 How did advertising happen to you? We know you're a sorted guy. You started pretty early. Like in school you did some experiment with filmmaking and then immediately after graduation you started doing ad films with Pradeep Sarkar. And you set up your Chrome pictures also pretty early in your career because you yourself are very very young even now. So what did attract you to advertising filmmaking? So this is a long story. My father always used to think that what will he do in his life? What will he do? Because I was ok in studies so I wanted to be a cricketer and then I left because of whatever reason. And then one day my mother asked me that I was in class 11 at that time and that moment I decided that I would become a hero. So that's how my journey started. I started meeting people in Delhi and as I started meeting people that's how I met Pradeep. He used to be in Delhi at that time. So I was in class 11 when I did my first ad film with him as an actor. My mind went blank there and what he is doing is what am I doing? So I don't know from where this thing came up. Maybe I was at that time at that age you don't think so deep. So I told him that I am going to work with you. In my mind there are only two things. One if I work with him I will write in front of him all the time. So I can get acting chances as many times as I can. Two this man travels a lot. So I will get to travel a lot. So these are the two things. The reason I told him I want to work with you. So my school result had not come like 12th class result. It comes on September 15th and on 8th September I joined him. I think it was 1999 or 98. So I worked with him for about 6 years while working over there. My partner Alia. We used to work together. I used to do post production and I used to be AD. For about 3 years I did not know whether I am an AD or not. So there was no defined line. I was doing everything. From pre to post to the shoot to everything. So that was the plus point. She told me that I see a great streak in you. I think you can be a director. At that time I decided I will be a director. So at age 24 we started Chrome Pictures. Me, Alia and Heyman. So that is the whole journey. After that you have made 1000 films. Almost 1000 films you guys have directed as a part of Chrome. Sir I think I have directed around 2000 films. 2000? Around 2000 films. I have chosen just 3 of that illustrious career of having done 2000 films. You can possibly guess the ones I will ask you to talk about. The first one is the one which won you the silver can line which is the silent anthem. What I want you to do is to just tell us some highlights, challenges, fun moments and satisfaction of creating these campaigns. So let's talk with the silent anthem. I had gone to Mudra to meet Bobby Pawar. After the anthem was discussed I was getting out and he said I have one idea. I said yeah. And he said silent national anthem. Deaf kids they are singing national anthem with sign language. I said man this is outstanding. I said you leave this anthem on the side. I don't want to make that. I will make this. So then the process started because I said you know I want to see it like this. I want to shoot it in this way and all those things. So Bobby is an amazing creative person and he said it's yours. You do the way you want to. And then I wanted to shoot with real deaf kids, mute kids. So we started finding out the number of schools we have in and around Bombay. So we first of all contacted somebody who knows the sign language. Who knows the sign language national anthem, how national anthem would be sung by sign language. So we found that person and then with her help and it was a Sunday when we were shooting. And I had said tell all these kids to come in their own school dresses. 500 kids came. All 500 kids came in those buses. And I shot that film for a day with them. What I realized over there was that we say that you know these are special kids. They are actually special kids. Special means not in a negative way, in a positive way. Just before three months, I was shooting one more commercial with kids in the same school. In Don Bosco Bombay. It was a nightmare for me to shoot with 200-300 kids over there. The normal kids, you know. Like you tell them you are announcing they are not, they don't want to listen to you. Yeah. But these kids, intelligent and you know they will listen to you. And their teachers would just do one ishara to them, go stand in one line. They would all stand in one line. Okay stand up, they would all stand up. Okay sit down over there. It was a sunny day. But none of the kids say that you know I said that you know we can't. It's too hot. We cannot. So and then I saw there were four or five kids while I was setting my shot. They are laughing. They are just laughing because they are cracking jokes in sign language. I said oh man. So while I was shooting I was like very normal, okay fine. This is how God has made them. Correct. And so I, I was learning from them so I was very normal with them. Like if you see that shot where the kid does this. Yeah. And one kid just comes and turns his hand. I have not designed that shot. The kid who was standing behind he did it on his own. They are so intelligent and they're cracking jokes. And I was like oh this is so amazing. They're laughing. They have their own language. They have their own world you know. We are all in the same world but they are just outstanding. And then when I said pack up we had got gifts for everybody for all the kids. So I said before all the kids go we want the gifts should be given to them. So once they receive the gifts they got to know that you know the shoot is over. You will not believe I was standing at one place. I was talking to somebody and I was surrounded by 500 kids. They just wanted to touch my hand and go. They just wanted to say bye to me. They just wanted to shake hand with me. So I was surrounded by 500 kids. When I felt that I had tears in my eyes. The whole day I was normal. The whole day I was like okay fine. Let's shoot. Let's shoot. Let's shoot. But when this moment happened I had tears in my eyes. I said this is like amazing. So the second film I talk about when you a goal in Spikes Asia and obviously I understand the one I am talking about is Help a Child Reach 5. And some highlights and fun moments and satisfaction of creating this amazing ad film for Live Boy. So Live Boy has won Cannes also. So the script was written by the ideas of Mr. Amit Jaleel and Sagar Kapoor from Malay and Lowlanders. When they narrated this idea to me I said okay fine there are so many superstitions in India. One of the superstitions is people walk on their hands also. So the biggest challenge to make that film was to do the casting. To do the right casting for this film. So one thing I just told them that I think it should be open about the location. Like where it should be shot it will depend on where we get a person. But it also talks about a very very genuine problem of a child. We just don't understand these things sitting in a metro city that how children in the smallest of villages across India often don't even have the privilege of having a fifth birthday. Because we decide that if we do this this will happen. The whole idea was about that. If I do this my son has turned five. Now I had asked for that. So I was just telling you the shooting process of that and the bigger idea in that whole thing is that like you said in villages there are kids who doesn't even reach five years of age. So and what is the reason? Reason is hygiene, washing hands and diarrhea because there is no cleanliness. It's not followed. So super amazing idea for a super amazing client. I would say that they chose the script that was also a very very big achievement. So then we said okay fine we started looking for the cast and the actor who has worked in the film he is not an actor. He is actually a kabadi in Chinnai. He just knew how to walk on the hands. So I said okay fine it's not enough. I need one more guy who has the same body type because I need a body double also. Because I did not want to use harness or strings or anything like that. Or do anything in post because it has to be real. So we found this guy and then we found the other guy also in Madurai somewhere we found the other person. And I said okay fine let's start shooting and we went to shoot in Madurai after one and a half days of shoot. Both these guys their shoulders gave up. Though we had the physio and everybody on set their shoulders gave up. They said they would not be able to do it. So I said now what to do? I don't want to use the harness. Then I asked the doctor I said what do you think of Venkan issue? He said you will have to give them a rest of one month. So that commercial is actually shot in three months. It took us three months to complete that commercial. So we gave them the rest. So I spoke to Amir. Amir said no it will be very inhuman to shoot with them like the way they are right now. We will not be able to shoot. I said we will not be able to shoot. So we will have to give them a one month break. After one month we started shooting in Hampi because we did not get permission to shoot it in Madurai. So we went to Hampi to shoot. One day of shoot just happened and Cyclone came in Chennai and it hit Hampi. So we had to again it was raining for two days continuously so we couldn't shoot. We had to again pack up and then after some 15-20 days I came back again. So my production and everybody was saying that you have enough footage. You can edit the film what you have shot. You can edit the film with this. The main thing was that Makodewala scene where he leaves that Makode. So the insight in that was that he is going to for his kids life he can't take another life while going over there. So I wanted to shoot that. I wanted to shoot some shots in the village. So it took us three months to finish that commercial and then it was edited and presented it to the film. And the third film I want to talk about which even Vidya Balan who was on this show before spoke about as one of our favorite films is the Google reunion film. Which was obviously one of those long format. Two minute I think if I'm not mistaken. Where these two childhood friends from India and Pakistan who get separated during partition and you know kind of what's the reunion all about. So talk a bit about what happened with the film. So when I got the script I read the script. So Sukesh Oynem Sukesh Naik he's a very dear friend of mine and that was the first time we were working together. That was the first film we worked together on. So he told me the idea and then you know what happened. I used to hear a lot of stories from my own grandmother about the partition about her own friends in Pakistan. So in my mind I had those stories and those stories were very clear in my head. Me and Sukesh we started discussing the whole thing. And what happened is that when the script came I said when do you want to release the film. They said 14th of January at in the night about 11.59 they wanted to put it on Google medium. So I said I will not do it because they said why. I said because I'm busy right now and this film needs enough time. I need my mind space. Otherwise it's a beautiful story, beautiful script. I don't want to just make it just if I don't do it. So let's make this when Amit is free. I was so glad and I was so happy that they waited for me. I was so happy because I really really wanted to make this film. So then we started to cast the film. Casting was very very important. So we found these two men who are 85 years at that time. 85 years old. And when I reached on set I got to know that they are old friends. They are connected from theater time. They used to do theater a few years back. Satyu sir and Badola sir. It's an emotional story. It's an emotional film. But the fun part is that I was laughing throughout the film. Through and through the film I was laughing. What was happening on set was outstanding. So Satyu sir's dialogues were not there. Because he had only one dialogue. The Pakistani dadu. The one who played the role of Pakistani dadu. He was having a happy birthday. And Badola sir had a lot of dialogues. Basically he was playing the Indian dadu. So somewhere some ego thing was happening between them. That I have dialogues and you don't have dialogues. So one of the short I remember I was in one corner with my video assistant and they were over there on the side. And Badola sir is giving his expressions and his dialogues. And Satyu sir is not reacting. He is just not reacting. So first take happened, second take happened, third take happened. He is not reacting. Because between actors you know this happens sometime. To spoil the other actors performance. This happens. So I was understanding what is happening over there. And on the fourth state Badola sir started. Why don't you react? He is not reacting. He said he is not reacting. So I went to Satyu sir. I said sir Satyu sir please you have to react on this. So then he reacted and gave the shot. Now I am taking the over shoulder shot. Of Satyu sir and now I am shooting. And now I am shooting Satyu sir. From Badola sir's point of view. Over shoulder. So this time I went to Badola sir. I said sir when he will say happy birthday. And he will hug you. Don't hug immediately. Hug after 2 seconds. Hug hard. Because your friend is 14 years old. Now you are 85 years old. Almost 75 years have gone. And he is standing in front of you. So you would not. He is not young anymore. He is old. So he said ok. Laila. He said Laila. He is a Punjabi man. He said Laila. So the shot started. And Satyu sir hugged him. And Badola sir hugged him tight. And he did. And Satyu sir said oh my Kamar. Oh my Kamar. And I ran. I said what happened sir. He said he is very strong. He is very tight. He said don't do like this. So I went to Satyu sir. I said I went to Badola sir. He said ok. Now let's take the shot. The kids. And that was the main thing. They had very less time together. When they came together. Oh man it was a riot. It was a riot on set. They are so amazing. Like the song in the film. It was added later. So all those things.