Too much thinking.

It's 5:00 A.M. and i just completed my first screenplay on my own. I have no idea how i went through with it. Most of you who know me, know me for being extremely lazy and it takes a lot to get me up and get moving. I wrote an entire screenplay! By myself. With a pen and 6 pages, i wrote it. I can't seem to describe how proud i feel. It's so overwhelming. After 4 hours of non-stop writing, I'm sitting here in my empty house, staring at those pages. That screenplay i just created, is going to be a movie someday. Maybe not soon but one day, many people will watch it and it'll have my name on it.

Now, I'm sure all of you know, i can't tell you something i did and just end it there. No. I need to tell you what goes on in my brain. And it's not going to be different this time, there are so many things running in my head right now. I somehow always start reminiscing when i achieve something or do something that i couldn't do a year ago.

A year ago, i never imagined that i would ever be able to write a screenplay. And excuse me, it's not just some stupid scribbling. It's a proper screenplay. If a director picked it up, he would know exactly how to shoot each scene. The amount of detailing and thinking that has gone into the screenplay is brilliant. I'm amused myself that i could even write something like this.

But one thing is for sure, i would have never gotten into learning films formally if it wasn't for a few people. Everyone has idols and influences in their life. I met or heard of mine quite recently. I'll start with the major influences and end with the most important people who have taught and introduced me to the world of cinema and the art of film-making.

My biggest influences

Francis Ford Coppola- Ever since this guy made The Godfather. He has been my ultimate source of learning. Those shots of Al Pacino sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, just blew my mind. Adapting a book on screen is the most difficult thing to do. No matter how good your film is, the book is always better. For obvious reasons. But, Coppola nailed the movie so hard, it created this wave for the author and actors associated with the film. Coppola, You the man.

Akira Kurosawa- Coppola's good friend and Japanese filmmaker, Kurosawa is another fav of mine. This guy knows how to mindfuck people. I can't say much about him because i'm still exploring his films. Just watched Rashomon for the 29th time and it still mindfucks me. Only Kurosawa can do that.

Stanley Kubrik- Most 20 year olds( it still hasn't hit me) might have wallpapers of chicks with big boobs or cars or bikes or even their favorite bands but my wallpapers are filled with Clockwork Orange posters and artwork. I can't seem to get enough of them. An another mind-blowing director, another awesome visionary. He's kinda perverted though.

Tim Burton- What can i say about this guy? From his first short film to his last feature length, I've always wanted to make a movie like Tim Burton. The darkness, the eerie themes, the wicked characters, the rhymes. It all comes together so beautifully. Twisted fucker he is. Alice In Wonderland made me feel very sad. Bloody Disney!

Quentin Tarantino- Another twisted fucker. This guy is mentally unstable, how do you explain him writing stories like Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. He's like the mad scientist of cinema. Can you believe i hadn't watched Pulp Fiction until 2008 ? What was i doing? AGRH!

Anurag Kashyap- Closer home, this guy proved that the Hindi film industry isn't all about stupid lame love songs and family movies. With movies like No smoking and Dev D. He became my favorite Indian film-maker in modern times.

Vishal Bharadwaj- India's own twisted fucker. Adapting Shakespeare's Othello in a Indian village is just bloody genius. Kaminey has shades of Tarantino. Keep em coming man. Take it up a notch.

There are many more awesome film-makers i might have not added but these have been my most major influences and idols. I look up to these guys and hope to achieve half of what any of these guys have achieved.

On a more personal level, there are a few people who have made an impact on my life, these people have not only taught me about films but also have been constant supporters in everything i wanted to do.

For starters,Pranav K. or Pk as he prefers to be called is the the dude who showed me how to hold a camera and what a storyboard looks like. If it wasn't for him, i would be still learning about character building and scene sequences. It's not like he used to tutor me, it was all random. We used to be smoking somewhere and he'd tell me about some new technique he figured out, and talks about cinema and how a film-maker should think like. All this I've learned from Pk. He's the reason i know my shit now. Thanks man.

My H.O.D Shivdarshan Kadam. Yes, it's his job to teach me but he's shared with me so many things that no teacher will teach you in a class. He's freaking ready to do anything for you if you have the will. He's my mentor and someone i look up to. He makes sure that whatever I'm doing turns into something spectacular. I still have so much to learn from him . He knows the kind of shit I'm into and knows how to help me get it. I mean it, he's the most awesomest H.O.D ever. I mean we smoke in class, how cool is that?

Pia- She might not know this but she's the reason I've gotten so passionate about everything i do right now. She's my first critic, always hearing my weird, random and sometimes dumb stories. She's the one who put me in the right track and pushed me to do so many things. If it wasn't for her. I'd still be stuck somewhere. We even wrote a story together. Which i will complete and dedicate to her. I mean it.

My Dad- Pops might not be a genius when it comes to film-making but he says and does things that just makes me realize what i need in my film. He's read most of my stories and always tells me it's crap. That just makes me want to rip things apart and scream at him but he's made sure someone is there to tell me that i can't always be right.

All these people are a huge part of my life and hope that someday, when i make my first feature length film, they'll be there to help me.

Okay, too much drama happening here. I need to stop thinking so much. Stupid brain.

“Alright Brain, you don't like me, and I don't like you. But lets just do this, and I can get back to killing you with beer.”
- Homer Simpson