Filmmaking is something I'll continue to desire

Abhijit Chaudhuri, as a youngster, wanted to be a feature film director, but was studying to become a chartered accountant. After a brief association with Clarion, destiny intervened through three people – Arindam Basu (filmmaker), Rangan Chakraborty (erstwhile national creative director with Clarion) and Arjun Gourisaria and dramatically changed the course of his life. Ad filmmaking became a full time profession for Chaudhuri.

His first commercial was on shoe brand Bata, way back in 1994. Thereafter, he has worked his magic on eclectic brands from Castrol to Happydent to Coca-Cola. Sumita Vaid Dixit of agencyfaqs! caught up with Chaudhuri on the sets of the shooting of Coca-Cola’s new TVC at Mumbai's Film City. From how clients’ confidence in agencies can improve the creative standards to working with Aamir Khan, Chaudhuri shared it all. Excerpts.

Edited Excerpts

It has been a struggle for us. But luckily, when we started out, there weren’t many good production houses in th city. So, there was enough work for us. Gradually, we started sending our show reels to Mumbai. The first call came from Ogilvy. And the first brand that we worked on was Sunlight with O&M in 1998. After which, we started getting a lot of work from O&M.

In fact, it was O&M that told us to move to Mumbai. We were practically living out of our suit cases, shuttling between Calcutta and Mumbai. Since a lot of work started coming from Mumbai, we decided to make a move.

O&M still remains one of our major agencies. And, of course, there is McCann-Erickson.

Besides these two, we have worked for JWT, Enterprise, Bates, Grey. In fact, we have worked with quite a handful of agencies.

Compared to the others, working with O&M and McCann-Erickson has been a greater experience. And, that is simply because of people like Piyush Pandey and Prasoon Joshi. Somehow, we tend to vibe with the people of these agencies. It is just that one feels very comfortable working with some people and it shows in the work. Especially with Prasoon, I connect very well.

As for my profession, ad filmmaking has been a great experience. There is no better place than ad filmmaking to learn the art and technique of making films. In fact, we started Black Magic with the aim to make ad films, and from the money we get from those ads, we make feature films.

That's how we eventually did Patalghar in 2003. Since this was our first film, no one was willing to sponsor it. So, we invested our own money.

I would not say, it was a commercial success. But it ran in Calcutta for about 14 weeks. I would imagine that it did well in Calcutta. Internationally, Patalghar got a far better response. We showcased the movie at the Cairo festival, in Switzerland, Brussels and London. But back home, the response was not so encouraging.

Ad filmmaking was very much on even as I was working on the film. Ad filmmaking was never taken out of the system because this is where I earn my bread-and-butter.

Filmmaking is still something I desire. And, I guess, I will continue to.

Well, the project involved Prasoon Pandey, Ram Madhvani, Abhinay Deo, Prakash Varma, Ravi Udyavar, Shamin Desai and of course, me. What we know that financiers have pulled out of the project. I believe there are some distribution problems as well.

Yes, it has. But I must admit that I was very keen on working on Sin, and I was greatly upset when Sin was shelved. When you have finished making one movie, you start getting restless till you get another. After Patalghar, I was really looking forward to Sin...

There is no comparison between making movies and making ad films. Feature filmmaking is a different discipline altogether.

In an ad, you have to tell a story in 30 seconds or a minute and that really can be a limiting exercise. And when one keeps telling stories in 30 seconds, one runs the risk of facing the ‘reverse elastic effect’. What that means is, when you stretch an elastic band beyond a certain point, it loses its elasticity. Therefore, if you are used to narrating stories in 30 seconds or a minute, the pace of story-telling in a two hour film may slacken. And, there are chances that it may happen that way since one is so used to compressing stories.

Every detail is compressed in that 30-second adfilm, while in a feature film, everything is detailed from the perspective of two hours. One of the big challenges for an ad filmmaker with ambitions of becoming a feature filmmaker, is to learn how to pace the story. That becomes very crucial.

Another area that demands special attention from ad filmmakers is choreography. Ad films' choreography is very different from that of films...

Well yes, making movies is more creatively satisfying, because to an extent, you make films for yourself too. You get a lot of freedom, provided you have a good producer. Having said that, I would like to mention that even ad filmmaking too has its joys. Though, because of the very nature of the medium, it has its constraints.

Well, Prasoon Joshi sent me the script to me and I decided to take up the Coca-Cola assignment. But the interesting part was that I didn't know Manno Bhabhi was Aamir Khan.

Well, as far as Aamir executing Manno Bhabhi's role was concerned, I didn't have any doubts because Aamir is a doer. Aamir Khan is not just a fine actor, but a 'film-person' as well. If he decides to direct a film some day, he surely will do a great job of it.

The other thing about Aamir is that he is very thorough. Everything has to be perfect for him. He makes the director's job very easy. And, one thing I must mention, though Aamir gives suggestions, he never interferes with the director’s job. And, I am a person who thrives on suggestions.

Outsourcing in ad filmmaking happens even now. I, myself, have just finished a film for Perfetti Italy for the Greek, Turkish and Indonesian markets. I know Prasoon Pandey and his production house have done a few ads for the same client. The animations for the Oscar ceremonies last year were done by the computer animation wing of Tata Elexi.

I guess, Indians – holding important positions in MNCs in India – can promote desi talent to their international counterparts. I do not think we have dearth in talent. It is just a question of getting the right channels opened up.

We have been with the print media for ages. We still think print, and try to translate it into a film. The sooner we have people on either side of the table with better understanding of the medium, the faster will we pick up awards at international podiums.

Many a time, we have been asked to make a film with a very powerful concept. But it is ultimately diluted by a load of garbage that the client wants to talk about. Clients do that because they think buying media time is an expensive proposition and it is only right to cram it up with information more then any communication can bear!

Actually, what the client is trying to do is visualise a print ad on the boob tube. It is time that we understood the more focused the film is on one central thought, the better is its chance of registering in the mind of the viewer. You have hours to ponder over a print ad. With a television spot, you only have 30 seconds! To win accolades, you need to have a grasp over the medium. We are still groping with television advertising in more departments than one. A bit more of literacy can take us a mile or so ahead, I guess!

I don't think money has anything to do with our winning less awards. In fact, a lot of international awards are designed to felicitate films made at shoe-string budgets. Why, many of our commercials that have won accolades abroad are not very expensive at all! It's the thought that matters, and definitely not the money!

I do not think that is the case at all. In fact, all international awards are judged by a panel of people from across the world. The international jury is designed to understand the ethnic nuances and decipher the core thinking behind an advertisement - the big idea.

Understanding the foreign market to get work from outside is again something which has to be developed on a mutual basis. I do not think a greater awareness of the foreign market will get us more foreign films. An agent abroad will. Technically, I think we are as accomplished as any other country in the Asia Pacific and probably beyond.

We are fairly at par with the international standards. I think that is not the issue. The issue is with the clients. Because clients do not have enough confidence in their products or their agency, the creative product gets affected.

People such as Prasoon Joshi and Piyush Pandey push radical concepts and convince clients. We need more such people. Sometimes, there are so many restrictions that a creative person cannot think. Clients need to open up more and trust the agency. You may have a good product and a good creative, but if you don't have the client’s support, there would be no good advertising.

From the point of view of the film's direction, Oye Bubbly is good. But at a personal level, I do not like the film. After all, it is about a food product. But the fun element takes the Pepsi ad to a level that I find unpalatable.

The producer or the director of the film can make a product only as good as what the client and the agency want it to.

Look at Brazil; the country has been storming the Cannes year after year. That's because the client is willing to take a chance. Ultimately, it boils down to the client, no matter how good your servicing and creative is.

Perfetti is one great example of a client supporting good work. Some years ago, hardly anyone knew about Perfetti. Yes, one knew about Alpenliebe, which was just a candy. Today, Alpenliebe, Chlor-Mint, Center Fresh are great brands because Perfetti has been supporting good creative work.