Been There, Done That

Scriptwriter, poet, actor, director- Rohit Shenoy, an early 20’s chap, the face of Junk Funk Production, has recently won the 'Channel V's Directors Cut', for his short films ‘Sketch of Fate.’

Channel V’s Director’s Cut is a reality show where student film makers all over India participate in this film making contest. The participants have to show their creativity in every round in order to get to the next level. This final level is the Director’s Cut. In literal terms a director’s cut is a specially edited version of a film. ‘Cut’ explicitly refers to the process of film editing. The director's cut is preceded by the rough editor's cut and followed by the final cut meant for the public film release.

Many colleges like Xavier’s, Jai Hind, KC, etc participated amongst which S. K. Somaiya got home the the Director’s Cut, 2012 trophy. The College thanked the Junk Funk Production for their movie ‘Sketch of Fate.’ The story of the film revolves around an unhappy suicidal girl and a scrap picker boy as how the boy finds her drawing book in a trash can and how fate brings them together through her drawings with life teaching lesson.

4 years back a group of ordinary 6 college going kids with handful of money, basic equipments, concepts and thoughts and above all the passion for films came together and created an unexpected production house, The Junk Funk Production. Junk Funk has created a couple of movies in the past 4 years wherein Rohit Shenoy happens to be the force behind the production house & has an enviable slate on hand. Rohit, an x BMMite of S. K. Somaiya is the creative strength and is the unsung hero who multi- tasks.

Choosing a Mass Media course was something not on Rohit’s list after his HSC. They say best things are unplanned and Rohit Shenoy is a firm believer of it. Being forced by parents to opt for Engineering he went against his parents will. Rohit believes that making movies is way easier than getting KT’s in Engineering.

Being a college assignment ‘Bread of Happiness’ his first short film boosted his fascination for movies. ‘Bread of Happiness’ elucidates basic strata’s of our society, the rich and the poor in 5 mins. The story revolves around a poor boy and his struggle to simply gift a piece of bread to his younger sister on her birthday. Former Prof. Saransh Mohite who himself is a critically acclaimed short film maker gave him a standing ovation. He says, “it is very hard to see movies of this echelon at the very first attempt with equal amount of realism and humour. And directing and acting simultaneously is something professionals are good at. But Shenoy has something matchless which is really hard to describe. He is a truly potential and passionate film maker.”

“Rohit is a creative person. He sees things through different perception. He simply takes you to a place which no man can visit even in his dreams. He makes his best shot to add realism in his films. Although we are of the same age working, with him is always a great experience. He will make you take retakes and retakes until the shot is as per his satisfaction,” says Junk Funk cinematographer Parikshit Nehete aka PK.

Rohit comes from a middle class family of 4. His parents are into catering and older brother in BPO. Being praised for his films, Rohit simply says, “I’m a director who was not meant to be a director. I don’t have a simple digi or SLR camera nor do I have a computer or any basic equipment required to make movie, all I have his my own vision to see things differently and my team mates for support.”

Shenoy considers himself more of a chameleon. He does scriptwriting, acting, directing. He is more of a poet and lyricist and not to forget mentioning, a band member of Grass. Ergo, there are variations of him. When asked on his future plans on career he says, “Movie making is not a 9-5 business. Making movies can get you a career but having it as a profession is a feel of pride but I don't think I'll take it as a career. I make movies for fun. I enjoy making movies. I'm a carefree person but a true believer of fate & I believe that if I got to be a director, fate will lead me.”

Rohit Shenoy, the dark horse, today works for the very gigantic event management firm, The Adlabs Media Ent. He is no Steven Spielberg or Anurag Kashyap but this happy go lucky fella has food for thought for all the upcoming young film makers, “Be a master of one and jack of none.”

When we turn on a television set, we get a range of channels to keep us informed and entertained for all the 7 days of a week. When we browse the internet, an ocean of information floods at a click of a mouse. I guess we are just way to lucky to live in this era of advanced technology. These media plays a very crucial role in our day to day life in shaping our beliefs, perceptions, ideas, values and our behaviour in the society. It is a powerful medium of education and entertainment in numerous ways. But did we ever stop for a while and think what impact exactly is the media leaving on you, me, our family, on the coming generation and the society?

Our society is rampant with corruption, crime, etc. and many a times media plays the role of adding fuel to aggressive behaviour, violence, sex, obscenity etc. however more over in the younger generation.

The following two posts will deal with such issues. It is to be noted that the following posts are analysis of five research papers each post. The first post will be a brief analysis on the effects of violence in media and the second on the sexual content in media. Each post has a bibliography of the research papers followed for this project.