Thursday, 26 July 2018

Interview with filmmaker Dave Jigar

Matsar will be screening at the Straight Jacket Guerrilla Film Festival
*How did you get into making films? For me, Making Films is like living. I started making Films literally in 2007 when I was doing my Mechanical Engineering but I'm making films and visualizing them since 1998 when I was around 13. So When you live it for so many years in your mind, the nature propagates it in real world I guess. 
*What inspired you to make your movie? I firmly believe that movies have a big social impact and as a filmmaker, it's my moral responsibility to make a film that can bring a change in the world. See, change is always a thought process. If you're convinced about something that is how you are going to bring it in your life.
Matsar is inspired by a thought about bringing two different personalities together. One who is a manual scavenger living in a hell. And another is a young kid living exactly opposite. Their interaction brings two different aspects of life face to face and that is how their thoughts begin to change in right direction. 
*How has your style evolved? Well there is no particular style about a film but more about the genre and conviction of that perception portrayed in film. Yet, if I try to find a pattern or style in my filmmaking then On the concept level, I try to give leverage on the battles within. The one who has conquered himself, has conquered the world. My earlier work “Kuchh Manziley Aisy” and “Maanas” - both selected in various film festivals in 2008 and 2011 respectively, are the examples for the same. And another thing that I can quote as my style is music plays a significant role in my storytelling. I find it easy to convey the emotions of any particular moment with lyrics and composition. And Music certainly adds heavy emotions to the scene. So songs are bound to be strong if it's a Dave Jigar film. 
*Tell us any strange or funny stories while making the film? Of course there are lots of funny stories especially when you are on guerrilla filmmaking with skeleton crew and limited budget & Timeline. One such incident is when we were shooting a song in Vijaynagar which is a hilly area. And we were shooting with two cameras. I was on one and my assistant was on another camera and we were taking the shot from two different hills. We didn't have Megaphone there. And Even Mobile phones didn't have network coverage. So to communicate I had no other option but to use my strong voice. Yes, I mean I was literally shouting on every take loud enough to be heard on another hill. We decided some body signs to communicate that evening but My vocal chords took 4 days to recover from that. Also it compromises the footages you wish to take but then you don't have option with timeline and budget so you have to rely on editing for damage control.
*The Misrule Film Movement & Pink8 manifesto bring what to mind? Filmmaking, at the end, is an art. and art can never be bound by any laws or rules. Well, still the basic rule is how psychology works and on that how we are going to convey what we wish to by applying or breaking them. So on that note, having a bunch of rules against the traditional rules are at the end rules. For me, Art is above these measures.
*What can we expect from your next film? I'm working on "Morgue" right now. It is a Film inspired from a real incident and again the very base concept is winning the battles within but this time it will be more intriguing as storytelling part is different from Matsar, having more layers of suspense not only of characters but also of story itself. So thrill is what one can expect as extra perk along with lots of drama, laughter, wet eyes and a story revealing itself with great music and songs.