Creative Catalysts

As we get closer to release.  I wanted to share the journey of Bangaru Kodi Petta (BKP).  Wanted to talk about people, I got to meet, bond, hate (ok not that.. lets stay positive :) and overall who have made me and the film better.  This journey will be from the inception to writing, raising funds, shooting, post and finally preparing for release.

Today’s blog goes to Venkat Kacharla & Kishore Kotni (my catalysts).

Venkat and Kishore (V & K) were my bouncing boards.  I work really well when am with others, rather than sit by myself and think through.  A lot happens as I narrate the story to others.  Right from a thought, I start sharing with others.  It could be my atta, my mom, cousin and friends from the film fraternity.  I also remember telling the story to my niece Sruti, just as she was having her breakfast, before heading out to her school.  Within that short time, I was trying to see, does the story have enough to hold a 12 year old’s interest.  It’s not that every story needs to do that.. but for me kids are a good barometer.  You have to tell it with only the key points in mind.. that forces you to search for the key points.  I think i told her a 10 minute version... and i could see that she was reacting to the right elements.  That was one additional push to keep me going with that story.

As I sat with V & K discussing, I had a very high level spec in mind of what I wanted to make.
An engaging story, vs a packaged entertainment.
A big heart. 
It might not be loud humor... but it should bring a smile.
Multi-plot: motivated by the fact that if someone does not like one track..there will be 2 other tracks for them to enjoy.  I know a crass reason... i am being honest :)
I had a few characters that I wanted to explore.

 I wanted to make a movie along the lines of GO, 11:14.  The classic multi-plot movies.  We watched them, we studied them.  Made spreadsheets (made kishore do that :) and looked at how the stories moved from one to another and how not to make it episodic but rather a cohesive journey.

Venkat was instrumental in creating the scenario of how the three stories came together in BKP.  I took that part and then set out to write the story leading to it, and post that.  I knew this story would be about the new india..the malls, the clash of consumerism and a traditional culture, access to lifestyles we cannot afford, greed... and taking shortcuts where as life has it’s own cut!

The fascinating part of the writing journey is that, though creative, at some point, it’s like any other work.  You cannot be waiting for inspiration.  I found that if facing the empty page is difficult, then fill it.  Fill it with thoughts, ideas, no form or even grammar required.  And when am stuck I would write about how to write :).  My friend Raj Nidimoru would also help me a lot when I would overwhelm myself with the writing process.  There were times, i would call him and share where i am and to assign homework to me.  I would blindly listen to him till my fog got cleared.  An example is, he would say, write a 4 pager and by tomorrow evening.  I would blindly do it and in that process unclog the flow. 

There are so many of you with your own creative energies waiting to get out.  Find your catalysts.  Find that person, process or explore what your catalyst is.  Do that, and engage that catalyst.  There is a lot of that creative energies that we so desperately need, it could be in raising a family, to better how your home looks, to make your neighborhood a better place to live.  We are built not to have a functional existence, we are designed for a greater good.  Engage it, find your Catalyst!

The MystMagical:
This section has no rules... could by inspiring, funny, video, photo, my favorite kitchen utensil etc ... : ) 

Today its
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRqhoy4AVIM&list=FLYN3QG9yfSwt4YELOcr3PDg&index=10

more soon,
Raj Pippalla

Language of a word

: ) is it possible to have a language with only one word ?

I am dubbing for my current film Bangaru Kodi Petta.  Dubbing is where one re-records the voices of the actors, in a clean studio environment.  An actor watches his or her own performance and then repeats the dialogues to match their lip movement.  I have always believed that its not important what or how...but the intent we say with.  That a single sound could have tremendous emotional power... 

This belief got strengthened during the Dubbing process.  The discovery was how many different ways you can say one word and how the meaning changes?  How it changes if that sound comes from your stomach or the throat, or when your head is turned to side or when you start the word abruptly and end it by pulling the ending sound.  What happens when you take a breath and say word or breathe in the middle.  The emotion changes if you sit vs standing, imagine a person 5 feet away to 20 feet away.... It’s amazing how the emotional energy fluctuates with the way ONE word is spoken.

Now imagine how many words we speak in one day....

Superhero/ine 2; The Art of Breaking Down

Superhero/ine! 2
The Art of breaking down.

Most people dread breaking down.

 Breaking down, though, is such an important part of change, especially the one that is of permanent in nature.  There is a thin line between breakthrough/ breakdown.  Its dangerous and needs courage.  If you want to lead your life always striving.  You will be constantly pushing your limits, physically & emotionally.  At the point of your limit, you might breakdown and that is completely normal and ok.

The interesting thing is that once you do it a couple of times...it gets easier.  It becomes part of your journey through life.

 Now, instead of this happening as a haphazard or chaotic process.  You can make it a determined effort.

Any change has 3 steps. 
Be clear as to what you want to change. 
Identify the elements that will lead to the change.
Do the things in #2 to make the change mentioned in #1.

Making a “change” is the journey of breaking down.  You got to breakdown the old patterns/ thoughts/ actions. Sometimes it translates to emotional & physical breakdowns.  The deeper the pattern (in terms of how long its been part of you), the more you will need to push the limit.

Have a good environment to make your journey..to change and if needed, breaking down.  Having the right kind of people who can handle your breaking down and further be there as a support structure.  Two kind words can mean a lot at the right time.  Books, A trip, A movie... find things that help you undergo this journey.

When you lock onto to a new habit this way... the change is of permanent nature...

Next time you find yourself bungling, forgetful ...breaking down and it is towards a better destination...go ahead plunge!

Everyone is a superhero/ine!

Lots of superhero movies out these days and I always love the ones that show the beginnings;  Stories where the superhero powers are raw.  In its raw from, the superpower can even kill you.  But, when you learn to control it...it makes you a superhero.

So, if everyone is a superhero then what is our superpower... its fear!  Fear is a huge source of energy.  Most people have a primal response of moving away from it.  Primal suggests an animal like response...  Its a start.  We need to recognize that....well its a start.  From that primal response we need a response of higher consciousness.  i.e a journey towards being a superhero.

Fear usually comes up when we are outside our comfort zone.  And if you are operating at your peak potential you will always have fear around...cause you will always be outside your comfort zone.  And if you are too comfortable in your life...then possible you are not operating at your potential.  So, as you grow in life you will be always facing fear as you cross one threshold after the other.  The key is how do you use this energy called fear. What we need is a training regiment... different for different people.  Am designing one for myself... lets see what it does : )

I always loved the episode in the Spiderman movie (the Tobey Maguire one).  He acquires spidey powers but he is clunky, running into things, not knowing how to deal with it physically and emotionally, falling, taking the elevator... That's how we are.  When we are fearful..our first reactions are primal, running away, angry, taking out on other people, etc.  Then once we decide to face it... we take our falls, we get up, we learn...and evolve.  Then when you master it... it turns from a negative force to a very powerful positive force.

Another movie that has a gorgeous analogy of fear/flight/fright is Avatar.  When the hero climbs the hanging mountains and reaches the place where he can choose his bird.  He asks, how will he know his bird of flight.... she replies.. it will try to kill you : ) love it!

Next time you face fear
1. Know you are doing something right
2. Figure a way to master it:
3. Be a Superhero/ine

I know what you are saying..how the hell do you do Point# 2.  Ramblings on it soon!

Fragility = Strength

There seems to be long gestation times between my blogs. Been cherishing the introspective phases. A pleasure to reconnect back…

I was just thinking that Is Strength the absence of Weakness? Is it possible or rather necessary that weakness/fragility and strength co-exist. My take is that they do co-exist but not in the physical dimension. They do in an emotional dimension.

Fragility is essential in our lives. It is necessary to obtain true strength.

How does one get in touch with their fragile/ weakest/ insecure parts of themselves without judging it, without falling apart. It is an interesting process, best for another blog. For, now lets relish, digest the fact that fragility is a design in our system for achieving greatness!

It is like a skyscraper. The skyscraper needs to have the strength to support tons and tons of weight and at the same time have a designed-fragility so that it can swing, to adapt to the forces of nature. Sears towers is designed to swing, 7.5 feet to a side to adapt to strong winds.

I believe that we are a conduit. Life should not flow around us, it needs to flow through us. I find that in creativity, to do our best, fragility is an essential ingredient. By creativity I refer to any process from writing, painting, films, raising a family to an I.T job etc….

We are programmed to look at inherent fragility as a negative. On the contrary, one should befriend it, be comfortable in it, since that is the best space to jump off to greater heights. A designed-fragility is there not to shy from the universe but actually to source it!

Raj

House of Nanking

I missed blogging. I really wanted to, but I was in a state of suspended reality. I had done enough work of going through a divergent thought process for the current script. The time to shape the net that would slowly distill the divergent thoughts to a screenplay. The shape of the net you throw is of absolute importance since the wrong net will bring the wrong elements together. During the journey, net will be re-arranged, re-shaped and made smaller until you have the right kind and number of elements to embark on a screenplay.

Lets compare this process to setting up a restaurant. So, now you have decided to setup a restaurant. The divergent process is where you go through a journey of trying to figure out the elements that will make your restaurant. So, you will visit restaurants. You will recollect your eating experiences. You will look into what the market will support? what can you do? What is your specialty? Hmmm that tablecloth in restaurant A was great. I loved the ambience from restaurant B. The sesame chicken with yams and turnip was great at The House of Nanking… I would like my restaurant to be distinct to have a personality etc… Every random thought is priceless in this phase.

This process has no logic. Its sole purpose is to stimulate. To stimulate your heart, your mind, your spine and your gut. You might read a book on restaurants. You will go back to your experiences of working in one. So, the idea here is to open up a sea, an ocean, an universe of elements that have to do with setting up a restaurant. I have a lot of fun in this part. I write things down, why I want to do this film. I will pitch it to someone and see what they think. I will think of a scene. A particular shot. A song. A background score. The actor I want. I might look at some films in a completely opposite genre. I might listen to music a whole day. I will argue about a point with a friend only to strengthen my thought process (apologies to those people in my life). I usually tend to put up a tough fight just to see if I can defend my point of view. I might collect some photographs. A color tone might come to life. You get the idea. This part of process is where you have to just let go. You truly need to get yourself out of the way!

Then comes the convergent process. In the restaurant example it will start from some top level questions? Q: what kind of restaurant do you want? The cuisine. Chinese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Italian etc. Lets say you decide Chinese. Well is it Cantonese, Szechwan, Mandarin? Will it be fusion or authentic? The questioning process here is to help you make the decisions. Say you want to do a fusion, but you don’t want mix cuisines but might just want to mix the various cuisines of China. i.e. for a sesame chicken dish (mandarin), you might decide that you will serve it with yam and turnip (which is a Cantonese touch). Slowly this questioning process helps you make choices in terms of the space, the menu, the budget of dishes, etc. This process intimidates me. You have to ask the right questions and as you work yourself down, you need to make sure that the steps you take are moving you, not necessarily to any destination but to a destination that you intended.

In writing , it will be asking questions like what is it that I want to tell? Should I make my characters contrasty? What about the plot points? What kind of dramatization should I do? What is the tone of the film? This part needs a lot of concentration. How do you make sure the various elements (logical, emotional, plot, orchestration ) come together to tell a story you want. If you make a wrong decision on plotting, the story could be the same and the impact changes. If you write it with too much action you might miss out on the emotions. What kind of scene will help you balance it?

The process of answering is nothing but writing, re-writing, and re-writing and re-writing. So, the process of divergence and convergence is nothing but writing, re-writing & re-writing and… The first set of writing helps you understand what you want to do with the story? You then to make sure you are strong enough to ask the questions again and make sure that you know your destination. Sometimes the first draft is nothing but a journey to clarify your destination. Your second versions might be a total rewrite. You need to have the courage at this point to do that. To not cling onto what you have written. You need to love the process. If the destination seems right, then look to see if the various elements are falling in place. So, the process of answering questions is just writing.

When the intended destination and the journeyed destination match, it is magic. A million pieces fall into place gracefully complementing each other and working cohesively to generate an emotional experience! (a screenplay)

Finally back to food : ) “The house of Nanking” (San Francisco) is a great example of such a journey. The dishes are experimental yet decisive. They have even made sure that the fried rice has less salt so that it does not conflict with the salt levels of the main dishes. The journey the chef/owner has made allows millions of decisions to gracefully complement each other, to give us that fantastic food experience!
Raj

From Engineering Technology to Engineering Stories

The Deccan Chronicle has published a profile piece on Raj and other filmmakers, highlighting their previous careers as engineers in the technology sector and the transition into filmmaking.

From the article:

Ditching their comfortable IT jobs in the US, many young NRI techies are Hyderabad-bound now with dreams to make it big in tinseltown. The Telugu film industry has never before witnessed this sudden influx of directors, producers and actors from the silicone valley.

Raj Pippalla, director of Boni, is an M.Tech computer science graduate from the US who left his corporate job to venture into showbiz. “Even when I was an engineer, my heart was in filmmaking. I used to direct a few ad films and music videos with my earnings. But I always wanted to make a Telugu movie which will not only become a blockbuster in AP but also be appreciated by an international audience. With the industry welcoming newcomers like never before, I thought it is the perfect time to make my film. The acceptance of experimental films by the multiplex audience is a boon for filmmakers like me,” says Raj.

Read more...