Something about shorts... not the shorts we can wear. Although even that's something I am very much for in this Summer. Short stories... short films... an advertisement or a music video... or poems... there's something about saying so much in so little time or in few words... that just appeals to me a lot. Poems are something I have been writing for a very long time since my adolescent years. Even in this form, I have always been fascinated by short poems, saying it all in four lines or so yet not letting it seem incomplete. Here's a short poem I wrote long time back:
'Your Touch'
A thousand words you could have said...
How could they have compared?
For you eased my heart and
comforted my soul...
in just a single touch of yours...
Lately, I have been trying my hands at short stories. The first few attempts were okay-okay. Some were a disaster to say the least. Some I greatly liked. But being my own works it will be difficult for me to be objective about them. And thanks to friends who make my life easier or difficult depending on how you see criticism and the work that follows the criticism. Sometimes it doesn't take much time at all to write a story. But it takes a lot more of time and effort to rewrite or make amends in a story. I found it so difficult to do even in my work, especially when I would have to go through others' work and make changes or corrections. I feel it becomes a lot easier to write it on your own, when you can't make sense out of the written piece in front of you. When its a piece by a friend it becomes ever so hard to do so. That is when I either sent it across to the big boss or try and make the changes along with the person so that the idea doesn't get affected by all the changes.
I haven't really tried my hands at ad films or short films yet. Someday I will. But for now let's discuss at least those that I have liked since my growing up years. I was becoming all too nostalgic about Doordarshan sometime back, searching for old ads on youtube and remembering the names of the serials we watched along with Sunny, a very close friend of mine. The whole day was spent in front of the computer. 'Baje Sargam' or 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' have become synonymous with my growing up years and for many others as well. The plethora of stars coming together or the faces of common people spanning the whole country, these music videos are a standard and a testimony to an era altogether. 'Ek Anek' was among the first lengthy songs I memorised by heart and would sing along with it, together with my sister. The concept was great. The weaving of the story in between, the pigeons, the bird-catcher and the rats.
We also juggled our minds to remember some of the best ads we had ever seen as well. National Literacy Mission has some really good ads like 'Purab se surya uga...' a catchy tune sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy.. and more recently, the 'School chale hum..' song-ad which I heard on radio first then later saw it on TV. It's special to me for personal reason. I had spent some of my best days with my mom at a relative's house where we'd listen to this ad every morning. Even Shubha Mudgal rendered song, 'Sapna Dekha Hai Maine..' , an endeavour by Amity Humanity Foundation for the education of the underprivileged girl child, is remarkable to say the least. The music was given by Shantanu Moitra and lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi. Sample this:
"Mausam gulaal leke darwaze mere aaye..
misri si baat hawayein kano mein keh jaaye..
badal ke ruee wale takiya liye sirhaane,
daadi ki thapki aur kisse naye puraane...
kala tika mathe pe pyar se koi lagaaye...
mujhko bhi nayi shararat karna koi sikhaaye...
mera khoya sa bachpan koi wapas laaye...
mere bhi naam ko chhota karke koi bulaaye...
sapna dekha hai maine...
maine bhi dekha hai sapna...
sapna dekha hai maine...
maine dekha sapna..."
Talking about ads, it's impossible to forget the Cadbury's Dairy Milk's ad with the girlfriend of a cricketer running towards her lover as he hits a 6, while doing a little jig on the field with the theme song, 'Kuch Khaas Hai, Zindagi Mein...' playing in the background. And Bajaj became a household name with the slogan 'Hamara Bajaj', weaving the thread of progress in keeping with the spirit of the Indian family, in a developing India.
In the recent past, Vodafone's erstwhile Hutch's ads are simply innovative. Something one would want to watch rather than flip the channels. From its adorable pug to Zoozoo... innovation never seems to stop for them. Fevicol's ads are a tradmark too. I especially remember the 'pakde rehna, chhodna nahin..' one! Amul milk's ads have been good since childhood days. I loved the song, 'Doodh, doodh, doodh, doodh..' Raymond's ads were classic. The class reunion and a gift for the teacher, was really touching. Airtel too had some great ones. HDFC's 'sone ke daat' or 'the son and dad' ads were endearing. There are many others but just these are coming to my mind as of now.
As for short films, haven't seen many of them. I have seen short films on television, the ones where it's either a reality show with a bunch of contestants coming up with a short film every week or the social service films. The most recent I remember were the shorts by different filmmakers for Mira Nair's AIDS Jaago (AIDS Awake) project. I specially loved director and now actor-cum-singer also, Farhan Akhtar's short 'Positive'. It was really touching, very sensitively told. Other shorts in the series were 'Blood Brothers' by Vishal Bhardwaj, 'Prarambha' by Santosh Sivan, 'Migration' by Mira Nair. Then there are those few that I have checked out on the net or seen at a film festival, which normally doesn't happen that often.
I guess my fascination with shorts is simply because life is too short. And when you know life is too short why would you waste it with the unwanted and unnecessary details? It's better to cut to the point and say it precisely, but without making it sound or feel any less significant or effective. It has to be short but not pointless or random. There still has to be some sense in it. Moreover, doesn't take much to be nonsensical. I'm that most of the times. So, keeping it short and sensical is the aim.
............................
update: just saw some of the most powerful ads I have seen in recent times... Thai life insurance ads.. really touching.. beautifully shot... this one is titled, 'My Son'.. click here for the video, with eng subs click here. Another one is titled, 'Daddy'.. moved me to tears... and another one titled, 'My Girl'... then there's 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa'... I am just blown away by the concept, the video, but most importantly by the emotions that they so effortlessly instill in us... Looking at these ads, all I can do is, apart from controlling my emotions, hope to be able to do such beautiful work...
'Your Touch'
A thousand words you could have said...
How could they have compared?
For you eased my heart and
comforted my soul...
in just a single touch of yours...
Lately, I have been trying my hands at short stories. The first few attempts were okay-okay. Some were a disaster to say the least. Some I greatly liked. But being my own works it will be difficult for me to be objective about them. And thanks to friends who make my life easier or difficult depending on how you see criticism and the work that follows the criticism. Sometimes it doesn't take much time at all to write a story. But it takes a lot more of time and effort to rewrite or make amends in a story. I found it so difficult to do even in my work, especially when I would have to go through others' work and make changes or corrections. I feel it becomes a lot easier to write it on your own, when you can't make sense out of the written piece in front of you. When its a piece by a friend it becomes ever so hard to do so. That is when I either sent it across to the big boss or try and make the changes along with the person so that the idea doesn't get affected by all the changes.
I haven't really tried my hands at ad films or short films yet. Someday I will. But for now let's discuss at least those that I have liked since my growing up years. I was becoming all too nostalgic about Doordarshan sometime back, searching for old ads on youtube and remembering the names of the serials we watched along with Sunny, a very close friend of mine. The whole day was spent in front of the computer. 'Baje Sargam' or 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' have become synonymous with my growing up years and for many others as well. The plethora of stars coming together or the faces of common people spanning the whole country, these music videos are a standard and a testimony to an era altogether. 'Ek Anek' was among the first lengthy songs I memorised by heart and would sing along with it, together with my sister. The concept was great. The weaving of the story in between, the pigeons, the bird-catcher and the rats.
We also juggled our minds to remember some of the best ads we had ever seen as well. National Literacy Mission has some really good ads like 'Purab se surya uga...' a catchy tune sung by Kavita Krishnamurthy.. and more recently, the 'School chale hum..' song-ad which I heard on radio first then later saw it on TV. It's special to me for personal reason. I had spent some of my best days with my mom at a relative's house where we'd listen to this ad every morning. Even Shubha Mudgal rendered song, 'Sapna Dekha Hai Maine..' , an endeavour by Amity Humanity Foundation for the education of the underprivileged girl child, is remarkable to say the least. The music was given by Shantanu Moitra and lyrics penned by Prasoon Joshi. Sample this:
"Mausam gulaal leke darwaze mere aaye..
misri si baat hawayein kano mein keh jaaye..
badal ke ruee wale takiya liye sirhaane,
daadi ki thapki aur kisse naye puraane...
kala tika mathe pe pyar se koi lagaaye...
mujhko bhi nayi shararat karna koi sikhaaye...
mera khoya sa bachpan koi wapas laaye...
mere bhi naam ko chhota karke koi bulaaye...
sapna dekha hai maine...
maine bhi dekha hai sapna...
sapna dekha hai maine...
maine dekha sapna..."
Talking about ads, it's impossible to forget the Cadbury's Dairy Milk's ad with the girlfriend of a cricketer running towards her lover as he hits a 6, while doing a little jig on the field with the theme song, 'Kuch Khaas Hai, Zindagi Mein...' playing in the background. And Bajaj became a household name with the slogan 'Hamara Bajaj', weaving the thread of progress in keeping with the spirit of the Indian family, in a developing India.
In the recent past, Vodafone's erstwhile Hutch's ads are simply innovative. Something one would want to watch rather than flip the channels. From its adorable pug to Zoozoo... innovation never seems to stop for them. Fevicol's ads are a tradmark too. I especially remember the 'pakde rehna, chhodna nahin..' one! Amul milk's ads have been good since childhood days. I loved the song, 'Doodh, doodh, doodh, doodh..' Raymond's ads were classic. The class reunion and a gift for the teacher, was really touching. Airtel too had some great ones. HDFC's 'sone ke daat' or 'the son and dad' ads were endearing. There are many others but just these are coming to my mind as of now.
As for short films, haven't seen many of them. I have seen short films on television, the ones where it's either a reality show with a bunch of contestants coming up with a short film every week or the social service films. The most recent I remember were the shorts by different filmmakers for Mira Nair's AIDS Jaago (AIDS Awake) project. I specially loved director and now actor-cum-singer also, Farhan Akhtar's short 'Positive'. It was really touching, very sensitively told. Other shorts in the series were 'Blood Brothers' by Vishal Bhardwaj, 'Prarambha' by Santosh Sivan, 'Migration' by Mira Nair. Then there are those few that I have checked out on the net or seen at a film festival, which normally doesn't happen that often.
I guess my fascination with shorts is simply because life is too short. And when you know life is too short why would you waste it with the unwanted and unnecessary details? It's better to cut to the point and say it precisely, but without making it sound or feel any less significant or effective. It has to be short but not pointless or random. There still has to be some sense in it. Moreover, doesn't take much to be nonsensical. I'm that most of the times. So, keeping it short and sensical is the aim.
............................
update: just saw some of the most powerful ads I have seen in recent times... Thai life insurance ads.. really touching.. beautifully shot... this one is titled, 'My Son'.. click here for the video, with eng subs click here. Another one is titled, 'Daddy'.. moved me to tears... and another one titled, 'My Girl'... then there's 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa'... I am just blown away by the concept, the video, but most importantly by the emotions that they so effortlessly instill in us... Looking at these ads, all I can do is, apart from controlling my emotions, hope to be able to do such beautiful work...
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