BENGALURU:“One eye on watch and another on road — this is how most people commute via Silk Board. Bottled up anger, frustration, irritation comes as a bonus. When we went there with our cameras to shoot the short film, that too in between vehicles, we thought we would be beaten up,” laughs Rakesh Maiya, lead actor in Silk Board.
The 12-minute short film has managed to get over one lakh hits within just three days of its release. The viral video is a love story of a boy and girl who meet, greet and get married, have a baby at the Silk Board stretch. The satirical video has not only made many laugh, but also gives a serious thought to the situation at the junction. The idea, according to the director, was conceived in December. The team behind the viral film shares their behind-the-scene stories with us.
Director of the short film, Santhosh Gopal, says, “We were a team of six members, including two actors. We had two cameras with us. Every time the signal turned red, we would wade through vehicles, make some space to place our cameras and start shooting. The signal here stops for 120 seconds – that is just three minutes.”
“At times, the signal would turn green and vehicles would start moving in between a particular shot. We had to make way for vehicles and re-shoot the entire scene again,” he recalls. The 12-minute long video was shot for almost a week throughout the day. The actors’ portions, however, were shot for three days. The short film also has a few long shots and the makers’ challenge was to find a spot to place to camera to get the particular angles. “We weren’t ready to compromise at any point.
The result is seen in the film,” he adds. “This is one of the most difficult shoots I have done, but also one I’ve enjoyed the most,” he adds.Rakesh says, “There is a dance sequence in the video. For that, the actress and I used to practice by the side of the road. Many commuters, who saw us thought we were doing a pre-wedding photo shoot. Many took videos of us practicing on their phones.”
“I was very nervous on the last day of the shoot. I was shivering because I thought the people, who were already irritated with the traffic, wouldn’t tolerate us, that too for three days straight. Luckily, nothing of that sort happened,” he laughs.Rakesh Maiya and Suvin Annie Valson play the lead roles. The film starts off at the first signal and progresses at every junction.