Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  The ballet boys of Mumbai
BackBack

The ballet boys of Mumbai

Sooni Taraporevala's first virtual reality film captures the journey of two boys from Mumbai's chawls to a ballet school in the US

A poster of the film ‘Yeh Ballet’.Premium
A poster of the film ‘Yeh Ballet’.

We first see Manish Chauhan, 21, and Amiruddin Shah, 15, the protagonists of a new film Yeh Ballet, in a half-empty Mumbai local train, pirouetting with the support of overhead handles. The boys, from lower-middle-class homes in Ulwe and Sanpada in Navi Mumbai, respectively, have got full scholarships to study dance for a year at The School of Oregon Ballet Theatre in the US and they can’t contain their excitement. If you turn around—and you can because this film is in virtual-reality format—you see the director, Sooni Taraporevala, in black clothes and shades. Over six months in 2016, Taraporevala documented the everyday lives of Chauhan and Shah, before they boarded the flight to the US.

The 14-minute film is produced by Memesys Culture Lab, a film and new media studio led by film-maker Anand Gandhi. It has been made available for viewing from 7 June on ElseVR, Memesys’ online magazine specializing in VR documentaries and videos. The film will have its world premiere at the ongoing Sheffield Doc/Fest.

In an interview, Taraporevala, a photographer and Padma Shri awardee who has worked as the screenwriter for films such as Salaam Bombay and The Namesake, spoke about the making of her first VR film. Edited excerpts:

How did you come to make ‘Yeh Ballet’?

My son Jahan was doing a VR film for Memesys. They approached me to direct a film in VR. They had a list of subjects and I chose this one. I had done ballet as a kid in Bombay (now Mumbai), so I had personal interest in the subject. That’s how I met the boys Amiruddin Shah and Manish Chauhan. They had only been learning ballet for two-and-a-half years and they came from a place where they didn’t even know what ballet was. They had never heard Western classical music. But they have an innate talent. They are prodigies. I was fascinated by their story.

Taraporevala (centre) with the film’s protagonists, Amiruddin Shah (left) and Manish Chauhan.
View Full Image
Taraporevala (centre) with the film’s protagonists, Amiruddin Shah (left) and Manish Chauhan.

The story is also about movement—whether it is dancing or leaving one place for another. Did that make it more suited for VR, which allows the viewer to move?

Absolutely. The film is a mixture of three parts. One is the talking-heads interviews with the boys, and their Israeli-American ballet teacher Yehuda Maor talking about how he discovered them. Second, where the boys move through the city of Mumbai, and the third part is about them dancing. Visually, the last two were much more interesting. I wanted to make the viewer feel that they are on the streets, turn around and see who is coming behind, or be in the middle of the dance hall and have them (the boys) perform around the VR rig.

Shooting in VR involves multiple cameras. What was it like filming in smaller spaces or in situations when you wanted to take a fly-on-the-wall approach?

My cinematographer for the film, Rohan Raut, is a technical wizard. He found ingenious ways for us to shoot handheld and in moving cars. In VR, you can’t hide behind the camera. When Amir meets his family in their small apartment, for instance, we left the VR rig in the middle of the room and told them to talk among themselves. We saw the footage later. In another scene, when Manish goes to meet his father, who is a taxi driver, at the taxi stand, we did the same and let them be.

Was the editing process different from any other feature film?

Yes. In a regular film you have rectangular frames which you cut in a very straight line. In VR, the frames are almost circular. We had to figure out the rhythm of the medium and cut accordingly. I had a wonderful editor, Abhinav Tyagi, who brought great ideas to it.

What was it like directing in VR?

I often wished I had a normal camera. Shooting with a VR rig, is like filming with one hand tied behind your back. Here, there is difficulty in moving the camera because the action can’t get closer than 3-4ft around the subject. But the beauty of VR is when you put that headset on, it is worth it. I would love to do it again.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 09 Jun 2017, 10:23 AM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App