| If you
happen to be a fan of ad film makers, Prasoon
Pandey's name should strike you quickly
among the few well known ones. But just try doing
a Google search on his personal life, it will be
difficult to find something about him. Prasoon,
being a reserved yet outgoing, keen observer, creative,
and a Capricorn, is more than a little hard to crack.
Since our section is on his personal life, after
a lot of cajoling we finally managed a meeting,
which was scheduled for an hour, but finally ended
up being closer to three hours. And after that
he happily posed for our camera. An intelligent
man with intelligent philosophies is what correspondent
Nidhi Jain found while in conversation
with Prasoon Pandey.
My world ... I am a goat... Very
practical person, I... simply love ogling cars
but detest buying an expensive one. Whenever I
have a creative block, I switch off/sleep over,
readdress solutions in and around my mind... much
like entering a maze and trying to reach a centre.
For example, if I am indecisive about choosing
among the dozens of people I video tested, I just
chill and then return back.
A very dangerous thing that happens to me is
when I start having a comfort zone. I also like
things which give me a thrill nothing regular
excites me... (laughs) say a non skill required
activity like travelling, rollercoaster rides,
bungee jumping, skydiving. Though I am not a sports
person, I am a decent level cricket player, but
not as natural as Piyush (brother and famous ad
film maker). As far as my eating is concerned,
I tend to overeat tasty food. But going out specially
just to eat has a very low priority in my life.
My big mad family... In Jaipur,
consists of seven sisters and two brothers (I
being the youngest of the nine siblings), who
are all hyperactive, but the entire family bond
was about sharing and learning. I learnt dialogue
delivery from my dad since he was a fantastic
orator, and as for my mom she loves reading and
discussing, and all my sisters were into theatre,
music or painting.
I wish to be an architect... Coming
from a huge family that has a tradition in arts,
during school days I got creatively involved in
designing, theatre, painting, music, sound, lighting
etc. (Laughs) I didn't have a chance of not being
creative, which was scattered in a loose way.
Plus, I hated the idea of becoming a banker, since
I was skilled with my hands... I thought of becoming
an architect when I was in 5th class ... Why?
Oh! I love making houses, their art decors. I
like destroying houses and restructuring it. My
wife Gayatri and I redo our house now and then,
in six years we have redone our house completely
four times.
Designing problems... execution
of creative briefs... I love working with broken
things and enjoy solving architectural problems.
How people like doing crosswords, I go looking
for designing/creating problems. I get fidgety
if I don't...
Discovering designs... I can make
sculptures with wires, and also do stitching.
In folk shows I used to stitch tailoring covers
for instruments. One thing led to another, since
I was good at drawing, I got an opportunity to
make brochure logos for a magazine. One such logo
was for NCERT, a maths book
After joining
National Institute of Design, I discovered a lot
about designing, my first placement happened to
be Lowe Lintas for advertising.
My day starts... with 4 cups of
tea while going through the newspapers.
Awestruck by stars or stardom...?
Never... I guess the credit goes to stars and
the right attitude they carry and also they are
similar to us. But I must admit that I am awestruck
by Mr Bachchan who is very humble and tries to
make us feel equal.
My actors... If I am angry I get
irritated at shoots, but I am also aware that
I can't demoralise an actor who is emotionally
fragile like a child. To encourage, I say "Fantastic...
and then Clap."
Compliments... (he took a pause
for 4 minutes, kept laughing and finally answered)...
A recent one I cherish is an Sms sent 20 days
back by a wonderfully talented man, Mr Boman Irani,
saying, "I get upset every time, thinking
you may not make a feature film, since you are
a national treasure. That only I know or your
wife knows."
11 yr old Tavishi... My daughter
has a trademark of me, aggressive, (she's been
featured in the MANGO SLICE AD CAMPAIGN) and simply
does not give in. She is learning odissi, folk
and modern dance, to play the keyboard and also
soccer. She does everything simultaneously till
she gets very tired.
Mother Teresa... Is how I describe
my wife Gayatri (his classmate and lady love from
NID days) who has sacrificed her career to raise
kids creatively; I wish I had two wives to lessen
the burden of Gayatri.
My worst and my best... I am horrible
at writing, giving speeches, but it's a great
feeling to make ad films with a small team. It's
like playing one day films for that we were complimented
to be most sought after production house, it gives
a high.
Ayushman...my 8 year old son, is
a trademark of mine, has a clever sense of humour,
plays the guitar and likes basketball as a sport.
Birth of Corcoise... Ayushman came
up with that name by mixing species of Cockroach,
dinosaur and caterpillar, and the logo has been
designed using daughter Tavishi's young vocabulary.
Time for myself... People think
I am mad! Well, I have been floating an idea for
the past six months to leave everything and go
on vacation, with a budget of spending Rs 400/-
day. To tell you about my adventurous past
It was tough but great fun, life in Delhi. I have
slept at Rajpath on 25th January, have also slept
in front of Kamani auditorium on the footpath,
and also at freaky places in desert.
Its all about money...Honey... It
means being able to do things like traveling,
buying music, watching movies. I am not a brand
conscious person, I like well designed watch which
don't cost anything above Rs 5000. Previously
I had an Armani Emporia, now have a Fossil but
I am a design freak for shoes, irrespective of
the money it costs. I own 20 pairs now.
Advertising, TV, and films... As
I see it, ads of today have become interesting
though not necessarily intelligent. Ads used to
talk down to the audience before, not anymore.
As far as feature films are concerned, there
is a decline in presentation. As far as personal
viewing is concerned I am addicted to NGC, Discovery,
and Travel and Living. I love... Cartoon films
ICE AGE, SHARK TALE
and OBELIX remains my
favourite cartoon character.
Dream project... My juices will
flow only in film. Right now I am working on a
script for my feature film.
Quote... Said-unsaid... "Fantastic,
once more!"
Pics
by Prasoon's personal library & by Nidhi Jain
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