Cinema's Spine

In every field of life, to give your 100%, be on the cycle of constant learning and work hard is what takes you places. This podcast episode is a centric to this theme, and I'm in conversation with Mrs. Amala Akkineni who I believe is the perfect fit for this discussion for we talk about her journey onto becoming an actor, the requirement of coming into the industry (being a daredevil), and about the rise of women in Indian Cinema Space. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer from Kalakshetra, known to be one of the finest actors who has worked across industries ( Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi...) and in various film formats ranging from short films, feature films to web-series. Mrs. Amala Akkineni is also actively involved in educating young minds to gain a sound knowledge in various aspects of filmmaking be it as a bachelor's degree or hobbyist courses as the Director of Annapurna College of Film and Media in Hyderabad, Telangana.

A Journey is and always has been a very important part when you wish to reach somewhere to want to know what's out there. My Conversation with Jay was all about the Journey that he began on the sets of Rang de Basanti and how his backing in art helps him create frames that take your breath away and his relationship with his boys. (Grip, AC, Lightboy...) Jay Oza is one of the most popular Cinematographers in today's time. Some of his notable works includes; Raman Raghav 2.0, Blackmail, Gully Boy, Netflix Original Ghoul, Amazon Originals Made in Heaven and Dewarists. His work next will be seen in Rakesh OmPrakash Mehra's Toofaan.

This episode gives you a complete outline of how screenplay writing is done for films, web series and plays. In my conversation with Mr. Akarsh we talk about various topics majorly revolving around the writing process and how it happens. then a bit about direction when it comes to theatre plays and direction when it comes to films the difference and how he tackles it. Akarsh Khurana is the director of the 2018 slice of life film "Karwaan" and he's been on the writing team of Krish 1 & 3, Kites and a lot more. He also runs a theatre company AKvarious Productions in Mumbai.

Make up is one of the basic necessities when it comes to films that we watch. In my conversation with Shashank Desai,we talk about various aspects of make-up, the process of pre-production and what it's like, other than these he shares some of his experiences and scenarios to help us once again get an insight on how collaboration is an important part of filmmaking. Shashank has worked as a make-up artist/designer in various bollywood films few of them being; Chaapak, Gangs of Wasseypur, Tumbbad, Masaan, and few of the current popular web-series being; Typewriter and Out of Love

When on set as a director one must have a certain environment which sets the vibe of the show. In this episode Me and Amrit chat over a bunch of things from the amount of takes it takes to get the right comic timing or scheduling and shooting over 100 pages of script in 14 days. Amrit has worked in various web-series and directed a few of his own, some of those being the two seasons of TVF's Bachelors, Dice Media's new Operation MBBS, Sony liv's mini series - Gullak; and a funny tale of an amature theatre group - "Ayan" in the form of a short film.

A film is made, you go to the theatre to watch it. At times you like it at times you don't. Now for a film to reach you it has to go through a journey of distribution. That is what this podcast is a continuation of, here me and Mr. Yusuf talk about the marketing plan/ model of a film and discuss about them with a few real time examples so that we can relate to them better.

A film is made, you go to the theatre to watch it. At times you like it at times you don't. Now for a film to reach you it has to go through a journey of distribution. That is what this podcast is all about. From the point the marketing of a film begins up till the point you watch it, the two part series is dedicated to that. And I was fortunate enough to understand it from someone who's grown up being around this aspect of films; Mr. Yusuf Shaikh, he's been active in the business since the mid 90's and has had a journey that one can very well relate to a rollercoaster ride.

Sync sound or location sound recording is one of the most important aspects of filmmaking. In this episode I'm in conversation with Pranav Kothi a FTII graduate and someone who's been working in Mumbai as a Location sound recordist/sound designer since 2013, and he tells me in detail how it works, from deciding your equipment, the challenges that one can face while on set and the difference that comes in when one is shooting in controlled sets and live locations.

Production Design is everywhere in a film, be it the look of the location where you're shooting to the cup that your actor touches. In this episode I'm in conversation with Adrian Wittenberg who's a Production Designer/Art Director based out of Los Angeles. We discuss about what a spiderweb the department is and timelines that we must follow in the department along with her experiences as a travelling art director for the Amazing Race series and many more.

Music in my opinion is an integral part when it comes to the knowing the vibe of a film. In this episode I'm in conversation with Mr. Prashant Pillai and we discuss about his approach towards composing music from the R&D to laying the tracks. He is nowadays known as the face of experimentative and avant-garde music after giving us back-to-back wholesome experiences through his music in films such as Angamaly Diaries, Amen, David, Ee.Ma.Yau., Unda, Andhra Mass and Shaitan to name a few.

If you are someone who's a film enthusiast or curious about the art of film-making and the hard work that goes into it; You should try listening to this podcast and get to know the journey which Srividya and her passion driven team take through a rocky road of 3 years to bring out Madha for it's audience. Madha is a telugu language psychological thriller film revolving around a lady who works in an advertising agency and her unfortunate experience of being abandoned by her lover. The film released on 13th March 2020 and is now available on Amazon Prime.