Tuesday, March 13, 2007

music video : VOICE by pentagram

Hey guys..
I had quite an extraordinary weekend and I thought I would share it with you all.
It was one of those rare weeks in Srishti when we did not have any work as such, and almost all my friends had made plans to go back home. I tried to plan a trip for myself, but many times things don’t work out the way you want them to… and same was the case with me!
So a few of us who had nothing to do over the weekend decided on making a music video for the song voice by pentagram. You must have seen the advertisements on VH1..
We were five of us.. I know you don’t know any of them but I will name them nonetheless…
Mana, akshataa, karno, kavya and me.

Day 1:
Saturday, 17th feb, 07
We decided the story line… we were going to amalgamate 3 different stories which revolved around a misfit school girl, a coconut wala, and a young wife.
The base idea had an undertone of a cliché story… but we were proud to be the young budding designers of India and were sure that we would be able to shoot it in such a way that it looked good! U see…the most boring idea can be made to look amazing if u just know how to out it across..!

Mana akshataa and I went off to the city to look for the coconut wala and school uniforms. Eventually we realized that a coconut guy wouldn’t be fit for the role and started hunted for other vendors… from tea selling men to men selling slippers in a kiosk, we talked to everyone, took their numbers and tried to figure out who would befit the role.
The role was simple. The vendor had to simply show frustration, shut down his shop and then walk home and bang into this guy playing music and start dancing there! Finally we found a “hot n spicy” corn selling guy who befitted the role perfectly!

Step number 2: look for school kids from whom we could borrow uniforms. We went from café to café, group to group but to no avail. Bangalore school kids seemed to us like these big time nerds who never stepped out of their houses on a Saturday evening.
Eventually sneha sikand who was also to play a part in the video came to our rescue and arranged for a few pairs of uniforms. Hurray..the job was done… and with our stomachs rumbling and thoughts not going beyond cheese cakes…we succumbed and went off for dessert to this lavish place called spiga. Of course after dessert came a full fledged meal but nonetheless…
All arrangements were done… and the next day was bound to be an action packed day! And…it definitely was.

Day 2
18th feb 2007
THE 3 us spent the night in mana’s house since getting back to our pg at night would be highly unsafe. We woke up early, and carrying all our delicate equipment and a massive boom box, we set out for mg road, where the “film crew” was due to meet.
The first scene we shot was that of the corn guy. As he was going to start dancing in the middle of the mg road pavement with passersby filtering through, one of my friends said to me… “SARGAM GO AND JOIN HIM…HURRRRRY!!!” taken aback and yet afraid of the aspect of dancing in the middle of a public crowd, I trusted my “spur of the moment” instinct shunning all thoughts of embarrassment and walked right on, stopped, danced with the corn guy whose name is annappa and then walked on…

It seemed as if I had accomplished something that time. Usually it is only the first step that is difficult… and there I was…who had danced in front of an entire crowd of unknown people! It was brilliant!!!!! And for all those who don’t know I am highly uncoordinated when it comes to dancing ok!

Of course that wasn’t the end of it was it? No!!!
Later we found ourselves donning the uniforms that we had borrowed…. Skirts and shirts.. ahem… I am not used to that!!!! There we were, running around mg road in school uniforms on a Sunday afternoon… shot the necessary shots and moved on to the next part of our story…
SNEHA SIKAND


What sneha had to do was something that mana and I had tried the day before… run on the mg road pavement
She had to get off at a traffic signal and run…
Simply run…. She ran the length of the mg road and a few more here and there…
What is so amazing about it is that we aren’t the daring extroverts who can go ahead and do whatever we want and whenever. Both sneha and me, could possibly not imagine ourselves doing this kind of a thing. Talking about it is easy… and as for the action part of it… the first step is difficult! Very difficult… that day something drove us on. Perhaps it was our group or whatever… in the end of it all… none of us were embarrassed of nething at all… we felt wholeheartedly proud of what we did and didn’t care if the video didn’t work out..(Which we realized later on watching tht it didn’t!)

In the end…. The psycho things that we did…finally got into us this mad desire to do something weird and well… we thought we just collect random public and dance our asses off on mg road…
We spoke to policemen….and got permission. Got these random ppl and well…danced…simply danced on the streets of Bangalore…asking ppl to join in…
Though we had a party and had fun doing what we did, doing something totally wacko something that we would never even dream of doing normally….
There was one thing that we found strange. None of the people we asked joined us… none… there wasn’t neone in the streets who even acknowledged that something was going on….so is that what “public” is all about? Not opening its eyes to what is going around in the world? Are we going to turn a blind eye to everything that doesn’t concern us? Are we ashamed of being a part of something that is done solely for the purpose of fun and doing something that is weird and not normal??
With these questions echoing in our minds, we dispersed that day, happy and proud pf what we had done and sadly wondering the inevitable question…why.

Friday, March 2, 2007

MASQUERADE

Taking a quick glance at her reflection in the mirror, she assured herself that she couldn't have been dressed more impeccably. She turned to look at an invitation to a masquerade which she had received the week before. The emerald green ink on the yellowed parchment glistened in the candle light as she reread the invitation for the umpteenth time. However, it was not the handwritten message giving details of the venue that interested her. It was the tiny scrawl in the corner of the invitation card that caused her heart to melt every time she read the message.
The note was written by the handsome Ian Dunross whom she had met just a week earlier. She was ambling down the market place when a sudden breeze carried her kerchief away. She'd looked for it everywhere when suddenly she'd found herself staring into the eyes of a man; a man whose gaze she could get lost in, whose glance caused her heart to burst into flames. They looked at one another for a while when suddenly he laughed and said, "Oh! T'is silly of me, I must learn not to let my thoughts wander. It's not like me to lose sense and stability when confronted by such an apparition," and with that he held out her handkerchief, which she took with trembling hands." Ian Dunross m'lady," he introduced himself and with the swish of his tailcoat he had disappeared into the throng, leaving her aghast in the middle of the market. As she stepped out of her reverie, she noticed people glancing at her sideways with strange expressions. She wondered why…
Back in the dressing room, she smiled at the thought of him. Dressed in a dazzling, sequin spangled gown, she held her silver mask beside her as she made her way to the Hampton mansion. The trees rustled in the winds as her coach picked up speed. Every passing moment brought her closer to him, every passing moment made her stomach rise and fall in anticipation. The carriage gradually began to slow down until it came to a complete standstill.
"Why have we stopped?" she questioned the coachman. "We can't go no further m'lady. Road's too narrow and dark.' She could imagine the peril that might lie ahead but her determination to make it to the masquerade overpowered her fear. Carefully, she alighted from the carriage.
The cold night air seemed to hold within itself something strange and mysterious. The moon looked like a silvery orb partially hidden behind the fleecy clouds. Careful not to tear her gown, she slowed down her pace. The sound of her footsteps, mingling with the rustling of leaves echoed into the night.
Slowly and steadily, she tread the narrow winding path, her heart aching to catch a glimpse of that handsome face, who was now very much a part of her dream world. With every step she took ahead, the butterflies in her stomach fluttered with greater zeal. After a while, the path became wider and she reached a clearing. There, 200 yards away, stood the beautiful mansion, with its turrets gleaming in the moonlight.
Tinkling laughter and the clinking of wine glasses welcomed her as she reached the entrance of the ballroom. The doors were opened and a glittering wave of magnificence greeted her eyes. Men and women walked about a sparkling marble ballroom, the men in their best and women, their finest. Their costumes dazzled and gleamed under the luminous crystal chandeliers that swung ever so lightly with the orchestra that played toward her far right. But through all the gaiety there was an undertone of mystery as masked faces swirled in front of her like a sea filled with the unknown. A pang in her heart made her wonder, how would she ever find him.
Her heart beating faster, she approached the person nearest to her. He was a short stout man, who wore a deep red coat. "Pardon me, dear sir, but will you please be kind enough to tell me as to where I would find Sir Dunross?" even though the man's face was concealed behind a mask, the bewilderment in his eyes was unmistakable. "I fear there has been a misunderstanding m'lady. I doubt there is anyone by that name here." Mumbling an inaudible word of thanks, she reassured herself that he may have not known the man, but then, how could he not? It struck her as strange.
She walked to a pair of frivolous young women. On being asked about the young man, they answered. "Sir Dunross? How is it that we haven't met him as yet?" Mortified, she walked away. She asked several people, but none were even remotely familiar with the name. "Where could he be?" the question reverberated in her mind. She looked at the sea of colourful masks despair surging through her veins. The happy chatter now sounded like cacophony to her ears. She walked to an inconspicuous corner of the ballroom, her delicate hands covering her face.
And then, the soft music was drowned by the chord of the organ, bass, resounding just like the voice that suddenly spoke in her ear. "A rose for the lady whose beauty has yet not been surpassed." She looked up to find a pair of steel blue eyes gazing at her intently. Too irate to say anything, she broke into a silent sob. Ian put his arm around her and said, "would you accompany me upstairs to the terrace?" Without waiting for a reply he turned around and she found herself following him. As they walked across the dance floor, she narrated to him the conversations she had had with the short man and the others. Ian listened to her silently, looking grave. Meanwhile, she could not help but notice, that yet again, she was attracting odd glances from everyone around her…
An owl hooted somewhere in the distance. They were both standing alone on the terrace. She looked at him in anticipation. Something about his demeanour struck her as odd. Everything was silent, but for the eerie tones of organ that drifted through the cool night air.
Finally he broke the silence. "m' dear lady, when I first gazed into your eyes, I found myself plunging into a beauty so strong that hath made me lose all sense of time and peace. Feelings which I thought I was incapable of sensing surged through me all over again. Those things that I had thought lost, those things which I thought never to come back again, to feel, to smell, to hear, to touch and to love, you made me long for them, you made me crave for them…"
"Did it not occur to you why people cast curious glances at you every time we were together? It was so because I am alive only in spirit. I am a ghost, fair lady… a drifter looking for a companion with whom I would be able to sense what it would be like to live again, to love again."
He looked at her through his silvery eyes and sighed. His voice devoid of all hope he said, "You could leave me and turn away from me right now. I leave it all to you…"
An unwarranted desire began to envelop her mind. Under the moon, she stood holding his hands. She was in the company of a ghost. She was in love with someone who belonged to a completely different and unknown world. It was life itself that separated her from him, but she didn't care. She had stopped caring from the moment she'd met him in the market place, from the moment she'd set eyes upon the emerald ink. She did not know what held in store for her if she decided to be with him but the hope for a change from her tedious life shone upon her and trusting her instincts she whispered, "Yes…"
Her feet had left the ground, she was in his arms and she felt the life drain out of her. Smiling, she first looked into his eyes, and then her body which she had left far behind.