Films
My Third Film With VCF: The Making of 12th Fail
Client — Vinod Chopra Films
Role — Creative Associate
How I Got Here
I shot BTS on Shikara and 12th Fail. For Zero Se Restart (ZSR), director Jaskunwar Singh Kohli pulled me in as Creative Associate.
The Film
What started as a YouTube series grew into a feature-length documentary on how Vinod Chopra directed 12th Fail. Everyone told him not to. He directed it anyway. 150+ script drafts. Recces, replanning, casting. Vinod Chopra pulling performances out of Vikrant Massey and the cast. A slow theatrical release, an OTT explosion, then the awards. ZSR captures it all.
The Filmmaking
Sat with the director on where the story could go. Developed subplots. Shot studio recordings with Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam and Shaan, three of India's biggest voices. Earned a cinematography credit for that. Co-directed the trailer. Contributed to the music video and teasers.
The Marketing
I presented marketing ideas to Vinod Chopra. The best ones went to marketing meetings, where the whole team sat. Then I reworked our ideas around what the team decided. First angle: the story behind the story. Viewers got confused. Fiction or reality? We dropped it. Second: a master class by Vinod Chopra. 45 years in Bollywood, breaking down how he made 12th Fail. Felt preachy. Dropped it. Third, now the trailer on Amazon Prime: never give up. The unfiltered making of a film that was never supposed to be made, by a man who was never supposed to make it.
The QR Idea
ZSR was screening at film schools, festivals and cinemas. We wanted a community around the film. My idea: a QR code on the last frame. Scan to share your appreciation. It took viewers to a WhatsApp channel where they could message the crew directly. Hundreds joined. Beautiful messages came in.
The ₹20 Note
Throughout ZSR, you see Vinod Chopra hand out ₹20 notes to anyone who does something great. Toward the end, I earned mine.
Favourite Memory
Spotting character arcs in ordinary people while watching the BTS footage. Nobody knew we'd end up making a film out of the footage. Not the cast, not the crew. They were just at work on 12th Fail. But life has drama. It has dialogue. It has unfiltered moments that can’t be recreated. Being able to spot them was my favourite memory. Then pulling those shots into story beats in the final cut.
First health, then family, then film.
— VVC's mantra
The film
Watch
Trailer / Promo
Music Video