Author: shekhar

When Phillip of Spain launched the Armada to invade England, it was one of the greatest fleets ever launched in an invasion. Even though the fleet was ill prepared (more about that later), combined with the forces of the Duke of Parma, the English Navy did not have enough defences to stop it. But for the Great Storm ….. without which their would have been no British Empire. Spain would have probably gone on the conquer the world. India would have been a Spanish Colony, and Spanish would have been the primary language of the world. This blog would have been in Spanish. And perhaps India would have been Catholic and not primarily Hindu….

Continue reading “The Great Storm” →

Elizabeth was about Power. Survival in the context of Power. Love and Betrayal in the context of Power. And the trade off between the ruthlessness that is essential to gaining Power, against innocence, love, trust and joyfulness.
Golden Age, on the other hand is about Immortality. It is about absolute Power and the aspiring to Divinity. To go beyond the ordinairy and to be Divine. Almost immortal. It is about Elizabeth becoming the Divine, the Immortal being she is percieved as today.
The third, when everyone is ready to do it, will be about Mortality. How do you face Mortality when you have been Divine ? When you have been Immortal ? Elizabeth, when she knew that her time was near, tried to impose her will upon Death itself. She stood for 12 hours (a tiny exaggeration I think !) refusing to lie down, knowing that if she did, the Gods would spirit her away.
More later, Shekhar

watch it now

For those of you who would like to see an extra large version of the trailer, check it out at working title films website.

Studio’s these days will test films with audiences to judge their reactiosn. At the end of the movie the audiences are asked to rate aspects of the film via a very thorough and a very comprehensive questionaire. An analysis of which reveals a lot about how the film is percieved. By male or female audiences. By age groups. Or how they react to questions of pace, drama, relationships. How they reacted to each performance. While no one could say that the analysis is absolute, despite my doubts and apprehensions, I have to say that Studios have got it down to a pretty exact art ! Or perhaps I am just saying that because Golden Age tested very well. I wonder what I would have to say if it did not ? Perhaps I would have not put this entry on !

Barring the final mix. Where all the elements of sound (effects, foley,music and dialogue tracks) are mixed together to give us the final sound in the theatre. And Barring what we call the DI, where the all the colours and the intensity of the film is ‘harmonized’ or even ‘deharmonized ‘ for a particular emotion or effect. Barring this, the film is over and I must now let go. Must not cling. Must see the film now have it’s own identity. A birth given. No longer mine. Now it belongs to you, the viewer. Shekhar

Kedar asked me if I encourage my actors to look at Video monitors. Actually I really hate video monitos, and if the producers did not insist, I would never have them on my set. . I never watch them personally and believe that it is waste f time for the actors to watch them. The only time I do watch them is when I am using a steady came or a device where I have not been able to look thru the camera, such as a remote controlled crane. The pictures you see are probably one of those devices. Or maybe I am trying to persuade an actor away from the monitor ! I make films for the adventure of it, and to be able to judge a shot only by looking at video monitor rather than a larger more all encompassing instinct. takes a way the thrill of film making….

Continue reading “I hate Video monitors” →