Who Am I?
Set Decorator - Art Director
Feature Film (2020)
Shot in Madhya Pradesh
Roles & Responsibilities
In the upcoming independent feature length film "Who am I," I worked in three departments (as an Art Director, Assistant Director, and Costumes-Makeup). I collaborated with the Production Designer to carefully visualize all scenes, shots, and characters. Controlled the construction of some sets as well as the sourcing of properties to depict urban, rural, and tribal Madhya Pradesh. In addition, I created signboards, shop boards, and hand-painted graphics.
Synopsis
Based on the critically acclaimed novel Ko Aham! by Ashok Jamnani, the story is set in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, a small town based by the banks of the river Narmada. Our protagonist is Bhavitavya (20) a philosophy student who is currently living as a tenant at Mrs. Jyoti’s house, who is also his girlfriend Aditi (20)'s mother. Though the two love each other, their way of life has always differed. While Bhavitva is a curious fellow filled with existential questions, Aditi is a cheerful girl who finds joy in even the little things in life. The story starts after the death of Bhavitva’s favorite professor, Vibhu Laxmi Narayan (55) who taught him philosophy. They used to have many fruitful conversations and from them, the question ‘Ko Aham’ or ‘Who am I’ rose in Bhavitva’s mind. One day Bhavitva while sitting by the bank of Narmada notices an old monk, he decides to interact with him and intrigued by the conversation, Bhavitva decides to leave his past and embark on a journey of self-discovery in the hope to find the answers to his many questions. And so, begins the journey of Sadashiv (65), the old monk and Bhavitva (20) who together decide to do the Narmada Parikrama. On their journey together, they have many enlightening encounters and Sadashiv advises Bhavitva to look for a master because once he finds one, the many questions he has will be answered. Towards the end of their journey, Bhavitva realizes that his very search was wrong, instead of questioning everything he should first learn to experience and live life as it is. So, he returns to his village and to Aditi, who has given birth to their son. He also comes to realize that Aditi is the answer to all his questions and accepts her as the ‘master’ that Sadashiv was talking about because her ‘go with the flow’ attitude and optimism is exactly what he needs to not only give him stability but to also help guide him in the correct direction for his new life path.
