Sumita Vaid
Advertising

D'Silva, Chitnis quit Mudra; to start production house

At the moment, D'Silva is waiting for Chitnis to return to Mumbai so that they can begin work on their dream venture

Famous creative duo - Anup Chitnis, creative director, Mudra Communication, and Rensil D'Silva, co-creative director at Mudra - have put in their papers, drawing to a close a seven year stint.

Confirming the development, Chitnis and D'Silva said that they were currently serving their notice period.

At the moment, D'Silva is waiting for Chitnis to return to Mumbai so that they can begin working on their dream venture - that of starting a production house. And, that is precisely the reason why the two, whose partnership is a decade old, decided to call it a day at Mudra.

"We, of course had been thinking about starting our production house from quite some time now. And it was a logical extension for us... considering the bulk of our work is making films...." says D'Silva.

Chitnis describes the move as a logical step after over a decade of experience in advertising and making films. "Our hearts are in this. We love film making. And also, the times are favorable, opportunities are there...and one needs a change," says Chitnis, giving out a laugh.

A few logistics still remain to be discussed; like the name of the production house. "Well, we are batting for some names, but we have not decided on any - yet. As far as starting off is concerned, we do have a good body of reel to show. And hopefully, we will get some work," says a modest D'Silva, who has written the script for Aks and Painted Yellow (Rang De Basanti), a bilingual movie that will feature Aamir Khan. The shooting for Painted Yellow will start in November this year.

Chitnis, however, is quick to assure that the duo are expecting some projects. "We are in the middle of negotiations. We expect some work to come our way soon."

"What is heartening," adds Chitnis, "that we have decided to take the plunge."

Getting work is surely not going to be such an uphill task for the team. The duo has films such as Hindustan Petroleum Cruise films, McDonald's, and award winning television spots 'Gheun Tak' done for for CHannel[v] to their credit.

For D'Silva, it is going back to what he had started off with many years ago - ad films and documentaries. "I began my career in production and gradually moved on to script writing." In the year 1991, D'Silva joined J Walter Thompson, and has subsequently worked in Rediffusion DY&R, Saatchi & Saatchi and Mudra.

It was at Rediffusion that D'Silva met Chitnis and "we just fired as a team," reminisces Chitnis, who launched his career in advertising with Nucleus, now known as Metaphor. After the meeting ten years ago at Rediffusion, the two have always moved as a pair.

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