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Face to Face

The easy and the enjoyable part: Gaurav Jani on location near Suraj Tal.

Like in all fields, starting off alone is always difficult. But with films, especially documentaries, it is always a struggle. There is not much of a market so very few people are ready to fund projects. If you decide to do a docu on your own, you will have to spend years marketing it.

When I started, I never realised that it would be so difficult. It’s only after a film is made that a first-time film maker realises what a mammoth task it is to just let people know about the film. There is so much happening in the media everyday that documentaries take a long time to come to the public eye, if at all. What sustained me was my desperation as a director to make a film on my own terms. I just wanted to make a film without thinking about what will happen afterwards.

Bollywood is also coming out with good films these days. But there should be space for all kinds of movies: masala, upscale films and small budget documentaries.

Some of the documentaries these days are better than most Bollywood films. But people don’t know about these documentaries because there is no distribution network in place. And some of them do enlighten, motivate, inform and entertain in a better way than most commercial films.

There is a high demand for content, but the demand is for a particular type of content. Most of it is centred on oomph, hype; content meant to intimidate and not inspire. TV is not about good quality content anymore. Even on the two non-fiction channels we have, the majority of the programmes are on tallest buildings, longest bridges, fastest automobiles, strongest this, deadliest that, etc. etc. All themes revolving around intimidation, or personality driven. There’s a joke amongst documentary film makers that these days if one has to make documentaries and money, one should learn how to catch snakes or crocodiles. These guys are getting the maximum work and have the maximum air time, catching the longest snakes and the heaviest crocs on earth.

I am still trying to figure it out myself. Travel comes naturally to me. I think the motorcycle is an extension of the rider’s personality. It is a very personal vehicle compared to a car. It’s like our favorite smell, food or place. It hits us naturally and sub-consciously. All I know is, I am living my dream and doing things which brings me closer to personal freedom.

Yes, visiting some parts of India one realises that we are still total strangers to each other. Travelling does really open out India to you and the Indian in you. Strangely, none of the people in rural areas has ever asked me who I was or what my caste was. Roughing it out in remote parts of India will open out her real character.

Riding solo actually is about your typical city slicker. There is the urban traveller with romantic notions of being a nomad on the one hand and actual nomads living for centuries at the highest altitude used by mankind in the world. The lifestyle of the Chang-pas was such a revelation. The perfect balance between, nature, faith, society and hard work that these people have achieved, living in one of the most extreme conditions on earth was an eye opener. I consider myself lucky to have experienced that first hand but after seeing the way they lead their lives, I don’t have romantic illusions of myself anymore. I know I am just a traveller.

Ved [Nair] composed the music all by himself. I just asked him to keep it simple and stay true to the film. He decided to use instruments which one can travel with, the flute and guitar. The parts about Chang-pas use just the flute and whistle (exactly the things they use to keep their flock of sheep together).

The movie is not doing as well as we would like it to. The problem is that we don’t have money for ads and marketing. We are just selling the DVD through our website ( www.dirttrackproductions.com ).

Marketing for independent film makers is a never ending task. The way things are going I would still be marketing this film (my first one) to broadcasters around the world along with my third or fourth film. I have already shot my second film two years back but the tapes are lying untouched. We haven’t started the post-production. That should give you an idea about how slow the whole process is and also about the money coming in.