Monday, April 5, 2010
Ullas Agarbatti - TV scripts
Concept note: In India, it’s a custom among small businesses, shop owners, taxi and auto drivers to start the day with a small puja, and pray for a good day ahead. This route is based on real moments in the life of ordinary Indians, and shot in a candid camera kind of manner.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Auto driver
Film opens on an auto driver, with a tilak on his forehead, praying to the little photo frame of God placed near the windshield panel of his auto.
The auto driver takes out some incense sticks from the Ullas pack, lights them, and does an elaborate aarthi.
As he does the aarthi, he mumbles a small prayer to himself.
Even as he’s sticking the agarbattis to the incense stand near the god’s photo, we hear a nice, pleasant voice:
Thambi, Alwarpet varringla? (Brother, will you ‘go’ to Alwarpet, in the typical manner that most passengers enquire)
The auto driver nods his head, and as he turns around to start the auto fare meter, the driver sees the passenger’s hand is already reaching out to turn the meter.
This irritates the auto driver, who raps the hand of the passenger, and then stares at his customer.
We see the confused look of the auto driver, from the perspective of the passenger, his back to the camera. And we realize it’s no ordinary passenger.
It's a Vishnu type God, with multiple hands, one carrying a chakra, the other a mace, and a third reaching for the auto fare meter. The God’s sitting in the back seat of the auto, with a halo around his head, dressed in long robes, curly hair down to the shoulders.
We don't see the God, just the stunned expression of the auto driver, as he turns to see the owner of the voice.
And then we hear the voice over: Khushboo aise chhaaye, ki khud bhagwaan hi chale aayen.
Tamil: Kadavul-in manadai, kollai kollum aboorva naramanum.
Cut to product window: We see the fragrance from the incense sticks stuck on an incense stand wafting through the air. There is a bunch of the entire range arranged near the incense stand. We see flowers for puja near the incense stand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barber
Film opens on an up market men’s salon.
Cut to the owner of the salon, in quick, practiced moves, pulling out agarbattis from the Ullas pack, lighting them with a matchstick.
The man then does an elaborate aarthi of a photo frame of God, placed above his cash counter.
He mumbles a prayer, as he does the aarthi. We hear the snips and cuts of scissors, the spraying of water and after shave deos.
And then a customer appears in the picture frame of the camera, we see only his back.
The customer points to God’s photo, and very gently says: Photo mein mera hair style achcha hain…ek aise he bana deejiye.
The barber who until that point was immersed in his prayers, turns around in curiosity.
As the camera focuses on the man from behind the customer, we realize it’s no ordinary customer.
We have a view from behind the customer, and we see that the customer has long hair rolled up at the top, like Lord Shiva, with a snake coiled around his neck. The god has a halo around his head, long flowing robes and hair down to the shoulders, though we don’t see the face of the God.
And then the expression on the face of the barber changes from curiosity to surprise.
And then we hear the voice over: Khushboo aise chhaaye, ki khud bhagwaan hi chale aayen.
Tamil: Kadavul-in manadai, kollai kollum aboorva naramanum.
Cut to product window: We see the fragrance from the incense sticks stuck on an incense stand wafting through the air. There is a bunch of the entire range arranged near the incense stand. We see flowers for puja near the incense stand.
Udupi Joint
Film opens on a typical udupi/ shanti sagar kind of snack joint, like the thousands found in any south indian city/ town.
It’s early in the morning, before commencing with work, as is the usual habit, the owner of the udupi joint takes out some incense sticks from the Ullas pack, lights them with a match stick and does an elaborate aarthi and mumbles a prayer.
As he’s praying, he hears a customer’s voice: Thambi, oru sugar-less By-2 kaapi!
(Brother, half cup of sugarless coffee for me!)
Then we hear a second voice: Yennakku oru idli sambar! (One idli-sambar for me!)
And then a third: Oru masala dosa yennakku! (And a masala dosa for me!)
The owner of the restaurant nods his head in an absent minded manner. He finishes his puja, turns around, and then sees his customers.
There’s complete confusion on the face of the udupi snack guy.
The camera is behind the customer, and we realize it’s no ordinary customer.
Because the customer has three heads, halo around each head, a crown on head head, long flowing robes and hair down to the shoulders. Almost like he’s Lord Brahma, though we don’t see the face of the customer.
And then we hear the voice over: Khushboo aise chhaaye, ki khud bhagwaan hi chale aayen.
Tamil: Kadavul-in manadai, kollai kollum aboorva naramanum.
Fragrance so divine, God himself might drop in to experience it.
Cut to product window: We see the fragrance from the incense sticks stuck on an incense stand wafting through the air. There is a bunch of the entire range arranged near the incense stand. We see flowers for puja near the incense stand.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Auto driver
Film opens on an auto driver, with a tilak on his forehead, praying to the little photo frame of God placed near the windshield panel of his auto.
The auto driver takes out some incense sticks from the Ullas pack, lights them, and does an elaborate aarthi.
As he does the aarthi, he mumbles a small prayer to himself.
Even as he’s sticking the agarbattis to the incense stand near the god’s photo, we hear a nice, pleasant voice:
Thambi, Alwarpet varringla? (Brother, will you ‘go’ to Alwarpet, in the typical manner that most passengers enquire)
The auto driver nods his head, and as he turns around to start the auto fare meter, the driver sees the passenger’s hand is already reaching out to turn the meter.
This irritates the auto driver, who raps the hand of the passenger, and then stares at his customer.
We see the confused look of the auto driver, from the perspective of the passenger, his back to the camera. And we realize it’s no ordinary passenger.
It's a Vishnu type God, with multiple hands, one carrying a chakra, the other a mace, and a third reaching for the auto fare meter. The God’s sitting in the back seat of the auto, with a halo around his head, dressed in long robes, curly hair down to the shoulders.
We don't see the God, just the stunned expression of the auto driver, as he turns to see the owner of the voice.
And then we hear the voice over: Khushboo aise chhaaye, ki khud bhagwaan hi chale aayen.
Tamil: Kadavul-in manadai, kollai kollum aboorva naramanum.
Cut to product window: We see the fragrance from the incense sticks stuck on an incense stand wafting through the air. There is a bunch of the entire range arranged near the incense stand. We see flowers for puja near the incense stand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Barber
Film opens on an up market men’s salon.
Cut to the owner of the salon, in quick, practiced moves, pulling out agarbattis from the Ullas pack, lighting them with a matchstick.
The man then does an elaborate aarthi of a photo frame of God, placed above his cash counter.
He mumbles a prayer, as he does the aarthi. We hear the snips and cuts of scissors, the spraying of water and after shave deos.
And then a customer appears in the picture frame of the camera, we see only his back.
The customer points to God’s photo, and very gently says: Photo mein mera hair style achcha hain…ek aise he bana deejiye.
The barber who until that point was immersed in his prayers, turns around in curiosity.
As the camera focuses on the man from behind the customer, we realize it’s no ordinary customer.
We have a view from behind the customer, and we see that the customer has long hair rolled up at the top, like Lord Shiva, with a snake coiled around his neck. The god has a halo around his head, long flowing robes and hair down to the shoulders, though we don’t see the face of the God.
And then the expression on the face of the barber changes from curiosity to surprise.
And then we hear the voice over: Khushboo aise chhaaye, ki khud bhagwaan hi chale aayen.
Tamil: Kadavul-in manadai, kollai kollum aboorva naramanum.
Cut to product window: We see the fragrance from the incense sticks stuck on an incense stand wafting through the air. There is a bunch of the entire range arranged near the incense stand. We see flowers for puja near the incense stand.
Udupi Joint
Film opens on a typical udupi/ shanti sagar kind of snack joint, like the thousands found in any south indian city/ town.
It’s early in the morning, before commencing with work, as is the usual habit, the owner of the udupi joint takes out some incense sticks from the Ullas pack, lights them with a match stick and does an elaborate aarthi and mumbles a prayer.
As he’s praying, he hears a customer’s voice: Thambi, oru sugar-less By-2 kaapi!
(Brother, half cup of sugarless coffee for me!)
Then we hear a second voice: Yennakku oru idli sambar! (One idli-sambar for me!)
And then a third: Oru masala dosa yennakku! (And a masala dosa for me!)
The owner of the restaurant nods his head in an absent minded manner. He finishes his puja, turns around, and then sees his customers.
There’s complete confusion on the face of the udupi snack guy.
The camera is behind the customer, and we realize it’s no ordinary customer.
Because the customer has three heads, halo around each head, a crown on head head, long flowing robes and hair down to the shoulders. Almost like he’s Lord Brahma, though we don’t see the face of the customer.
And then we hear the voice over: Khushboo aise chhaaye, ki khud bhagwaan hi chale aayen.
Tamil: Kadavul-in manadai, kollai kollum aboorva naramanum.
Fragrance so divine, God himself might drop in to experience it.
Cut to product window: We see the fragrance from the incense sticks stuck on an incense stand wafting through the air. There is a bunch of the entire range arranged near the incense stand. We see flowers for puja near the incense stand.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)