The greats behind the glamour

From Monday to Thursday every week 77 yearold musician Kersi Lord goes to the theatres to watch the 1230 showu00a0After a glorious career spanning over half a century the musician who watched Spiderman in 3D this week says he finally gets to do what he wants every dayu00a0Lord worked as a musician for SD Burman and later with his son and friend RD Burman But unlike the music directors Lord was never a figure of adulation mdash few filmgoers know of his work or the fact that he arranged the muchappreciated music for the 1978 film Shalimaru00a0 Kersi Lord right a musician from the rsquo70s worked with SD and RD Burman on many movies and arranged music for the 1978 film Shalimar Technicians like him who were never in the limelight will now be featured in the film magazine Itrsquos Only Cinema which will be launched next week On July 15 when art director Narendra Rahurikar and senior editor Udaya Tara Nayar release the film magazine Itrsquos Only Cinema Lord perhaps will get his due The magazine promises to have none of the regular star gossip and glamour overload Instead it will feature the people behind the scenes and their contribution to the larger than life films wersquove watched over decades mdash those like Lord Panchamrsquos friend After four unanswered calls Lord calls back exuding the energy and excitement of a 17 yearold He slows down after a gentle request to do so ldquoOn an average we worked for 12 to 15 hours a day We would record four to five songs a day but it never felt like workrdquo recalls Lord who first met RD Burman when he returned to Mumbai from his school in Panchgini ldquoPancham was fantastic guy With time I became his closest friend after Ashaji of courserdquo says Lord with a smile in his voice Lord worked on close deadlines for Shalimar ldquoAs an arranger I was in charge of arranging a piece of music for a singer I had to make sure every aspect of a music piece was in harmony from the instruments to the tempordquo he saysu00a0Lord admits how he as a musician was never in the limelight in those days ldquoIt will be good for the present generation to be covered in a magazine It gives their work a face There was a magazine called Dastak which did something similar but it never really took off So letrsquos seerdquo says Lord Choreographer Chinni Prakash has worked on films such as Mohra and Jodhaa Akbar Promoting technology too Rahurikar who is currently working on the sets of Bol Bachchan and was also art director for films such as Golmaal says the idea struck him last year when he was working on the film Blue ldquoI went abroad to work with artistes who specialised in underwater cinematography When I returned an artiste approached me and said he did the same work and had the exact same technology here too Anil Kumar right was an assistant director for TV serials such a Tara and Kusum Thatrsquos when it struck me mdash because our film industry reveres only actors and directors the most important people get left out Not only do they never get their due in terms of recognition but the fraternity also loses out on some great talent within the country because no promotional activity has ever been arranged for techniciansrdquo says Rahurikar Itrsquos Only Cinema says Rahurikar will also write about promising talent in the 400odd film institutes around the country who teach all aspects of filmmaking to aspirants Senior film journalist Nayar is the magazinersquos editor ldquoIrsquove chased enough stars in my five decadelong career Itrsquos time to write about the real stars of the industryrdquo she says Loveleen Bains has designed costumes for films such as Kamasutra and Rang De Basanti In 1995 when Nayar started the Screen Film Awards at the film magazine she noticed how all the technicians were given awards at the start of the event and ldquowere dealt with a bit too quicklyrdquo When she suggested that technicians too be given Lifetime Achievement awards people scoffed her ldquoI suggested for instance that we give the award to Mangesh Desai the rerecording expert at Rajkamal Studio mdash he was so talented that Satyajit Ray came all the way from Calcutta to work with him Then there was Minoo Patrak the sound recordist who excelled at the art But awards instead went to Mala Sinha and Suraiya thenrdquo Until Resul Pookutty won the Oscar for sound mixing in the film Slumdog Millionaire the Indian audience didnrsquot take anything except acting seriously feels Nayar ldquoSound mixing is such a fine artrdquo she adds She remembers how during the making of the film 1947 mdash A Love Story Nayar met veteran sound recordist Narendra Singh who closely worked with Satyajit Ray He told Nayar about a scene in the film where Anil Kapoor enters a church where he is about to meet Manisha Koirala ldquoSingh suggested that a boy clean tables in the church So while Kapoor waits for Koirala the voice in the background mdash due to the cleaning mdash rings lsquothak thakthakrsquo Gradually the crescendo builds up as she enters The effect is beautiful Is there an award for thatrdquo Woman behind the costume Costume Designer Loveleen Bains agrees that a lot of nervewracking work dos not get recognised It was midnight in Khajuraho in 1994 and Bains who was working on the film Kamasutra was informed that the garment she had designed didnrsquot work ldquoMeera Nair the director just shrugged her shoulders and said that she didnrsquot like itrdquo says Bains whose career spans 25 years ldquoI stayed up all night with 20 tailors and created two garments before the 5 am shootrdquo Bains smiles at the memory Her work begins from the day she signs film till the final pack up ldquoI study the script and research the era the film is set in the characters and the mood the director wants to highlightrdquo says Bains who has worked on films and television serials including The Rising mdash Ballad of Mangal Pandey Rang De Basanti and Mausam She also won the national award for Muhafiz in 1994 ldquoEveryone thinks a costume designer is a fashion designer This is not true I am responsible for all the characters in the film I have to understand the directorrsquos vision to create the costumesrdquo says Bains adding that she is happy that a magazine will finally take its readers behind the sets and show them the face of the numerous hands that work to bring out the film ldquoWe are the actors backstage Itrsquos nice to get some recognitionrdquo she laughs u00a0