WORKING ON THE LETTERS

Q1) A little about how the project came your way ?

It was initially over a phone call from my Line Producer Tony Cordeaux who sounded
me out for a period feature to be shot in India,I fixed an appt and met him ,he showed
me some video clips of test shoots and explained that it is a Biopic on Mother
Teresa,,he said its in planning and we will talk again,few weeks later I got a call again
from Tony and he wanted me to come over for a meeting,over coffee he said the project
is on and asked if I was free to do it,I said it would be an honor and pleasure to be on it
and a challenge too,I love period films and biopics,I didnt have to think much and
agreed immed.
Videos,Resumes,drafts,discussions and skype chats followed with my Dir Bill Riead(A
well known Docu filmmaker),He gave me an idea of what and how he wanted to do the
film and very importantly soundwise what he wanted for the film,Given our common
background in Documentaries it was easy to understand,he also said he was happy to
have me on board and that I had a fantastic resume,adding that it would be pleasure to
work with you and am sure you will do a good job, I felt good,welcome and confident,
I was given a low down on the cast/crew/locales/schedule etc,one of the deciding
factors of doing the film was the Dop Jack N Green,who is a legend and needs no
intro,I wanted to work with him.
Tony was extremely helpful and supportive and being a filmmaker himself he knew
what I needed to know and adviced me on the same in advance and helping me with
details and made me comfortable, much before shoot started, with cast and crew over
meetings
Q2) What was the experience like working on it
In one word excellent couldnt have been better,thoroughly enjoyed every moment.
To start of with,i had prepared myself well ,reading and watching from other
films(Period,Biopic),I carefully went through the location stills,watched videos of the
locations,making notes,selecting my crew with expereince to the relevant film and very
importantly getting the right equipment.
I had excellent rapport with my crew and other crew members,Cast where a mix of
Indian and foreigners,Dir Bill Riead was an excellent communicator and hence there
was never any issues,very approachable,patient and kind too,actors were
cooperative,The production team gave us excellent support.We did a detailed location
recce wherein most problems were sorted out
I would like to work with Bill and Tony again whenever possible
Q3) The challenges faced
The Challenges faced were logistical,Creative and Technical
Logistical were the locations,some slum areas had very dificult vehicular access and

hence we had to carry our gear and stuff over a large distance by hand,
Creative was that being a Period film I had to make sure that there were no extraneous
sounds which were not there in that particular period,I had to be careful to filter out
such ambient sound and disturbances as much as possible and make sure that what I
record were usable dialog,Given the locations it was very difficult but
patience,techniques,technology,prayers and good luck helped in getting the work done.
A creative issue I had to handle was the dialog tone of Mother Teresa,she talks in a
heavy whisper almost throaty with a accented voice which was they way it was
needed,so myself and Dir Bill Riead decided that she would be speaking that way
throughout the film and wouldnt change to another tone,as that was her original voice
of Mother Teresa,recording whispers in very loud and noisy environs is close to
disaster but managed to get good usable and clean dialogs,
What the audience hears is almost 100% of what was recorded at location,there hasnt
been any ADR/Dubbing for the film except a few lines which were for reasons other than
sound,so the dialog track is 100% location sound with very little post processing done.
The costumes were at times a issue for micing, but excelelnt rapport with and support
from the costume dept saved us many a times,they had creative and good suggestions
for micing which we were happy to incorporate.
Technically it was tough as we shot in peak summer and in very high humidity,so I had
some equipment breakdowns and stoppages but luckily I had backups and there was
very little downtime as I had factored in this weather possibility.
We had to shoot in Churches, Chapels, Cathedrals,most were a sound nightmare,very
reverberant,almost empty and acoustically not good,working around those situations
with almost nothing to except thinking on your feet was a tough thing I always had to
do,sometimes though they were a blessing in disguise,for exp when we recorded a live
choir in a church it sounded so warm and intimate that it surprised me, thanks to the
acoustics.
We had to shoot a lot of crowd sequences in very noisy locations as visually they went
well with the script but had to get the crowd to keep quiet for the dialog sequences
We shot long day exteriors in these conditions and were physically drained and
exhausted at the end of the day,it was more tougher on the cast with makeup and
costumes to work,
Given the end results I would think these are very minor issues and always expected in
these circumstances
I would like to take this oppurtunity to thank my crew-Shashi Kasare(Boom Operator)
and Anil DMello(2nd Boom and Asst) without whom this work wouldnt have been
possible.

Q4) A little about your background (FTII, etc)

I had done my Masters in Cinema with specialaisation in Sound Recording from

FTII,Pune after completing my Masters in Chemistry from Kolkata University.
My interest in Cinema started in school days with watching B/W BBC Wildlife
documentaries esp of David Attenborough along with Documentaries in TV and later a
mix of Hollywood,Indian,European ,Asian films,I was an active participant in organising
film screenings and festivals in my school and college days and still make sure that I
attend film festivals when ever I can,I conduct workshops on Sound for Cinema at
various film schools all over India and abroad.
I am born and brought up in Kolkata and hence had a very early access and interest in
Cinema from early childhood,Akira Kurosawa,Steven Spielberg,French and Italian
Masters were an early influence.
Besides Films and Documentaries I am a avid fan of Food and Travel shows on
TV,Anthony Bourdain, Ian Walker etc are something I enjoy.
I travel a lot and enjoy books and Western Classical music when not working
I am based out of Mumbai but travel the world with work and enjoy doing what I do.
Q5) What are other upcoming projects?
I have quite a few Interesting Feature Film projects in the pipeline,namely a feature set
in South Asia based on WW2
An International Feature on religion to be shot across 5 Countries
A Food and Travel show for an International Channel
Few Hindi Mainstream feature films with interesting scripts
Film school being setup in Southern Africa and NE Africa to tap and train upcoming
filmmakers from Africa
I also devote sometime of the year to work in Feature films of neighboring countries of
India and be an active participant in devoloping the film culture in those countries,esp
Bangladesh/Pakistan/Nepal/Bhutan/Burma and SE Asia
I wish to thank you and my family for this opportunity and am grateful to God for all I
have achieved! And look foward to your continued support and blessings
A word from the Film Editor about my work-A.Ostrom
Hari, good to hear from you! Yes all of it was great and usable, only a few words we had to re-record ADR
because of maybe a paper crumpling sound, or like the scene where Mother teresa kneels down teaching the
kids and the lav mic was covered. But all was good. I remember a couple of times though a slate clap but not
yet recording sound so had to sync up manually but no big deal
Congrats for a great job,This should get you awards for sure
Harikumar Pillai, is a FTII,Pune Graduate,based in Mumbai,Sound Designer/Mixer who works on Feature
Films/TV/Documentaries,he also conducts workshops on Sound for Films at various film schools in India and
Abroad,He has been assciated with major award winning films including Oscar winning ones