1. As the Founder and CEO of FridayFictionFilms, could you share the inspiration behind starting the company and your journey in the filmmaking industry?
My journey as FridayFictionFilm’s Founder & CEO started with making 52 short films in 52 weeks. 52FilmsProject was a year-long project where I made one short film per week on social issues and released it on YouTube. This project set the tone for FridayFictionFilms as a company. The primary purpose of starting the film production house was to make films on social issues. I was keen on developing solutions for the masses even before I ventured into making films. Working as a Research Associate at IIT-Bombay implementing computer algorithms for Traffic Intelligent Systems of India to make a Gujarati Text-to-Speech engine during college days, it became more and more evident to me my natural inclination towards work that leads to social change. Suddenly, deciding to leave my job to make films made the journey even more engaging and led to unearthing grassroots stories that drive our mission today.
2. Your ’52FilmsProject’ garnered significant attention and accolades. Can you walk us through the concept behind this project and the challenges you faced in creating 52 short films in one year?
My main goal was to bring different social issues to a larger audience. Social issues and problems people face in their daily lives—issues that might seem micro but, in the long run, affect people on a macro level. I used YouTube as a platform to reach out to a larger audience, but how do I grab the audience’s attention and hold it? Then I thought, why not make one short film every week for one year?
And that is how I started working on the 52FilmsProject. The central concept of this project was to share the stories of ordinary people via familiar people. I wanted real people to represent my stories. I used to cast people from different backgrounds and professions. One of my fruit vendors was an RJ by profession; some were full-time bankers, and some had working experience in theatre. As for the execution, my initial plan was to execute the film production during the weekdays and release the film on Fridays on our YouTube channel. With working on a new film every week and creating actors out of ordinary people, this zero-budget 52FilmsProject came into existence.
There were many challenges, be they in pre-production or post-production. Since it was a zero-budget project and I wanted real people to work in the films, we had to reach out to different people and homeowners daily and persuade them to work with us. There were many times when we faced rejection in terms of location, stories, actors, etc. There were also some external factors; during monsoon season, we couldn’t schedule or shoot for five days straight, and we had to rush everything at the last moment to get things done. One time, 200 people crowded us because they were under the impression that some big movie star was going to join us. This one time, a judge called the police on me as I was filming in front of his house. The entire journey of this project was filled with challenges, but when every weekend I uploaded my film on my YouTube channel, all of the troubles seemed worthwhile.
3. One of your notable works is the short documentary ‘Pinch of Salt.’ What motivated you to explore the story of salt pan workers in Gujarat, and what impact did the documentary have on both the audience and the subjects of the film?
While making a fundraising film for an NGO, I came across the salt pan workers. As I came to know who they are and how they’ve been spending their lives working as salt pan workers for more than 500 years, I felt compelled to share their stories with the world. I wanted to take my audience on a musical journey through the local poems and folk music from the Little Rann of Kutch. In one of the film festivals, the best music background score was awarded to the salt pan worker. The film won 19 awards at international film festivals around the world. Set in the Gujarati language, the film went through more than seven different language-speaking nations. I was honoured to bring the story of salt pan workers from Gujarat to every corner of the world.
4. Transitioning from a career in IT to becoming a renowned filmmaker is quite remarkable. What pivotal moments or experiences influenced this career shift, and how did your background in IT contribute to your success in the film industry?
It was a spontaneous decision; I never thought I would be making films. Movies were never a central aspect of my upbringing, either. The transformation of script characters into real-life characters was fascinating. To extend this by responsibly using this medium to invoke emotions surrounding a social change could help serve a large purpose. While my background in IT may not have been directly related to filmmaking, my good hold over Mathematics and Physics made understanding cameras fun and easy. Since I studied how software is developed, using one to edit films was relatively easier, and it was also easier to pick up a newer technology and learn it. This understanding of technologies used in filmmaking also helps the company today to be on trend with the latest filmmaking cameras and equipment used to make films.
5. You’ve been recognized by prestigious record-keeping organizations and have achieved remarkable feats with your projects. How do you approach creativity and innovation in your filmmaking process, especially when working with limited resources or on zero-budget projects?
When it comes to filmmaking, one should always prioritise the storytelling process rather than being overly dependent on filmmaking equipment. Resources like equipment are there to make the process of filmmaking more advanced and faster, but they aren’t necessarily required to create something creative and innovative. During my 52projectfilm I worked with just a camera, a tripod, and editing software. However, those limited equipment pieces helped me utilise and make the best of the given resources. Limited resources come with an opportunity to find new and better courses to work your way around filmmaking. Even when equipped with the resources, there are certain situations where it is not allowed to use those resources due to permission constraints, space constraints, or safety measures. During situations like this, makers find ways to utilise the given resource. Creativity flourishes when you embrace limitations as opportunities for ingenuity and resourcefulness.
6. In addition to filmmaking, you’ve also delivered a TEDx talk titled “Is dreaming enough?” Could you delve into the central themes of your talk and how they relate to your journey and the stories you tell through your films?
The essence of my TEDx Talk explores the concept of time and its impact on pursuing dreams. Drawing from my own experience, it delves into how I perceive dreams in relation to time constraints. With limited time in this lifetime, it compels you to think about what it is that one should do with their time that it feels like fulfilling a dream.
Using the example of creating films every week for a year, I unravel what fulfilling a dream means to me. Be it identifying the inherent wish of every individual to act and express, which led me to cast more than 150 such individuals who come from all walks of life, or the learning in making and delivering 52 films on topics that made me go above and beyond in the realm of social causes, each film journey deepened my understanding of independent filmmaking.
All these experiences helped me shape an ever-evolving perspective on pursuing dreams and the transformative power of storytelling in navigating life’s complexities.
7. Outside of filmmaking, you’re involved in painting, exhibiting, and capturing scientific phenomena through travel. How do these diverse interests influence your creative process, and do they intersect with your work in film-making in any way?
Everything fundamentally boils down to which medium gives better justice to what I want to communicate. Painting and exhibiting provide opportunities for personal engagement and discussion, creating avenues for deeper connections with audiences. Likewise, chasing scientific phenomena gives a diverse understanding of science and that personal experience inspires us to know more about such earthly and heavenly phenomena. Experiencing bioluminescence or northern lights and capturing the Milky Way helps in understanding more about science, how to capture it with a medium, and what it takes to retain and share such experience. Travelling right through the Bermuda Triangle and meeting people who do that often gives a better understanding of many myths and talks that revolve around it. This all finds its way into making films and also vice versa. It inspires me to make films on abstraction in other art forms and more films on different observational universes associated with us.
8. What advice would you offer to aspiring filmmakers, especially those who may be starting out with limited resources or unconventional backgrounds?
My advice to aspiring filmmakers, particularly those with limited resources or unconventional backgrounds, is to embrace creativity in both production and storytelling. Limited resources can inspire innovative approaches to filmmaking and lead to fresh methods of storytelling. Embrace your diverse backgrounds and experiences, as they bring many perspectives to your storytelling. Such diversity enriches your ability to develop stories that authentically represent various backgrounds and give voice to unique narratives.
9. Looking ahead, what are your aspirations and goals for FridayFictionFilms, and what can we expect from your future projects?
FridayFictionFilms is committed to producing films that talk about present and futuristic social issues like climate change and catering to corporations inclined towards social causes related to financial literacy and girl child education. This year, we plan to produce a variety of documentaries, including large-scale, short, and feature-length projects focusing on local art and music.
