Arsh + Ronnie approached us last year for their wedding coming up in May of 2012 in Toronto. However, since Ronnie is originally from Vancouver, the engagement party was held there back in October.
Aside from using our services for their wedding day, they also wanted to create a concept short showcasing their home cities (Vancouver & Toronto) as well as their affection for each other. That whole idea gave birth to “The Poem/Kavita”. What is it exactly? Well, you will find out the details in May but for now here is the teaser of that concept short.
Producing Next Day Edits (NDE) for pre-wedding events (e.g. mehndis) is something we don’t usually do. But for Salman and Arooj we made an exception. These two shared a very vibrant chemistry, likely a result of their vibrant, fun and free individual personalities. We had to convey that sparkling energy and good cheer (the individual and the collective) so we produced an NDE of their mehndi—an event filled with entertainment and merriment, aptly reflective, we think, of Salman and Arooj.
What can be said about Bobby and Sharmi? Well, for starters, both are well-grounded in their adult selves, but neither is afraid to let loose their inner child. From the very first it was clear that their personalities complemented one another’s well. It was also quite clear that Bobby was out to make his future wife as happy as he could—which became even more evident on their wedding day.
Bobby is brimming with positive energy. And he knows how to pass it along. He strives to make others happy and manages it rather well since own his positive energy is so contagious. He’s a good chap and a good load of fun to be around.
As for Sharmi…well, let’s just say Sharmi was a startlingly calm bride. When her Mehndi artist was about 3 hours late, she didn’t so much as twitch, let alone fret. She may have been bothered and troubled on the inside, but she never let it come across. Not even for a second. And on top of that, she is quite the people person. In her reception speech Sharmi said, “people’s success is measured by the number of friends they have and considering that I am blessed with so many, I consider myself successful.” If success is measured by the enrichment brought into our lives by our relations, then Sharmi is indeed successful—as a daughter, sister, friend and future wife.
It was an honor to be a part of such a dazzling and delightful event. Congrats guys!
The song we used for Bobby and Sharmi’s Same Day Edit features the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Entitled “Afreen,” it came out in the mid 90’s and a personal favorite of mine because of its beautiful vocals, music and of course, for its rich poetry. Cheers!
With all projects, it is our intent that we should meet the bride and groom first and foremost to ensure that we understand their vision and that they are comfortable with our work and our creative aspirations.
However, in Monica and Anu’s case, we had to settle for meeting just the bride initially, along with her father and uncle. Considering that Monica had already seen our work at another wedding event and was eager to have us cover her own wedding, the contract was settled straight away. After that, a date was agreed upon when we could meet up with both bride and groom, since Anu was unable to make it to that first meeting.
Anu is by far one of the most carefree grooms we’ve ever encountered. If our initial meeting wasn’t indicative of this fact, Anu’s disappearing act on the wedding day certainly was. Our team of cinematographers and photographers could not locate which room he was staying in at the Royal York Hotel and it seemed that no one else knew either. After about 45 minutes of fruitless searching, Monica began to panic and our team began to get the jitters too thinking that this would be a first in all our experience.
But we’re glad to say that all such concerns were baseless. Better yet, we managed to capture the phone conversation between Monica and Anu, once Monica had finally gotten a hold of him. (It was quite the conversation and we’ve no doubt that the footage we captured will be a source of good laughs for years to come).
The wedding was one of the most beautiful outdoor ceremonies we’ve covered. It was held at the Liberty Grande and was followed by a visually riveting reception at the same venue.
Gagan and Rashmi’s wedding was simply magnificent. It was, in fact, an epic wedding, if you will. Every event, from the Sangeet to the Reception (including everything in between) was planned with precision, every single detail carefully considered and executed–because an event is the sum of its parts. And if the parts are perfect, then perfection prevails overall, and indeed it did.
Following our initial meeting with the couple, we took a tour of the wedding venue: Sarkaria States. We often visit venue sites, beforehand, just to acquire a sense of space and energy, so that we can translate such elements onto the screen effectively. The first event, the Sangeet, featured quite a lot of energy with music, performances, ceremonies and a mouth watering menu. Then came the Sikh Ceremony. We arrived early to cover the preliminaries–the getting ready and the general prior pandemonium. It was an early morning for us and those tend to be tough, but, as always, once the event began and we became absorbed with the task at hand—ensuring full and creative coverage—it all flowed seamlessly. The simple but elegant ceremony was followed by the photoshoot.
According to Sikh Tradition, before entering the groom’s home as his bride, the bride must first be given away by her parents, at her own home. In a highly symbolic procession, the groom leads her out of her (former) home as her parents follow her departure. But since Rashmi’s parents flew in from their home in Africa, the Rukhsati or the “giving away” ceremony took place at the Hotel, where Gagan sang his self-made musical masterpiece: “Rashmi Rashmi tu Kithe Hai, Tu Darwaje Se Bhar Nahin Andi” (“Oh Rashmi, Where Are You and Why Don’t You Come Outside?”)—a truly unique touch—one we can honestly say, we’ve never seen before (and we thought we’d seen it all!)
While filming some general footage, we requested Gagan to allow us to mount our Go Pro cameras on his beloved Aston Martin, but he wasn’t too keen on the idea—understandably. But no quandary ever plagues us for long. We simply mounted them on our own car and acquired the footage beautifully.
Like any film, the finale had to be grand and it certainly was. Following the Rukhsati, both bride and groom drove to Gagan’s house in Gagan’s Aston Martin and then took a romantic ride on a Horse Carriage. The grand finale carriage ride was shot with 2 Go Pros, mounted on our vehicle and by 3 separate cinematographers with DSLRS
Finally, our heartfelt congrats to the couple and a warm thank you to the Sarkaria and Pradhan families for their hospitality and for the opportunity of allowing us to cover their epic event—Cheers!
In July of 2010, Cassandra Williams approached us for a concept production, having seen a few productions on our website. She also wanted to take us on for our cinematography services, only she’d already booked with another company. But following our conversations, she decided to opt out of her initial contract and sign up with us instead. And thus began this journey.
And thus began the brainstorming. We met up with both Cassandra and her fiancé Ravi Ramjit to that end…the conclusion of which was the concept film ‘Kismet se Milna’ (A Chance Encounter). But enough about that, let’s get down to the crux of the matter: the wedding itself!
It is Film-Style’s philosophy that our team should come to know the couple very well, so that we can produce work that really brings forth the couple’s personality, and that the couple should come to know our team very well so that they become completely comfortable in front of the camera. To that end, we spent well over 30 hours in Skype conferencing with Ravi and Cassandra over the past year—and it certainly shows. Both Ravi and Cassandra were very relaxed throughout each event, i.e. the mehndi, the pooja, and the ceremony and reception.
Hindu weddings are a bright affair as it is but this one was especially so–it was full of life, colour and a lot of fun. And Dream Party Decor‘s decor was, as always: Stunning. So have a look at this Next Day Edit and check out the much anticipated concept film ‘Kismet se Milna’ (A Chance Encounter), tomorrow.
In June of 2010, we received a phone call just as we were closing office for the day. A Suri Dhaliwal from Winnipeg was calling to inquire about our Cinematography & Photography services. Normally, we request the client to call back during business hours, but on a whim, I asked Suri to call my cell 20 minutes later.
Twenty minutes later, I was out shopping with the family when Suri called back accompanied by her fiancée, Ruben Karla on speaker phone. While my wife carried on with the shopping, I wandered around aimlessly, immersed as I was in the conversation, which lasted about 30 minutes. Even though I’d never actually met the couple (not yet that is), they struck me straightaway as clientele for whom we would no doubt do something very special.
Our team flew down to Winnipeg for 6 days to cover the pre-wedding events including the mehndi, mayyun and chunni rasm, followed by the wedding itself i.e. the elegant sikh ceremony and then the grand reception.
Getting to know the couple is central to Film-Style’s philosophy. Ruben and Suri proved this philosophy all the more indispensable. We spent a great deal of time with both of them, which is precisely why we believe that their chemistry translated onto the screen as gracefully and as seamlessly as it did.
Congrats to the couple and their families. Cheers!
Based on true story of Monika & Ashish’s 12 year journey of falling in love, growing apart and then falling in love again.
Production Notes:
Monika & Ashish came to us in Fall of 2009 for wedding cinematography services. After sitting down with them and learning their story, I knew there was a story at hand to be told. I proposed them the idea of a short film.
Naturally, they don’t have any acting background, so they didn’t welcome the idea that much. But after speaking to them continuously, they bought it into the idea and hence began the scripting stage.
We heavily involved them in the scripting process so their story is told properly. Our goal was to make something with light humour.
The concept of Same Day Edit integrated with their story was something that I never told them about. I wanted to see surprise faces on the wedding day but the whole concept was always there from the beginning.
PRODUCTION
Once the production began, we spent a lot of time rehearsing and driving and more driving:). Both Ashish and Monika were extremely busy with their professions so it took a while to get the production going. Initially, we filmed b-roll footage that we knew we might end up using in the film but it was mainly shot for the teaser trailer.
That being out of the way, we then filmed scenes in chronological order. The story was given a little more weight thanks to their dance video from 1997 that brought them together.
Aside from our Canon 70-200mm lens falling and splitting into 2 pieces and then fixed again, we didn’t have any other problems (trust me that was enough; a short film on it’s own as to how it happened)
Although, we did rehearsals to make sure there is a believable story, I was a bit surprised by both of their acting abilities. Especially, the opening scene at the locker surprised us quite a bit.
Overall, I was pleased with how things turned out including couple’s performances.
We also filmed 3 additional scenes which didn’t make the cut. Although 2 of 3 scenes weren’t that critical to the story, I wish that we were able to put 1 of the scenes in there. But it will be included as a Deleted Scene on the final DVD.
We filmed at a high school thanks to couple’s friend Nupur and UofT Scarborough Campus, thanks to Vinay. We also got a chance to film at Toronto Curling & Cricket Club where Team Canada’s national matches take place. A big thanks also goes to Vikram for allowing us to film in his office.
This short film was edited on Adobe Premiere CS 5.
Ronak and Swetal’s interest in our Studio was sparked with the online debut of Main Aur Mrs. Verma. They approached us this past spring requesting a similar production, but one unique to them and their story. Since both lived and worked in a different city altogether, they were unable to arrive at the studio. But over the next several months we maintained constant communication with them, via emails, phone calls, and even some web conferencing.
The project was one of our most ambitious up to date and despite some major production hurdles, it was not only a huge success but it also far exceeded expectations.
While we, as always, put forth all our efforts and resources towards our goal of product excellence and couple’s satisfaction, the project could not have been the huge success that it was without Ronak’s and Swetal’s devotion and excitement. So of course, congrats to the couple—the project would not have come into being without them and their special day. But for this final product, I gotta say: Congrats to the production team: we did grrreeattt guys!
Last year, Sapna & Shawn came to us for something different not only for their wedding video but also their pre-wedding video. The moment I met them, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for their pre-wedding movie.
After hours of dance practice, sets and planning, we produced a very different kind of a short film consisting of bollywood dancing.
This is just the teaser, as the final video will go online on weekend of Wedding. April 2nd, 2010
