, the character is spelling out about himself, criticizing himself - the common man throughout the film. 

Really really hoping for your kind consideration.

With warm regards,

TAMASHA Motion Pictures

{An interesting observation by noted journalist Inder Malhotra (pls. refer Edit page, The Indian Express, 15 August, 2011) at the midnight of 14 th August 1947}

The Ashoka Chakra is represented with 24 spokes. It is so called because it appears on a number of edicts of Ashoka, most prominent among which is the Lion Capital of Sarnath which has been adopted as the National Emblem of the Republic of India.

The most visible use of the Ashoka Chakra today is at the centre of the National flag of the Republic of India (adopted on 22 July 1947), where it is rendered in a Navy-blue color on a White background, by replacing the symbol of Charkha (Spinning wheel) of the pre-independence versions of the flag.

Chakra has always been associated with power/Kings/rulers

Chakravartin(Ashoka the Great)

Chakravartin ( cakra-vartin) is a Sanskrit bahuvrīhi, literally "whose wheels are moving", in the sense of "whose chariot is rolling everywhere without obstruction". It can also be analyzed as an 'instrumental bahuvrīhi: "through whom the wheel is moving", in the meaning of "through whom the Dharmachakra (Wheel of Dharma) is turning" (most commonly used in Buddhism and Hinduism); Pali cakkavatti (also interpreted as "for whom the Wheel of Dharma is turning") is a term used in Indian religions for an ideal universal ruler, who rules ethically and benevolently over the entire world. Such a ruler's reign is called sarvabhauma

In Buddhism and Jainism, three types of Chakravartins are distinguished:

cakravala cakravartin, a ruler over all four continents postulated in ancient Indian cosmography

dvipa cakravartin a ruler over only one of four continents

pradesa cakravartin, a ruler over only part of a continent.

The first references to a cakravala cakravartin appear in monuments of the Maurya period (322–185 BCE), dedicated to Ashoka the Great. It has not been generally used for any other historic figure. The cakravartin in Buddhism came to be considered the secular counterpart of a Buddha. According to Buddha Shakyamuni in the Majjhima Nikaya a woman can never be(come) a chakravartin. Bhikshuni Heng-Ching Shih states referring to women in Buddhism: "Women are said to have five obstacles, namely being incapable of becoming a Brahma King, 'Sakra', King 'Mara', Cakravartin or Buddha."

In general, the term applies to temporal as well as spiritual kingship and leadership, particularly in Buddhism and Jainism. In Hinduism, the term generally denotes a powerful ruler, whose dominion extended to the entire earth.

Mahabharata

In the Mahabharata, twelve princes beginning with Bharata are considered Chakravartins.

Ikshvaku, the son of Ila of the Suryavanshi lineage after whom India was named as Ilavarta and Eelam. In Hindu mythology he is said to have conquered the world.

Bharat was the son of the Puru Dynasty. The official name of the Republic of India, Bhārat in Hindi and Bhāratam in Sanskrit is named after him. He was able to conquer the whole Indian subcontinent. Legend holds that he even conquered regions outside of the Subcontinent such as Afghanistan (then referred to as Gandhara) and Tibet (then referred to as Bhūta).

Shibi, famous in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. He sacrificed his flesh. There have been several dynasties which have claimed heritage from Emperor Shibi's line. The Cholas were one of the dynasties and they referred to him as Sembiyan.

Imayavaramban Neduncheralathan, a Sangam age king said in inscriptions to have conquered up to the Himalayas.