My Photography

Latest Bhram An Illusion Trailer / Promo 60 secs

AN ILLUSION - BHRAM Theatrical Trailer/ Promo 30 secs

For one minute trailer version click here

Filmography

Filmography of Pavan Kaul

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  FEATURE FILMS:

• 'Chor Aur Chand', Starring: Aditya Panscholi, Pooja Bhatt
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• 'Jaadu', Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Raveena Tandon
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• 'Ssshhhh' 2003 Starring:Dino Morea.. IntroducingTanisha.
  
• Times Of India Rating: 3/5
• New York Times: Critics Pick
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• BHRAM 2008 : Starring Dino Morea, Milind Soman,(introd) Sheetal Menon
  
  TELEVISION SERIALS:

Produced & Directed

• 'Sadma', D.D.Metro.. Pavan Kaul Nominated best Director Screen Awards..Cast: Navneet Nishan Introducing Mamik, Haroun Mirza(son of Aziz Mirza)

• 'Kaash',SONY T.V. First television serial for Sony..First serial with songs..Introducing Govind Namdev, Vaidehi, Gautam Chaturvedi

• 'Mausam',ZEE T.V.

• 'X-ZONE',ZEE T.V.

• 'Phir Wohi Raat',.. Introducing Shweta Salve.. SAHARA T.V.

AD-FILMS/CORPORATE: Various

• 'Gandhi��� .. Ad Film By Pavan Kaul Hand tracing Gandhis Profile with V/O and Vaishnav Jana nominated at Cannes.

TELEVISION SERIALS:

• Mano Ya Na Mano 'Zee tv Prod: Balaji Telefilms
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• 'Anhonee',Zee tv, Prod: Headline Ent.
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• 'Samandar'Zee tv,Prod: Headline Ent..
• Kabir Bedi, Parmeet Sethi, Niki Aneja
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• SSSHHHH...KOI HAI' Star Plus, Prod: Contiloe/Cinevistaas..
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• RAPA Award : Best Thriller Across all channels
  
• Introducing Neha Dhupia, Chetan Hansraj
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• 'KARMA',Star Plus, Prod: Balaji Telefilms.
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• KARBON KOPY',(Under-prod)Star One, Prod.Balaji Telefilms.
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• EK CHAABHI HAI PADOS MEIN
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• RAPA Award 2008: Best Serial Across All Channels
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• BHASKAR BHARTI Sony, DJ Creative Unit
  

VIDEO FEATURE FILMS: Producer Hiba Video.

• Siyahi: Written and directed by Pavan kaul..starring Kanwaljeet Singh, Introducing Aditya Panscholi, Sujata Mehta.

• Kalank Ka Tika: Starring Aditya Panscholi, Zarina Wahab

• Abhishek: Written and Directed by Pavan Kaul.. Starring Aditya Panscholi, Archana Puransingh..Introducing Farha khan (Choreographer), Nitesh Bharadwaj

• Naqli Chehra: Starring Supriya Pathak..Introducing Neeta puri, Jeet Upendra

• Scandal; Introducing Urmila Matondkar

• Tumhare Saharey; Urmila Matondkar Introducing Anita Kanwar (Buniyaad)

Kaala Sindoor. Starring:Urmila Matondkar,Natasha Sinha

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Family

Father: Surendra Kaul..Writer/Director. Wrote films like 'Namak Halal'

Paternal Uncles:

Mahesh Kaul..eminent film maker..introduced Hema Malini in 'Sapnon ka Saudagar'.

Raaj Kumar..thespian actor.

Maternal Uncle: Hiren Khera.Producer of films like 'Jab jab phool Khile" and "Raja Saab"

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The Man Who Saw Tomorrow-SRK

“I know exactly what is going to happen…my films are going to be hits…one after the other….producers & directors will be chasing me….I,ll sign bigger films….with all the big heroines….I’ll be loved….and hated….admired….and criticized….more hits…I,ll buy a sea-facing bungalow…several big cars…become a producer….produce my own films….maybe even direct!”

All that was more than a decade ago. But I did,nt say it. Though I wish I had, because it all came true. They were the words of a man who had an uncanny sense of where he was destined to go. Another time he said to me: “ There is a lot I have to claim from this city….a lot I have to get out of it…in fact …everything!” And he did get it. He got it all. He is Shahrukh Khan. Some call him King Khan, some Badshah of Bollywood and others SRK.

I knew he was special from the moment I first saw him. He was silent and intense. More intense than any one I had met before or since. But after that first time, he was never silent again. Yes, Shahrukh loves to talk. About himself, his plans, his films, his people, about anything. He can talk non stop for eternity. And he can mesmerize anyone into listening for an eternity too. He has that quality. But that night he was silent.

It was a November night in Darjeeling, Hotel New Elgin. I was shooting for my debut film ‘Chor aur Chaand’ and Aziz Mirza was there for ‘Raju ban gaya..’.

As we shared the same hotel, Aziz (whom I knew since I was a teenager, apprentice to my Dad who was directing a film in which Aziz was the leading man.) suggested we dine together. Soon we were joined by Shahrukh and Gauri, who recently married, looked more like a cute, honeymooning couple. Introductions over, Aziz began insisting I narrate the climax of my film to him, as he had heard much about how good it was. I obliged and right through the narration, I felt Shahrukh’s eyes on me, and saw him listening with rapt attention whenever I glanced at him.

Some time later, when I signed him for my own film ‘Jaadu’, he told me that he agreed to the project because I had made an impression on him while narrating the climax that night. ( Incidentally that climax which never saw the light of the day, was to become a casualty of film industry politics, as was most of that film, and was sacrificed in favour of a weak and clichéd version.) I never told him this, but I had also made a decision that same night, to cast him in ‘Jaadu’, though at that point he did,nt have a single release to his credit, and I had only fleetingly watched him in the T.V. Series ‘Fauji’. But I knew I was looking at someone exceptional, in many ways, in fact in every way. even.without a word having been exchanged between us…

Working with Shahrukh subsequently, was memorable and holds a treasure trove of fine moments..of that another time. If anything, my faith in him stands vindicated today.
“….but I always want to be a star. The day I cease to be one, the day people don’t want me anymore….I don’t think I,ll be able to take it……”

Honestly, I don’t think I will be able to take it either..I had shared his dream and vision… the boy with that unforgettable, intense, unflinching, passionate gaze, was born to be a star and forever remain one.

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At Work

On Location - Bhram An Illusion

On Location - Bhram -----Rohtang Pass

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Early Life

For BHRAM An Illusion Trailer /Promo click here


For AN ILLUSION BHRAM Song Promos click here





On Location 'Bhram' slated for March 2008 release.



‘Film’ is an optical illusion. Life, an illusion as well... Maya. I like illusions…They help me survive. I like films more than I like life. Sometimes even when they don’t have a beginning, a middle and an end. I prefer ones that have a middle then a beginning again the middle and then the end..non linear.

I like films made by others more than my own. But then I don’t know if their makers intended them to turn out the way they finally happened to. Or did they like them better while they were still unborn… Yet in the stage of conception, holding promise of greatness, lovingly, carefully crafted, virgin, on clean sheets of white paper.

I like the films I make much more, before I begin making them. Then the problems set in and the energy that comes on, as if includes deception, which was neither envisaged, nor bargained for.. Finally when it’s all over, I stand back and observe the flaws and the imperfections along with the stuff I got right. Not so bad I say to myself. They resemble me. Far from perfect, but not without their strengths. Battle scarred, yet managing to hold their own in the face of countless assaults and oppositions.

I have no idea when it all began for me, but my earliest memories go back to about age eleven, when books I’d read, suddenly seemed to be moving images..the recollection of having turned pages, missing, yet the story having unfolded pictorially.

As a teenager my days were spent watching three shows a day, back to back, sometimes the same film if I liked it enough. When all the films in theatres were exhausted, the video library was my haunt.

My family had resigned itself to my bohemian ways and idiosyncrasies. Dad realized soon enough, that depriving me of films, watching or working, was as if denying me oxygen. He took me on as apprentice ( he had categorically stated that I had to begin from the lowest rung of the ladder and earn my way to the top) and I began practically living and sometimes even sleeping in studios.Always charged up..I could work non-stop for four days and nights without a bother.

Next step.. a ‘lowly’ Asstt.Director’, hungry for knowledge of the craft. I would ‘poke my nose’(as often referred to) in all departments of filmmaking, take on as many responsibilities as possible, handling jobs that normally required four people, and generally curious about any and everything that could accelerate my growth. The noisy, dusty studio environs and the smell of celluloid in film editing rooms, had become my life support.

Which is why it came as a rather pleasant surprise when at a music sitting recently, Pritam, my music director informed me that during his course at the Film and Television Institute Of India (FTII) one of their professors often quoted my work and spoke in detail of my films, shot taking and technique. An institution, quoting a self taught technician was humbling, to say the least.

Continuing with my days as an asstt.... Photography happened to me courtesy an ‘ace’ cinematographer (whom I don’t wish to name), who tried to discourage my interest in the subject, as he felt it did not concern me.

I had approached the ‘ace DOP’(Director of Photography) whom I greatly admired and put forward a query regarding the characteristics of the lens being used that day. He turned to look at me disdainfully as if I had stepped beyond my limits and dipped my hand into his pocket.. The scorn in his eyes and the sarcasm in his voice stung me, when he said ..“apna kaam karo, tumhaare bass ki baat nahin hai yeh !”

The Director joined in and remarked “ He is more interested in photography than he is in Direction”. I was so shattered by this comment that I decided I did not wish to work under a director who did not seem to understand that without camera there could be no story-teling, no movie and that the camera was a director’s tool, and if he did not learn everything there was to learn about it, he would never be able to use it effectively. Direction and cinematography… How could the two be divorced?

I walked out, determined to never again be dependant on another for knowledge of my craft. I bought a used still camera,from my savings and some books on photography and equipment for a dark room at home and began doing it myself.

Shoot in the day.. process and print at night. I was exhilarated.. felt totally in control, in that little dark room, watching the image as it formed and came to life exactly as the picture I had lit, shot, conceived.

I shot everything. Nature, cityscapes, portfolios industrial and fashion, with a passion. However the need to know if I was any good was overpowering. So, I prepared a portfolio of these pictures, summoned up courage and went to meet Mitter Bedi, world renowned photographer. After waiting outside for a good hour or so, I finally got to step into his office. I requested him to advise me. He took a long, hard look at all of the pictures, some repeatedly and finally said " Show me your bad pictures..these are excellent..cant improve on them"..Trying my best to hide my joy behind a stiff demeanour, I left from there for the first time having tasted appreciation for my work..wanted to throw out my arms up in the air very much like Shashi Kapoor had done in my Uncles film.Jab Jab Phool Khile and the song.."Oof Oh Khuda"..I was 21 and an adult now..a professional as well.

Soon after I began working for Vilas Bhende a renowned photographer to brush up on Fashion photography..I assisted him on shoots. On one such, I placed a net before a camera to reflect light a particular way on the product, and cut glare.. a trick I'd learnt from my film days. The effect pleased Vilas who said"Where were you all this while?" It felt good and encouraged me towards going deeper into study of this medium. I was called by the editor of 'Stardust" to be their fashion photographer after they saw the snaps in an actors portfolio..but I politely declined..I wanted to be a film maker..this was only a learning process...and also a means to buy the camera of my dreams F5Nikon.

One day while leafing through a magazine on photography, I saw an advertisement for Nikon, in which a model was shown posing before the camera. The view finder had been removed to show the image on the ground glass. The lens was a 50mm, The image on the ground glass showed a head and shoulder magnification. Apparently, all was perfect.. a great camera, a great model, a great picture.

But I noticed something terribly wrong. While the model was at a distance of about 5ft. the lens was focussed at infinity. Someone in the advertising had fucked up. I immediately cut out the ad and pointing out the mistake in a covering letter, mailed it to Nikon Japan… I had done my service to my favourite camera.. though I still did not own one.

I had forgotten all about the incident when about six months later I opened the door to see the postman holding a parcel for me. I was a little puzzled as to its contents since it was intricately packed. On opening it, I have no words to explain the feeling that engulfed me. Inside lay a brand new black Nikon F5.. a gift from the Nikon Company, with a letter of thanks acknowledging the faux pas I had pointed out.

I knew then a hundredfold strongly that my life was inextricably woven with a camera..Or was it.. with an illusion??

More on shooting and making of ‘Bhram- An Illusion’ in Part 2

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