kushalfinalyear

[kushalfinalyear]

PRE-PRODUCTION UK

We were back now, it was time to make the production of UK come to life. Gonna shorten the pre-production process.

after coming back we just had 10 days to prep everything. Actors, location, extras, and some props.

We did buy a lot of clothing from india which wokred in our favour.

The only major thing we struggled was in Location as we had to finalize a wool shop which was amzing. However, we had to change everything in it. the whole shop needed redecoration. Ofcourse we did that but it was super diffcult.

We updated the shot list regarding the new location

After casting, we met the actors. Old gopal came all the way from birmingham, and Vedika, was played by someone in Edinburgh, who did not have any major acting expirence.

I think we struggled to get everything in order in less than 10 days coming back from India, feeling exhasted. But we did pull off in the end!

[kushalfinalyear]

India Day 5

The last day of the shoot had arrived, and with it came the most crucial scene—the one that truly drives the entire narrative of the film. It was a significant challenge for everyone involved: the production design team, the actors, and us as a crew, all working under high expectations.

The first half of the day was dedicated to setting up the production design. It was a large and detailed setup, made even more demanding by our relatively small team and the remote location we were shooting in. Alongside this, we still had a few remaining tableaux to capture. These weren’t overly complex but did involve multiple costume changes, which required coordination and time.

Directing these shots was both fun and surreal. Some of the imagery we were creating felt strange to direct in the moment but proved deeply impactful on screen. In one particularly intense shot, I had to ask the actress to put coins in her mouth—a bizarre request during filming, but incredibly powerful now that I’ve seen it in the edit. She handled it brilliantly, despite how challenging it must have been.

Following these setups, it was time to shoot the funeral scene—ironically and unintentionally, the final scene we filmed in India. This scene carried immense emotional and narrative weight, so I was especially particular about every detail. The production design was one of the most challenging tasks of the entire shoot. We used nearly 100 kilograms of wood, stones, dried cow dung, and various props to recreate an authentic funeral setting. It was a demanding build, but the whole team came together to make it happen.

As setup took longer than expected, we found ourselves racing against the setting sun. Once everything was ready, it was time to direct the child actor. This was, without doubt, one of the most difficult moments for me as a director. I didn’t want to push him to cry, but instead to convey a deep, silent intensity. I took time to explain the significance of the scene—its historical and emotional context. We kept the entire set silent to help him stay grounded, and ensured his father was present nearby for emotional support. In the end, he delivered a performance that exceeded all expectations.

Our lead actress, too, was incredible. Preparing for a funeral scene is emotionally taxing, but she approached it with such commitment and grace. When I asked if she would be comfortable having cow dung applied to her costume for authenticity, she simply responded, “If that’s what’s needed, let’s do it.” Her willingness and professionalism were moving.

The whole scene was shot during sunset where the lighting looks super pretty and I just think the whole scene which was on my mind for so very long was finally out on the camera and I coul not be happy. After we got the shots! We now had to shout.....

AND THATS A WRAP!!!

Everyone jumped with so much emotions. hugs all over the set. Some tears! And Oh my God was a production it was!!!!!

[kushalfinalyear]

INDIA DAY 4

Day 4 was by far the most demanding day of the shoot. It fell on January 26th—Republic Day in India, a national holiday—which meant public spaces were unusually crowded and hectic. Unfortunately, due to actor and crew availability, it was the only feasible day we had to shoot these particular scenes.

The location was the furthest we had travelled so far—almost two and a half hours away. While we didn’t have many dialogue-heavy scenes to shoot, this day required the most in terms of costume and makeup. We hired professional makeup artists and brought them all the way to Mahabaleshwar, as the scenes involved elaborate looks, especially for the Krishna-Yashoda reenactment and other tableau-style shots like the deity sequence.

The focus was mainly on capturing dynamic running shots and stylised tableaux. Despite the logistical challenges and the long hours, the effort truly paid off—visually, these were some of the most striking images we captured during the entire shoot.

The day before the shoot, I made sure all costumes, jewellery, and makeup were prepared, as this day relied heavily on those elements. While there wasn’t much required in terms of production design, the logistics of travelling such a long distance with the entire crew were quite stressful.

We managed to get the shots we needed, but time was tight—especially knowing we still had a two-hour journey back. As the rest of the cast and crew headed home, Max, Lewis, and I took a different route to capture some final landscape shots and one last tableau to close the day. By the time we returned, it was nearly 9 p.m., and everyone was completely exhausted.

Despite the chaos and tight schedule, the team handled everything incredibly well. It was a hectic day, but the results made all the effort worthwhile.

Some of the shots we got that day!

[kushalfinalyear]

INDIA DAY 3

Day three was a lot of fun, though the production design posed a few challenges. This was the day we shot our main outdoor dialogue scene, and we really wanted to make the setting look as authentic as possible to the time period. Shivani, our amazing production designer, brought in a carpenter, and together they started building structures using bamboo sticks—something that was very common back in the day. We also sourced hay, lanterns, and clay pots to help create a believable atmosphere.

We had three scenes to cover: the outdoor dialogue scene, the child’s reaction to the mother’s death, and a few running shots. We started with the dialogue scene, which turned out to be quite tricky to frame. The master shot initially felt empty and lacked visual depth. To fix this, we improvised a fake foreground using nearby wood and leaves. That quick fix made a huge difference, adding texture and visual interest to the frame and making the scene feel more grounded and cinematic.

This scene carried a lot of important dialogue and exposition, so I was deeply involved with the actors to ensure the emotional tone and delivery were just right. Despite the challenges, everything came together beautifully, and I’m proud of how the scene turned out.

The next scene we filmed was Young Gopal’s reaction to discovering his mother’s death. This was an especially challenging moment to capture, as our child actor, Sneh, had nothing physically present to react to—it all had to come from within. That made it even more important for me to work closely with him to help guide the emotion and intention behind the performance.

Getting a child to shift from innocent, playful behaviour to portraying something as horrific as the loss of a parent is incredibly difficult. But it was important to me that this moment symbolised a turning point in Gopal’s life—a loss of innocence. We took our time, and I did everything I could to create a safe and focused space for Sneh to access those emotions. In the end, he delivered a powerful performance that truly carried the weight of the scene.

After such a difficult scene, it was now time to do something fun. Now was the time to run!!!! This was the shot after Young Gopal sees his mother dead, he runs away from his reality, and keeps running. In this, he had to run through different fields with a horrific feeling. This was quite fun but emotionally challenging. However, Sneh was absoultly amazing, and gave his all. The day went really well without any major issue.

[kushalfinalyear]

India Day 2

Day 1 was amazing and easy—but then came Day 2. This was our full interior shoot day. It turned out to be a lot of fun, but also quite stressful. It was the first day with a large crew on set, which added to the energy but also the pressure.

Thankfully, our incredible production designer, Shivani, had begun setting up the day before. Her setup was quite ambitious—it involved building an entire room from scratch. Understandably, she needed a bit more time that morning to finish everything, but it was absolutely worth it. The final result looked fantastic, and she truly did a phenomenal job.

Another big challenge for this day was the lighting. We had hired lights from Prime and Zooms, who were kind enough to offer us a discount. However, the real issue turned out to be power. We were shooting in a small village in India, where electricity is extremely unreliable. To solve this, I arranged for a generator—an absolute lifesaver. It allowed us to run lights all day without worrying about power cuts, which made a huge difference to our workflow and morale.

We spent the entire day shooting in that room, and everyone was doing such a great job. However, midway through the shoot, I realised that although the scene was emotionally powerful, it was running much longer than we had anticipated due to the pacing. After discussing it with the actors, I decided to trim a few lines of dialogue to help the scene flow more smoothly. I genuinely think this was the right call—otherwise, we would’ve struggled with it in the edit.

Another major challenge was lighting the space. It was such a small room, and we really had to get creative to make the setup work. It was definitely a struggle at times, but in the end, the lighting looked incredible and really elevated the atmosphere of the scene.

During the shoot, I mostly stayed with the actors while Max handled the camera, especially since the cast wasn’t very fluent in English. As I mentioned before, this was my first time working with a child actor, which came with its own set of challenges. Thankfully, our actress playing the mother was incredibly helpful in making the child feel comfortable on set. Their bond translated beautifully on screen and made my job so much easier.

The actress, in particular, was an absolute joy to direct. She was patient, attentive, and responded incredibly well to notes. I can honestly say she’s one of the best performers I’ve ever had the chance to work with.

After the dialogue scene came the most intense and challenging moment of the entire film—the “death of the mother” shot. This sequence required a complete transformation of the production design. We shattered pots, broke clay objects, and reworked the entire space to make it look like there had been a violent break-in. It was a dramatic shift, and Shivani and the art team did an incredible job bringing that vision to life.

For the role of the British officer, we had our gaffer, Lewis, step in, as we needed someone white to play the part. He did a great job. Blocking this scene was particularly difficult—we didn’t want to show any explicit violence, but instead convey a moment of deep despair. It took time to find the right visual language, but in the end, we pulled it off.

Sourcing the officer’s costume was another unexpected challenge. British military uniforms aren’t exactly easy to rent, and I had to go through quite a bit of paperwork to get it sorted. But once we had it, it looked fantastic on screen and really added to the authenticity of the scene.

The whole day was focused on performance and dialogue delivery, as this scene was heavy with emotional and spoken content. We spent hours fine-tuning the pacing and tone, working indoors to keep everything controlled and focused. It was such a demanding day, but by the end, we were all thrilled with the result. Everyone put in their best, and it truly paid off.

[kushalfinalyear]

INDIA DAY 1

Day 1 had finally arrived! After weeks of meticulous planning, it was time to begin shooting. Since the main actors weren’t available on the first day, we decided to focus on some experimental shots and dance sequences. Fortunately, one of my friends, a professional in traditional Indian dance, agreed to step in for the dance shots.

After finishing the shots at my house, we headed to our first location to shoot the dance sequence. The heat was intense, but the results made it all worth it. Honestly, planning the travel logistics for this shoot was the most challenging part for me. We had to hire cars, and even then, once we arrived at the base, we still had to walk another 15 minutes to reach the actual location. But once we got there, the effort paid off.

I directed the dance sequence, giving her an idea of the kind of shots we were after. She was absolutely amazing—she picked up on everything so quickly, and we got exactly what we needed without much hassle. It felt like everything was falling into place.

After we wrapped up the dance shots, we took a few scenic shots of the landscape and the grasses surrounding the area, then called it a day. All in all, it was a relatively easy day compared to the others.

Meanwhile, Shivani, our talented production designer, had headed to the interior location to start preparing for the next day. She had a huge task ahead of her, as we needed to build the bedroom set from scratch. She did an incredible job! But managing the transport of all the props proved to be trickier than I’d anticipated. We managed to hire a moving van, but the locations we chose weren’t the most accessible by road, which added an extra layer of difficulty. Still, everyone was so dedicated to making this film come to life. Everyone pitched in, and despite the challenges, we pushed through with enthusiasm and teamwork

[kushalfinalyear]

INDIA PRODUCTION DESING PLANS

We were incredibly lucky to have Shivani as our production designer for this project. She did a phenomenal job bringing 1945 India to life. Given our tight budget and limited locations, she still went all in—her dedication and creativity really elevated the film. Every single day, she’d send us different prop options, carefully curated to match the era. She designed each space down to the smallest detail, and without her, we wouldn’t have come close to achieving the atmosphere and authenticity we envisioned.

We had regular meetings with her, discussing the colour palette, the tone, and the emotional feel of each space. One of the most thoughtful touches she added was using only cooler tones for Kavya’s wardrobe leading up to her death—a subtle, beautiful visual cue that added emotional depth to the film.

The two biggest challenges in production design were the Antyeshti scene and Young Gopal’s home. For Gopal’s house, we had to build the entire set from scratch—every single piece of furniture had to be brought in, even the bed. It was a massive task, but Shivani pulled it off brilliantly. She transformed an empty space into a lived-in, believable home that felt like it belonged in 1945.

The Antyeshti scene, on the other hand, was logistically intense. We had to carry nearly 120 kg of wood to a riverside location and prep the entire setup ourselves. It was physically exhausting but absolutely worth it in the end—the scene turned out beautifully, both visually and emotionally.

Sharing some behind-the-scenes photos of our location recces and Shivani setting up the spaces, because honestly, her work deserves to be seen and celebrated.

[kushalfinalyear]

THE BIG LOCATION RECCE

Now that we finally had the camera, we all split into two cars and set off for a big location recce—everyone from the crew joined except our production designer. We had already locked down our major locations, but there were still several smaller ones left to finalise. Up until this point, our focus had mainly been on the big set pieces, so this was our chance to travel further out and lock in the rest.

The toughest location to find was definitely the Antyeshti scene. We needed a spot that was very secluded, as it’s a religious ceremony, and the last thing we wanted was to hurt anyone’s sentiments. We ended up doing two full-day location recces just for this scene alone, looking for a place that felt respectful and fitting for the moment.

It was a stressful two days—driving long hours, constantly scouting, debating, and adjusting plans—but in the end, it was all totally worth it.

[kushalfinalyear]

CASTING & ACTOR MEET UP

Before we left for India, our secondary crew based there had already put out casting calls and shortlisted a group of actors they felt would be a good fit. After reviewing their suggestions and narrowing down a few favourites, we asked them to send in casting tapes. Out of all the submissions we received, we eventually cast two key characters: Sneh as Young Gopal, and Shuklima as Kavya. I genuinely think this was a great casting decision—both of them looked remarkably similar, which really worked in our favour for the film.

The only drawback was that Shuklima lived in Mumbai, not Pune, which meant we couldn’t rehearse with her in person. Instead, we had multiple video calls to give her a sense of the film’s tone and style. On the other hand, Sneh lived in Pune, so we arranged an in-person meeting with him and his father. This was my first time working with a child actor, which felt like a huge challenge. But the even bigger challenge was trying to explain the film’s style—especially the use of tableaux and elements of experimental cinema—to him. Still, even though it was tough, I loved how enthusiastic and curious he was about the project.

Honestly, the more difficult part was dealing with his father, who wasn’t the easiest person to work with and didn’t come across as very kind. Regardless, I really enjoyed seeing Sneh and Shuklima bond on set, and I’m so glad we got the chance to work with them.

[kushalfinalyear]

Anthyesthi Prop buying in India

Once Abbie, Max, and Sanajan arrived, the first thing we did was head out for lunch. Since they had just endured a long journey, we kept their first day light—a much-needed rest day to recover from all the travel.

The next day, we jumped straight into work with a full crew meeting, going over our to-do list and assigning tasks. With an Indian production designer now on board, she immediately started working on the set design for our Indian scenes. Meanwhile, we had a major shopping mission ahead of us for the UK shoot.

One of our biggest tasks was sourcing clothing and props for the tailor shop scenes in the UK. This meant hopping from one market to another, hunting for the right fabrics and materials. The budget we had set aside for UK expenses stretched much further in India, allowing us to buy an impressive 50 to 60 clothing pieces from various shops around Pune. It was exhausting but incredibly fun—one of those chaotic yet rewarding experiences that made the whole process even more exciting.

[kushalfinalyear]

Anthyesthi - The begining

The first semester of our final year had ended, but Antyeshti still had a long way to go before production. It was the first film scheduled to go on the floor, and by December 31st, we had locked the script—though a few minor tweaks were still to come. Now, it was time to prepare for our journey to India!

With our equipment carefully packed, I was the first to fly out, giving me a head start on pre-production before the rest of the team arrived. As soon as I reached home in Pune, I set up a meeting with our secondary crew to begin delegating tasks. Our cast was yet to be finalized, and while our primary location was almost confirmed, we still needed official approval from the local council.

The day after my arrival, I headed straight to the villages to finalize our interior location—the biggest one still pending confirmation. Meeting the locals was an incredible experience; they were warm, welcoming, and eager to help. Since I had only seen these locations in photos before, standing there in person and visualizing our shots made everything feel real.

Beyond location scouting, I started arranging transportation—cars, vans, and all the logistics needed for a shoot that involved extensive travel and heavy props. This was crucial, as our locations were quite far apart, and seamless transport was key to keeping everything on schedule. I also began securing additional crew members, including dancers, makeup artists, and a costume assistant.

Now, with everything falling into place, the rest of our UK-based crew would be landing soon. I couldn’t wait to show them around, introduce them to the locations, and dive into the next exciting phase—buying props for our UK shoot!

[kushalfinalyear]

Moodboards

[kushalfinalyear]

ANTYESHTI CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION

It was time for our final pitch and we felt so confident and ready as our test shoot had gone well and we were at a good place for the film. It was now time to start planning for fundraising and social media presence. Long story short, our presentation went amazing. We are still to get feedback but on the day of our presentation, all was good. Our script had no glaring issues, of course, that does not mean it is perfect, but it is in a good place. The tutors did not have any major issues with the test shoot. Zoe gave us important feedback, she questioned the pacing of the film. Our idea behind the pacing was to show each frame long enough to have an impact, especially the abstract images. However, Zoe felt that abstract things should be quicker and faster. We will have a think about this and speak to her and other tutors to discuss this. Other than that, a very important question came up during this project, which was found footage. We all have to question the morality of the images we use, as mentioned before we do not want the film to be explicit but impactful.

Moving forward I think we all are excited to bring this project justice and make this film authentically. I have been having an amazing time working with this team and I cannot wait to see how this film will turn out.

[kushalfinalyear]

ANTYESHTI CHAPTER 7: INDIA!!!!

We have officially booked our flights to India!! Lets goooo!! I will be flying on the 10th of January, Max, Abbie and Sanjana will be flying on the 14th and Lewis on the 20th! We all get back around the 30th. Exciting stuff!!!

[kushalfinalyear]

ANTYESHTI CHAPTER 6: TEST SHOOT

Everything was going well, and now was the time to do a test shoot. This was a perfect opportunity to try our abstract imagery. For the past month, we have talking about how we would shoot the abstract imagery, however, now was the time to try this. First, we decided what part of the script we would shoot. We decided to shoot the interaction between Gopal and his daughter to explore how we wanted to portray their relationship. Further, we had to update the script to add the abstract imagery. I and Max had been researching this for a while hence, we decided on a couple of reference photos and added them to the script. Our preparation was going well until we hit a block. We were going to film in Craiglockhart 153 room and had asked the university however, the uni did not reply on time, and we got to know it was booked. We were kind of stressed because now we had no location. I think Abbie did a wonderful job. She emailed almost 30-35 tailor shops to ask them for their location and one of them was happy for us to use it. It was such a lifesaver. The next problem was the production Designer. We were a week away from our test shoot and still had not confirmed a Production designer. However, suddenly we got an interest from someone we had never met called Maya. We were slightly skeptical as we managed to confirm her just two days before and we were not sure how much she would be able to commit to the project as it was not an easy one. However, she did not just do her part but she did it so well!! We all were so impressed with her work. We have managed to get her onboard on our final film as well.

On the test shoot, I was helping with the production design and of selecting clothes with her, so the clothes which were Indian could be in the front and the shop looked Indian. For actors, we got the role of Vedika quite easily and there was a lot of interest for that role, however, the role of Gopal was difficult to find as there was no one in that age group. However, I was on the shoot on the back burner and their I met Skindar. He was an Indian 2nd generation. Not exactly the age group but he was keen on working on the project and was also a great actor. So now all the team was sorted, and everything was set to go. We arrived on location at 5 pm with equipment. We spent a great deal of time making this Scottish tailor shop into an Indian one. After this when the camera team was setting up the light and camera which I and Max had given the information for, we both then spent time with the actors in making their costumes and blocking better. I think the rest of the day was really smooth, and I and Max worked well together. I ended up acting on the screen as well, which was very fun. NEED MY OSCAR SOON!!

In all honesty, the pre-production was super stressful, however, on set we were very calm and the whole test shoot team was amazing. We shall invite them back for the main shoot.

After the day ended it was now time to shoot the experimental bits. Unfortunately, a lot of people were not available for this, hence we shot all those experimental shots just the two of us.  On the first day, we shot the eyeshot; where a white eye looks down on a brown eye with a design we had made, the second shot was of a dead body, from which a tree grew out, after which we went to the temple in Leith to get the deity shot. It was tiring; however, all those shots were so worth it. We unfortunately could not get one of the shots we wanted but hey, the other shots looked good.

The editing, sound design, and grade were all challenging. In the edit I think all went fine, except we as a group were slightly confused about the morality of found footage we were going to use. This was a good conversation as we would like a film to be impactful but not explicit. I know Sanjana did an amazing job with the sound design however, she did struggle with the riot sound which was a good teaching to us and now we know how much on-set recording we would need.

Any way this shoot was so bloody fun!!!

[kushalfinalyear]

ANTYESHTI CHAPTER 5: Research and script feedback

As mentioned, I and Max had come up with the idea, however, the inclusion of Indian mythology was something that I would take a lead on for obvious reasons. I went onto researching on stories and oral culture in India. Fortunately, my topic for my dissertation was also Indian mythology, hence, I used a lot of inspiration from my research in my dissertation and the script. Oliwia has done a phenomenal job in her research as well, therefore, the conversation about the script and Indian mythology stories went on much smoother. First off, after coming up with the stories, my job was to get mythological aspects in it. Now, when it came to incorporating mythology, Krishna was an obvious choice. My family has worshipped Krishna for as long as I can remember, and my grandmother especially has always been devoted to him. Their versatility made him the perfect figure to build our story around. The stories we chose—both the ones I grew up with and the ones we researched—aren’t just there for show. They act as metaphors, symbols, and even subtle critiques. Indian mythology is incredibly rich with themes of resilience, identity, and the constant battle between good and evil, which ties in beautifully with the core ideas in our film. Also, the choice of Krishna was perfect since his stories have a strong relationship with his mother Yashoda and our protagonist also has an important relationship with his mother. Further, we took inspiration from mythological stories and artwork, such as the Draupadi painting where she is sexually attacked by goons and Krishna's blessing saves her.

This symbolic trait of violence in our film works as an amazing symbolism. Now coming back to the narrative of the film. I and Oliwia went in further research of character development. I had to be part of this process since all our characters are Indian and get the traits of each character that it is authentic to an Indian background. This was a super fun process. Our narrative that is set in the UK changed quite a bit, at first, we were going to kill off our protagonist, however, after meeting with our tutor Paul, we agreed that if we go that route the audience would have no one to empathize with. I was reluctant at first but the more I thought about it, I agreed to that feedback. After several changes, we finally arrived at the fact that in the present we will just have the tailor shop which works as a shelter during the riots for all South Asian communities. I loved this addition because from the very start, I did not want this just to be an Indian story, we show it through an Indian perspective, but I always wanted this to resonate with the South Asian communities who were under attack this summer. For further research I and Oliwia met a Hindu professor in India to discuss potential stories we could use in mythology and just get script feedback. We got a lot of ideas from that meeting. I think the script is at an amazing place and with a few more drafts the script will be amazing.

For inspiration: A huge amount of research into Indian cinema, photography, and art has been integral in forming the groundwork of reference for Antyeshti’s visual style, supported by early 20th-century surrealist cinema and mid-century art films. Some of the inspirations on the development of our experimental imagery include paintings by Amrita Sher-Gil, Raghu Rai’s portrait photography and Meshes of the Afternoon (Deren, 1943). As for aesthetic references, our photographic look is informed by ‘Where Is My Friend’s House?’ (Kiarostami, 1987), ‘Duvidha’ (Kaul, 1973), ‘Eyimofe’ (Esiri Twins, 2021), ‘Phantom Thread’ (Anderson, 2017) and the work of Satyajit Ray.