Meet the director of Naya Pata, first crowd funded film from Bihar

Meet the director of Naya Pata, first crowd funded film from Bihar

 

Pawan Kumar Srivastava, Director of Bihars’ first independent crowd funded film, Naya Pata, was born at Marhowrah (Chhapra) which used to be a major Industrial town of Bihar. After the completion of High school he went to Allahabad for Further Education , and then moved to Delhi and completed his Graduation in Computer science . He has worked in various sectors like Telecom, Banking and Financial market in Delhi and Mumbai. In Mumbai and Delhi he was a regular visitor of Prithvi theatre and NSD. Finally he realised that he is in a wrong place, and left the job, and came to Bihar, to contribute his part in 2008. Here in Bihar, he made documentaries and directed many plays on Social issues.

 

 

B.D- Why you left a good career and decided to make a film ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava- Because i have some stories, some characters, some visuals, some dialogues in my mind .. and i knew that no one else can tell those. Only i can tell my stories, my dialogues, show my characters through my visuals.

 

B.D- Considering Bihar does not have film environment as such did that dither you ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – No. Agreed that in terms of money and film making Bihar does not have a vibrant environment , but Bihari’s have always been fond of cinema. They are true Cinema lovers, they live the cinema, and as a film maker this mattered more to me.

 

 

B.D- You are making this film through crowd funding, can you tell us when did this idea originate ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava -The idea of this story was in my mind from the very beginning, in fact you can say from my childhood, fortunately i have been brought up in that environment from where this story belongs. But as a Script i started working on it since last one and a half year. When i was writing the script, at the same time i was thinking about the funds, but fortunately i had some film makers and films who were inspirations for me. Most importantly, i never worried , if they can do, why i can not ?

 

B.D- Still it’s brave task as the filmmakers who have made films via crowd funding are well known ones that was not their first movie, but making the first movie on crowd funding, how much support you got ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – I was so much involved in my script that my character started pushing me, i was passionate and eager to watch my characters on the screen. When i spoke to my film making friends, they welcomed my idea , and lend their support. Soon, i had a experienced and skilled Crew. When i approached the people who had faith in me and my dream for the financial support ,they also supported well. 

 

But yes there were many hurdles at every next step , but fortunately I crossed all the hurdles due to passion and support from my team mates.

 

B.D- What is the film about ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – Naya Pata is based on the issue of migration and its pain since last three decades in Bihar. Its a story of the Identity lost and found. Its based on the back drop of the closure of Sugar Industry in Bihar during 1985-1990. It also talks about the modern and contemporary Bihar.

 

B.D- Don’t you think there is a section of economists who feel migration is good for economy of Bihar as it brings in so much money to the state ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – We can not take everything on monetary terms, because in migration there is a human life involved, and a migrant’s life is torn between the two places or two worlds, he does not get peace and permanent happiness,and moreover there is loss of identity and sense of belongingness

 

B.D- So is your film about the loss of identity and sense of belongingness because of migration ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – Exactly .. the whole story is about the same, we also talk about the way his own place and people take a migrant when he returns to his native.

 

B.D- Okay what about the casting, crew and equipments how did you convince them to act or work or rent their equipments for free ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – Casting was a big challenge, no body wants to work for free and its very much justified also. But i clearly told my position to them, and narrated the script and my motive, and then they were motivated, and finally we were on the same page. Abhishek Sharma, a Senior theatre actor from Patna, whom i have narrated the story a long before, had shown the great interest in the story and the character, he came forward and lend his support too.

 

Mrrinal dev, the Chief AD of my film was a good friend of mine, we were discussing the entire process from very beginning, and he was with me at every moment.We together arranged the crew, they were equally passionate, all were young and from different parts of the country, in total we were having crew from seven states, and all were here in Bihar for more than a month. Hats off to them. I equally share the credit of this film with my entire crew. Saket Saurabh who is the DOP of my film, is a pass out from LV Prasad institute, Chennai, when we approached him and briefed the story, as he also belongs to Bihar. He readily agreed to support the film.

 

B.D- Did you pay for equipments or you managed to get them free ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – We hired some equipments, like Lights, generator , lenses. We have used two cameras, one was free and one was paid but very nominal. We hired lenses from Mumbai, and during the whole shoot i was really scared about the lenses as these are very costly approx more than 15 lacs. I was always scared of the fact that if these equipments get damaged, it will be over and i will be finished, me and Saket were very careful, even with the lights, we were supposed to pay for every fuse, and despite all precautions three lights were fused and we had to pay.

 

B.D- Brave decision indeed, where did you shoot in Bihar ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – We shot in interiors of Rohtas, there is village called, Kaniyari under block Dinara. I would like to mention the name of Ravi ranjan tiwari aka Rahul who is the production head of the film , managed the location as he belongs to same place. He came all the way from Pune, arranged the rice and flour for free of cost from his house, it was great relief. We also shot in Chhapra. Shooting at Chhapra junction was a challenge but we managed. We also went to Marhowrah, where the first Sugar mill of Bihar was established but unfortunately it is closed now, i have fictionalised my story in a village called Tejpurva which is near to Marhowrah. We have shot in Marhowrah as well as Tejpurva.

 

B.D- How much of your film is complete ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – 80 % of the shoot is complete , and remaining is to be shot in Delhi. Which we are planing to finish it as soon as possible. I am arranging the funds for the same.

 

B.D- What is the total budget of film ? And how much have you received so far via crowd funding ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – The total expected Budget of the film is Seven lacs, including the Post Production. Till now we have arranged Five lacs through Crowd Funding.

 

B.D- What about the release how are you planning to go about that ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – As of now i have planned to go for Film festivals at National and International levels, we will try to reach the maximum number of Film Festivals. Depending upon the response we will plan the release. Although in India film making has become easier but exhibition is still a big challenge. So as of now we are looking for the audience at Film festivals and Private Screenings.

 

 

B.D- Thanks a lot Pawan, and all the best for film. Is there anything you would like to say to our readers ?

 

Pawan K Srivastava – As we are still struggling for the Funds ,I would ask for some contribution from the Cinema Lovers, Please Support this first Bihar based Independent film which is being produced through Crowd Funding. You can contact me at pawan.taurus@gmail.com or 09572387203 and http://www.facebook.com/NayaPata on Facebook.