Directors’ Diaries with Shefali Bhushan. The road to her first film.

Directors’ Diaries with Shefali Bhushan. The road to her first film.

In Jugni (2016), Shefali’s debut feature, the female protagonist, a newbie music composer, tells a ‘struggling’ singer who is ambitious to leave his village in Punjab and migrate to Mumbai (Film industry), “Itna aasaan nahi hai na Mastana (to get a break in Bollywood). Itni bheedh mein, apni jageh banaane ke liye bahot mehnat karni padhti hai. Mujhse poocho, maine itne papad bele hain. ....” I thought of featuring Shefali in our blog.

I was keen to learn ki Shefali ne kaunse ‘papad’ bele. :)

Jugni. The title of her film had attracted me from its first theatre promo itself. My father had introduced me to Punjabi folk music in the 70s, and one of the songs I loved as a teen was ‘Jugni’ by Asa Singh Mastana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSBlp2bbjMY

Shefali’s film was true to its Punjabi essence and spirit. The folk musicality in her script reflects Shakespeare’s quote: ‘The Earth has music. If you listen.’ The two lead actors, the music, and writing, were excellent. Even the secondary characters cast were very good, a sign of a good director.

I was certain this director must have worked her a## off during preproduction to put together such an authentic show. After speaking with her I found out she had been on a journey quite similar to that of her female protagonist, and it helped her in writing and directing such a truthful film.

Interestingly, Shefali blogged about the journey of a (an aspiring) director up to her first film. One can read her ‘struggler’s’ rants here: https://shefalibhushan.wordpress.com :)

Just before we parted, I suggested to her, sincerely, to continue blogging. And this time she should write about her experiences post her debut as director. Because, our struggle to make our next film, second or any subsequent one, can be more torturous than our first experience. She laughed, and I think it meant that it’s a cool thought. But we know deep down that it reflects the reality that even successful directors face – that it does not get easier with every film. The gradient only increases.

Every river begins someplace

Shefali is born and brought up in Allahabad. In a family of lawyers. The city is the confluence (Sangam) of three mighty rivers, Ganga, Jamuna and Saraswati. Saraswati flows underground, and for many who have grown up there it is symbolic to the intellectual and creative under current flowing through Allahabad.

Early influences

Growing up in a large joint family, of nearly 40 people at any given time, must have helped Shefali become a ‘people’s person’, I thought, and eventually a documentary filmmaker and director. A profession that needs you to interact with a variety of people, at their individual levels; without you (the director, the Captain of your own tempest wind) losing your own individuality, making every one believe they are a significant and integral part of a team. Filmmaking is a collaborative art, a fact she humbly admits.

Mum

Shefali’s mother was a Kathak dancer, a painter, and deeply involved in folk music although it was a hobby and not a livelihood pursuit. “She was the hub of music functions within our large joint family. And I, was her assistant number one! (Smiles generously) I would play the Harmonium and sing with her.” says Shefali. Incidentally, Jugni is the story of a music composer who seeks freedom, in her choice of music and relationship. I think, her mum is her guardian creative-angel. :)

At the age of five her family shifted to Delhi.

First love

Shefali began indulging in theatre from school days. Her first role as an actor was that of a lawyer in class five. Her first tryst with direction, a theatre play, was at class eleven. Her first professional theatre (proscenium) experience was in college, with Drama Tech.

Act One, another professional theatre group (even director Imtiaz Ali, her batch mate, was associated with) was a significant chapter on a path that, unknown to her then, was leading her to the threshold of her first “Action!” as a feature film director. The four to five years she spent acting with Act One was to become the spring board to professional theatre jobs in Delhi, earning her respect and admiration amongst her mentors, peers and audience. “Those years were not just a through training ground for me in theatre, but for all the arts. Including cinema.” she reflects. “Our director, Mr N K Sharma, approached theatre with a cinematic vision, (particular the adaptation of the 1960’s American classic West Side Story as Jab Sheher Humara Sota Hai). So we learnt a lot from those professional experiences with Act One.”

Acting was her first love. While she was with Act One, she began to aspire to join the NSD (National School Of Drama, Delhi) The NSD is an institution that has delivered, gifted, our theatre and film industry some of its brightest pearls.

However, NSD having less than 20 seats, per annum, she simultaneously applied to Jamia Millia Islamia University. The latter accepted her. “It was by default I had chosen Jamia. Chosen filmmaking. Not acting. From here on my life took a different course.” She adds.

A course that lead her to documentary filmmaking and eventually features, I pondered, hearing this high spirited actor-blogger-director-writer revisit the milestones she had left behind.

The seed

Vijay Singh, a filmmaker based in France, was directing his first feature, titled Jaya Ganga. It was being shot in North India. Post Jamia, Shefali worked on it as an assistant director. She chose to, because she wanted to pursue the film space. “And I really enjoyed that experience!” She says.

I think this experience was the seed that was waiting to be claimed by Shefali’s destiny on the path of filmmaking. “Post that first job as an assistant director I wanted to come to Bombay and pursue films, but… I stayed put in Delhi…. and began directing documentaries and news & current affairs stuff (produced /directed) for TV. And pursued music. Indian folk music. It became the starting point to entering this world of films that I find myself in.” she adds. (Smiles)

Folk travels

Music being a childhood passion, (she’s trained in Hindustani classical) Shefali researched and recorded (along with as-passionate associates, her director from Act One, Mr N K Sharma, and Prabhat Agarwal & Aiyana Gunjan) folk music from various parts of India. The dot com boom was in full swing and they published a website (Beat of India.com) that catered to folk music.

I think the subtext beneath their venture must have been a sincere concern that folk music if not encouraged and revived will die a death sooner than later, though she says “… we began this web site to popularise folk music.”

They recorded about 75 unknown folk artists. Learning about this I understood why her first film showcased folk music with such integrity and depth. The subject had arrived from her personal experiences.

Rahman

Often some people pre-empt the reply to their knock on destiny’s door. They make up their mind that the reply will be negative and walk away from a potential opportunity without even a shout out or knock. Shefali did not.

Sometime in 2007 she thought of a story that revolved around music. She felt A R Rahman would be the best bet to do justice to her film’s music. She got Rahman’s email id from a friend and shot him an email, randomly, asking him if he would like to consider coming on board her film project. Shefali never thought someone as ‘big’ as he would even bother to respond to her, an unknown, no Godfather in Mumbai film industry, not worked as an assistant with any established film producer nor director, and a first time filmmaker.

Well, but he did. Very soon. Rahman asked her to meet him the next time he was in Mumbai. What was very significant, I think, was her informing him in her pitch about her experience with Beat of India. A folk music project. I know Rahman adores such music, not run of the mill. Her mentioning the asset of folk music they had curated may have tilted the scale in her favour, I would like to think.

She met Rahman and he introduced her to producer-director Rakeysh Mehra, to associate him with the script Shefali was working on. However, one thing lead to another and she narrated another story to Rakeysh Mehra and he showed an interest in producing it, if she wants to direct it. They worked on the project for a while, but for reasons beyond their control it made no headway beyond scripting. It was time to move on.

It always is.

Having a good friend and a good bounce board

It is up to us to keep our fire burning. Rejections and disappointments can blow away the wick too, not just our flame. But every now and then comes a wind that does not blow it off, but rather fans it and makes our flame burn brighter. When a few opportunities that Shefali had earned from her choices and dedication did not bear fruit as her debut film, she one day happened to rant her feelings to a friend. A friend who was her bounce board on many occasions. She had heard many of Shefali’s stories and plots. Even those that writers abandon midway or put on a back-burner.

Shefali told her friend, Aiyana, about being unable to finalise on a story for her feature, and she was thinking of writing a story that can be made at a budget she thinks will be amiable and possible for a producer to take a chance on for her to direct even with new actors and very limited resources. After all, she was a first-time director and at that stage we do not have the power to command large budgets. “Write a script that does not require a star or studio to take off” she said.

Maybe Shefali’s rant was born from self-doubt, or loss of hope in her debut taking-off, or even loss of faith in her talent because of her recent experiences of her first feature project not happening even after preproduction had locked dates and locations etc. But her friend did not indulge her in her self-doubt, if any. “Script that story you had told me about, the music composer travelling to a village to record folk music. It’s you. Your domain. It will happen”, her bounce board cum friend Aiyana had insisted.

Shefali listened. Not just to her friend’s advise but to her own inner voice that I think must have whispered to have a re-look at that story. A soft voice we all have within, which often gets overwhelmed by other factors. Shefali revisited that earlier story she had written, and it was to become her first debut, Jugni.

I thought, hearing all this, it is so important for us to keep near our soul such friendships. People who do not just hear what you say, but listen to the subtext. Because often we speak in round about ways, not revealing what we are really wanting to say.

Jugni's was here to stay

Shefali began to script the story of Jugni, supported by the fact that the two main characters, the singer Mastana and Bibi Swaroop were a mother and son singers she knew from her years recording Punjabi folk music for Beat Of India. She is amongst those directors who looked inward for the story which eventually became their debut film. Eg., Vishal Bhardwaj, scripted his first (Makdee) from his own childhood experiences of visiting a ‘scary’ tantrik. Statutory warning: Every experience may not become your first film, first kiss, first job. But it will lead you to a higher sky.

Shefali adds, “People credit me alone for my first film. I would not have been able to do this on my own. My two partners helped me achieve this. Karan and Manas. None of us could have done this on our own. Filmmaking is a collaboration. What really attracts me to it is its team-work component. I’m a people’s person. Completely.”

Mirror

The journey of many directors I featured in our book Directors Diaries reflects in a significant dialogue from Jugni, “Itna aasaan nahi hai na Mastana, (to get a break in Bollywood). Itni bheedh mein (in a crowd of giants), apni jageh banaane ke liye bahot mehnat karni padhti hai. Mujhse poocho, maine itne papad bele hain….”

Papads (not 'Papadums')

From Shefali’s first job as an assistant director (1995) to her first feature as director (2016), it was a journey of twenty one years. To put her ‘papads’ into perspective, quoting from our book:

Anurag Basu

From his first job in films as an 'extra' actor (Dalaal 1993) to his first film as director, it was a journey of nearly eleven years.

Ashutosh Gowariker

From his first film as an actor (Holi 1983) to his first film as director, it was a journey of ten years.

Farah Khan

From her first job as an assistant director (TV series, Malgudi Days 1987) to her first film as director, it was a journey of seventeen years.

Govind Nihalani

From his first job as an intern as an assistant cameraman (Ziddi 1962) to his first film as director, was a journey of twenty years.

Imtiaz Ali

From his first job as a production assistant with Zee TV in 1994 to his first film as director, it was a journey of eleven to twelve years.

Mahesh Bhatt

From his first job in films as an assistant director (Do Raaste 1969) to his first film as director, it was a journey of five years.

Prakash Jha

From his first film as an assistant director (Dharma 1973) to his first film as director, it was a journey of ten years.

Santosh Sivan

From his first film as a cinematographer (Nidhiyude Katha 1986) to his first film as director, it was a journey of ten years.

Subhash Ghai

From his graduation as an actor from FTII- Pune to his first film as director, it was a journey of nine years.

Tigmanshu Dhulia

From his first job as an assistant art director (Sardar 1993) to his first film as director, it was a journey of fourteen years.

Vishal Bhardwaj

From his first film as a music composer (Veham 1984) to his first film as a director, it was a journey of eighteen years.

Zoya Akhtar

From her first job as writer with The Script Shop to her first film as a director, it was a journey of sixteen years.

It’s not an easy ride! Never is.

To conclude, I would like to share what I thought is Shefali’s shout-out to those who aspire to make it here, “Lekin …. tum aajao. Dekh lenge. Tum khud experience kar lo. Ho sakta hai tumhari kismat tumhara saath de jaye.” Which so-reminded me of the dedication to my own father in our book “You write your own first-break. You write your own biography.”

- #DirectorsDiaries with #ShefaliBhushan

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Letters want to be words. Words want to be stories. Stories want to be told. #RakeshAnandBakshi

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The directors’ on Cinema & Filmmaking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8bnPI95HCs

The directors’ Beginnings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgbvst-mhOw

The directors’ Convictions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQgoJwP1sd8

The directors’ Challenges: https://youtu.be/1BmjGGurM5U

Imtiaz Ali’s 1st film being his film school & our book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzC18coaoLw

Zoya Akhtar on being a 1st time film maker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdg8UNfwKs

Shyam Benegal on ‘… Why directors’..’ : https://youtu.be/3-u3GRgkt8E