Rohan Sippy, the Director of ‘Dum Maro Dum’ fame visited Whistling Woods International to share his experiences and inspirations with an ecstatic bunch of students. He had a wonderful experience with the students who were absolutely smitten by the enthralling filmmaker. Also present were other crew members from the movie- Shridhar Raghavan, the Scriptwriter of the film, Shazia Iqbal, Art Director, Anupam Mishra, Production Designer & Second Unit Director and Smit Shah who worked on Production Design & VFX.
Rohan Sippy started his career as a features director with ‘Kuch Na Kaho’ as his first film in 2003. He studied at Aiglon College in Switzerland and pursued his undergraduate degree at Stanford University.
Rohan Sippy and Shridhar Raghavan have earlier worked together in Bluff Master and came together again to create yet another entertainer- Dum Maro Dum.
Talking about the film, Rohan Sipy said that Goa has always been portrayed as a very laid back and spirited place, but Shridhar thought of showing a different side of Goa which not many are aware of. The film is about a person who finally takes a stand to put an end to criminal activities responsible for ruining innocent peoples’ lives.
When Shridhar was asked about the commercial angle to the film, as to why he wanted to move ahead with the story and if at any point he thought of leaving it, as it wasn’t captivating enough, he said, “That is what was exciting about it. I first contemplated whether the plot was more important or the characters, and then I got the answer; the location was the most important!”
The cast of the film was put together in a fascinating manner and every character slipped into his/her role effortlessly. Abhishek Bachchan was supposed to play the role of Joki, the musician, which was ultimately played by Rana Daggubati, a Telugu star; and Abhishek landed up portraying the character of ACP Vishnu Kamath. Shridhar had unlimited and ingenious ideas for many scenes in the movie, some of which were left untouched while others were modified a little.
On the set-up of the film in Goa, debutant Art Director, Shazia Iqbal said, “We wanted to be in the real zone and create a set which was believable and looked realistic.”
Shridhar had a lot of praises for the Music Director, Pritam, for his melodious and foot tapping music. They visited Goa to gauge the kind of music liked by the majority of people there. The title song- Dum Maro Dum was Shridhar’s idea and he worked around the song, used certain parts of the song and recreated it.
At the end of the session Rohan Sippy and Shridhar Raghavan expressed their pleasure at having visited Whistling Woods International and how much they enjoyed interacting with the students. They were overwhelmed with the treatment given by the faculty members of WWI and were impressed with the bright students as well. Rohan Sippy said, “It was nice to know how young minds think as they are a big part of our future. They are energetic, articulate and interactive and I am absolutely honored to be here!”
Shridhar ended the session by saying that he loved the campus as it provides the kind of education and guidance needed for filmmaking. He was also awed by the concept of the master class and advised to continue the trend for the growth of the students. He wished all the students a successful career ahead before signing off.
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