First shot, flashback. A dark theatre. A child weeps bitterly as Amitabh Bachchan dies one of his heroic deaths.

Nothing unusual, one would say. Even adults sob into their handkerchiefs when something tragic happens in films. But this was one of Shan Mohammed's early brushes with his calling, at an age when ‘A' stood both for apple and Amitabh. Second shot, 24 years later, in 2008. A dark corridor in a three-storied apartment; a man with long locks and a baritone introduces himself as the editor of Abbas Tyrewallah's forthcoming film Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Naa.

It's a successful Shan now in deep focus. But unlike his on-screen counterparts, he doesn't flaunt his laurels. He embodies a segment of youth that has made it big in the flourishing Hindi film industry. Bollywood has become daring. It is experimenting with themes, narrative styles, the cast as well as the look and colour of films.

The gamble has paid off. Revenue is forecast to increase by 16 per cent every year for the next five years. Young people are in demand in every field of filmmaking: writing, direction, editing, acting, costumes, set design and special effects.

"Cut it," snapped Shan, the editor, visibly embarrassed. "This is my story, not a film script." Shan wanted his story to be told without the dramatic frills.

Jaane Tu…, an Aamir Khan production that launches the actor's nephew Imran Khan, was Shan's first exposure to a mega-bucks project.

"I met Tyrewallah through Raghav Dar, a friend who is now assisting Sanjay Leela Bhansali," said Shan. "When I read the script, I fell in love with it. I enjoyed working with the director. He is open to ideas and quite flexible."

Shan didn't exactly stumble into films. This commerce graduate had gone to Chennai for his articleship when he bumped into renowned cinematographer PC Sreeram. For this guy, who grew up in a Bhilai steel township, films were a passion, but the craft was still a mystery.

"Sreeram, upon knowing my interest in films, asked me to assist someone in Mumbai. I was clueless then; didn't know what to do, whom to approach," he said.

After coming to Mumbai from Chennai, he stayed with a school friend whose grandfather had connections in the film world. Soon Shan was working with Pankaj Advani on a series of 10-minute films titled Bheja Fry for Channel V.

The first turning point came in 2000 when he got in to Pune's Film and Television Institute of India‘s (FTII) editing course. Those were the years when he saw the best of Indian and world cinema.

"Even as an editing student I was trying to make forays into Bollywood," Shan said. "I used to come to Mumbai to edit documentaries, which helped me pay my course fee."

He also got friendly with cinematographer Shankar Raman. During his second year at the film school, Raman introduced Shan to young filmmaker Sarthak Dasgupta, who was doing his first film called The Great Indian Butterfly. Shan edited this road movie that featured Sandhya Mridul and Aamir Bashir.

More documentaries followed, and finally, in the third year, Frozen happened. Frozen, a blackand-white feature film, by director Shivaji Chandra Bhushan, was shot in Ladakh during winter.

"It was a great learning experience. About 80 per cent of the film was reconstructed on the editing table. It went on to win five jury awards at various international festivals including Toronto, London and Los Angeles. In India, at the Osean Film Festival last year, it bagged the best jury award," said Shan, beaming with pride. Frozen was screened at the just concluded Mumbai Academy of the Moving Images (MAMI) festival.

Shan today commands a six-figure monthly salary, and people oblige. Tyrewallah has only good things to say: "What's striking about him is his temperament. He will never lose his cool even when people around him are tearing their hair out. He is also extremely self-motivated and disciplined, which makes a director's job easy."

The other vital thing that Tyrewallah probably doesn't know is Shan's ability to keep secrets. Even after coaxing him for a good 15 minutes, all that the editor would say about his next snip job was: "It's a bilingual period film in Hindi and Tamil. Shooting will begin some time in May."

"Time to pack up," said Shan. He would want eight-hours sleep to wade through the rushes the following day.

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Case Study

CHATROOM: SHAN MOHAMMED ON THE UPS AND DOWNS OF HIS JOB Editing is excitement at 24 frames per second

 Why editing?

For me, it's the most challenging and creatively satisfying job. It comes pretty much at the last stage of filmmaking, and as they say, this is where a film is finally made. I'm helping create something that till then has existed only on paper and in bits and pieces, in film rushes. Apart from the director, the editor is the only guy who has the complete picture in mind. Editing is excitement at 24 frames per second.

What's the best and worst thing about the job?

Editing activates your grey cells and puts your narrative skills to test. I love telling stories through words, visuals and sound. The worst thing about editing is it's thankless. An average viewer will talk only about acting, cinematography, sound, music, dialogues, and sometimes even the script. That's understandable because these are the things he gets to see and hear. You ask him to point out taut editing, he'll be at a loss. The only time, possibly, viewers will realise an editor's "contribution" is when he has gone horribly wrong.Then they start taking frequent smoke breaks or respond to their mobile phones.

Can you learn editing at home?

If you have a computer with enough memory, a good sound card and an Internet connection, you can learn the basics. Some demo software of Avid Express and Final Cut Pro is freely available on the Internet.

Whom does this job attract?

Anyone who loves jigsaw puzzles, plays chess, has a flair for music and rhythm (laughs). Most of the time one has to work alone in a studio. Earlier, television meant only Doordarshan, it was extremely difficult to make forays into film. But this has changed in the past 15 years. Even corporate and ad films are drawing a lot of editors. A certain amount of glamour is now attached to editing. It's cool to say, ‘I edit'.

What kind of people are they?

The profession draws all kinds of people. Some of them are what you call "cool dudes", sporting long hair and a goatee.

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Case study

rapidfire

Star sign: Cancer

Take on religion: It's not worth dying for.

Biggest achievement: It's in the making. Expected to arrive in July

Shy or confident: Shyly confi dent

Do you pay when on dates: Yes, always, unfortunately.

Your idea of an ideal wife: Free-spirited, passionate, hot.

Are you romantic: Ask the wife.

What kind of woman/man has a chance with you: Try and find out.

Favourite car: Jaguar

What makes you look hot: Long hair

Favourite clothes: Ts and jeans

Least favourite clothes: Anything formal

Facebook or Orkut: Facebook, of course…Poke

What do you want written on your tombstone: ….At least he tried.

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Case Study

a day in his life

7:00 am: The paperwallah rings the bell, a wake-up call. It means the death of a dream. He looks at his blissfully sleeping wife, and heads towards the door.

7:30 am: Makes his coffee - hot, strong, black and sweet. It's the energy drink to go with his daily quota of news.

8:30 am: The bell rings again, and in comes the first visitor of the day, the bai. 

9:30 am: The wife wakes up and greets him with a smile. He is done with the newspapers and is ready to take on the world. Three quick actions : shave, sh*t and shower.

10:00 am: He is ready for the day's most arduous task: travelling to work from his Mahim home. He freelances, so work takes him places, Andheri, Khar.

11:00 am: Works on a feature or a documentary, alone or with a director sitting on his head.

2:00 pm: Takes a break to boost energy levels.Which basically means, either swallowing the lunch provided by the film unit or relishing food from his favourite take-way joints.

2:45: He is back at work, determined to make progress, especially with a difficult scene.

7:30 pm: He is completely exhausted, physically and mentally. Packs up for the day, calls up friends, and meets them over a cup a coffee or something even stronger.

8:45 pm: The better half calls to say she has reached home and asks about dinner plans. He gets the hint: it's his turn to cook.

10:00 pm: Watch half a movie over dinner, usu ally the worst of the eighties. It's sleep-inducing. It's something he has picked up from his wife. The horrendous films also provide mirth.

11:00 pm: Lights off and a slow trek to the dream world. At times, his work intrudes into his sleep.

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WAITING IN THE WINGS: WANNABE DIRECTOR ADVAIT CHANDAN WILL DO ANYTHING IF IT IS RELATED TO CINEMA

Even though I worked for a pittance, it was a great learning experience

ADVAIT CHANDAN is lanky, but it is difficult to imagine him as Fido - the lovable mascot of the soft drink Lehar 7 UP. Not just for his unruly beard; his sharp nose is too sharp to be flattened. But he insisted that adman Prahlad Kakkar made him "wear a leo tard three times smaller than his size on the sets of the commercial to get a feel of the character". In the pres ence of Mallika Sherawat, who played the seductress, it was truly embarrassing.Chandan learned to take it in his stride. "It was part of growing up," he said, while charting the course of his growth in the past three years. A non-conformist bitten by the film bug while in college, he quit studies to assist Kakkar. Fi nally, he has found time to do a BA through distance education.

At 22, he has quite a lot on his resume. He has worked as an assistant director in both ad and feature films; as assistant production manager, he provided logistical support in Aamir Khan's maiden film Taare Zameen Paar; he was third assistant director in Reema Kagti's Honeymoon Travels, recruiting the secondary cast, helping the main actors with their lines and doing other odd jobs; he was assistant director to Dutch director Diederick Vanrooijen for a film based on Bollywood; now, he is first assistant director to an Austrian ad filmmaker. In between, he has been part of at least a score of commercials, assisting big names like Rakesh Omprakash Mehra and Sujit Sarkar.

He earns between Rs. 40,000 and Rs. 60,000 a month for his exertions. "I eventually want to direct films," said Advait. "I'm gaining expertise through these projects."

It all began with Kakkar and his Genesis Films. "I was his 17th slave, and every time I goofed up, Kakkar would threaten to sell me to his sheikh friend in Dubai," Chandan said, laughing. "Even though I worked for a pittance, it was a great learning experience."

A smooth-talker, Advait got his first break with Honeymoon.... "During shooting in Goa, I was almost sacked - apparently Kagti (the director) found my presence nerve-wracking," Advait said. But the producer Zoya Akhtar took pity on me. Imagine, at that point, I was spending more on telephone bills than what I was earning, and didn't even have money to come back home," he said. His father, a software consultant, has always been his chief patron.

The turning point was Taare… The rewards were manifold. Apart from gaining hands-on experience, he fell in love with Priyanjali Lahiri, who was the film's costume stylist.

He is proud of his brief association with Farhan Akhtar when he worked with him on a 20-minute AIDS awareness film called Positive. "Unlike Kakkar, who doesn't believe in scripts and leaves virtually everything to spontaneity, Akhtar is extremely methodical and organised. Everything is worked out in detail much before the shoot takes place. Ditto with Aamir, who never looses his cool."

Advait suddenly showed signs of restlessness. He had to rush to the airport. The Dutch crew had already arrived. "It's a seven-week project for which I will be paid Rs 15,000 a week. I will be responsible for everything starting from location scouting, working on the actors' lines to give a flavour of Bollywood romance, getting raw filmstock if required…you name it," he rattled off almost breathlessly. And, in no time he disappeared.

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