Ajay Govind, director of “After the third bell”, is back again with a beautiful music video “Har Pal”. “ Har Pal” is a heart warming music video starring Kunal Shamshere Malla and Aarti Khetarpal.
It seems Ajay has a special affection towards the month of April and with all the inspiration he received, he has created another romantic video. And this video is completely different from his previous outing “Meherbaan”. Even though in terms of its tone the two songs are similar but the presentation and final product is very different.
“Har Pal” is a very intense song. The beautiful locations amplify the effect and it looks great on screen. Just as the launch event in Dehradun came to an end, BD got a chance to talk to the filmmaker about “Har Pal” and much more.
Q- A romantic music video a year, is that part of a plan?
I wish I could have said ‘yes’ but there is a scheme of things much larger than the film set where the director doesn’t get to call ‘Action!’ But jokes apart, Meherbaan did happen exactly a year ago and a happy coincidence that a year on we are making the Har Pal music video. Even though both are essentially romantic songs, in her script for the video, Anuradha Malla has chosen a very different theme, giving the song a very different flavour.
Q- So no sequences of the hero-heroine running around playfully in this one?
I’ve already fulfilled that fantasy with Meherbaan, one might say. This one is the story of a family and more specifically the bond between a father and daughter. So, even though, there will be enough running around and playfulness, it’s going to be very different in Har Pal.
Q- Tell us about the team that worked on Har Pal?
Well, the man behind the camera remains Tanweer Ahmed, who, as always, got involved on the onset with inputs to script and at every process therein. Vinay Kumar, who has been the Line Producer on all of SRF’s major projects in the past, as always, got involved with the project at the script and thereafter the recce process and that really helped in ensuring that all the behind the scenes logistics were handled smoothly. .
Q- Documentaries, feature films, music video. How are the three different?
I guess I could say that what remains the same is the fact that these are three mediums of storytelling. What changes is that in a documentary your decision of cutting into or going out of a certain moment could radically change people’s perceived ideas of what is the ‘truth’. In feature films, you construct a make-belief world and you have enough time to setup (and debunk if you so wish) the truths that are a part of this world. But in the make-belief world of a music video the key is to make all the elements fall into place within a very limited amount of time and aligning the narrative to enhance the music.
Q- In that case, can you tell us a little more about your approach when directing a music video?
In a music video, it’s very important that the song and the story come together in a seamless manner. That’s half the battle won. The rest is about getting the performances to be precise because like I mentioned you don’t have the liberty of time. Even in a slow cutting music video like Har Pal, you don’t stay on a shot for more than a few seconds so you have to make sure that the actors bring believability within that time. That’s where the focus is.
Q- How was it working with the actors on Har Pal?
It was great fun working with Kunal, Aarti and the kids, Maliha and Ahana. The comfort that we shared will definitely come through in the video. Kunal Malla is natural and there were quite a few times when we got things done in one take—especially during the emotional scenes where he completely immersed himself in the mood of the song. Both the kids were just as spontaneous and were uninhibited in front of the camera.
Q- SRF was involved in Line Producing a few projects last year, tell us about that?
Line Producing was a very interesting challenge and a completely new experience. We handled production on Onir’s next feature, Shab, which was shot across 4 seasons in Delhi. After that Samir Soni’s debut film as a director My Birthday Song, which was shot in Delhi/NCR in December. Now that I think of it being on a film set for those 60-odd days and almost never venturing near the camera or the monitor is a great appetiser for a filmmaker. But more importantly, it has been an opportunity to learn all the things that are usually out of focus when you are directing. And in this process we have also built a good team both for production and direction.
Q- So what else are you and the SRF team busy with these days?
Apart from working my next script, Vinay and I have recently co-produced a short film titled At the other End, co-directed by Priyanka Aiyer and Vinayak Vyas, both of whom have been a part of the SRF direction team in the past. The work on the background score of this film has just begun and first look of the film should be out soon. The film is looking great and I am sure it will be well-received. Apart from this, there’s also a very exciting new project that I am a part But we’ll keep details about that one for a later conversation.