Home | Director | Producer | Key Crew | Credits DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LOURDS AMBROSE An Indian immigrant based in Los Angeles, with a Diploma in Cinematography, Lourds Ambrose is a veteran cinematographer with 20 years experience shooting wide screen feature films for theatrical presentation. He balances his career between feature films and high-end Hollywood commercials, having mentored under world-renowned commercial Cinematographer Curtis Clark, ASC and Feature Films Cinematographer Jorden Chronenwith, ASC. Lourds is also one the industry's leaders in the use of advanced technologies for cost-efficient film production. His recent feature film credits include – Therese, Lucky Angel, Revenge, The Immigrant, Zara si Bhool. Shonali and Lourdes started their creative collaboration in Los Angeles – where they spent hours discussing and visualizing the look and feel for Amu. This provided a strong foundation for the shoot. FILM EDITOR: BOB BROOKS Bob Brooks has been editing independent feature films since the early 1990s. Past projects include Mia Trachinger's "Bunny", "Therese", directed by Leonardo Defilippis, and "Scrambled" by John Di Minico. He recently completed Meena Nanji's feature length documentary, "View from a Grain of Sand" and is currently working with Cedric Troadec on his documentary debut, shot in Lebanon. Bob and Shonali started collaborating from the script stage where Bob provided invaluable input. He showed his brilliance as an editor by taking Amu’s first cut of 3 hours and making it a tight 102 mins. COMPOSER: NANDLAL NAYAK Nandlal Nayak was born into the folk cultural and musical tradition of the Ghasi tribe of Jharkhand, India. He is highly trained in the traditional drumming, singing and dance forms of this region. In addition to vocals, he plays all the drums of this musical tradition, including the nagara, the mandar and the dholak. Nayak's work as a Contemporary composer is innovative yet grounded in his tradition. Nayak has collaborated with musicians, dancers, theater and film and video artists from India, the United States, Japan, Ghana, Italy, Germany, Austria, and Great Britain. He has composed and performed music in collaboration with contemporary composer Michael Galasso for the Monte Carlo Ballet in a work choreographed by Carole Armitage, and for The Lady from the Sea, directed by the internationally acclaimed theater director Robert Wilson. Nayak also composed music for numerous media projects of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, including a video and music project which was presented in 220 countries around the world. Amu is the first feature film that he composed music for. CO PRODUCER: AIDAN HILL Aidan Hill is an award-winning writer, and independent film producer whose credits prior to Amu include Thérèse, and Bunny. Aidan's first collaboration with Shonali Bose was on her short film, Undocumented, while they were both attending UCLA. His controversial short film, Summer, was later awarded the Nicholson directing prize, and a special Certificate of Merit at the Rochester International Film festival.In addition to producing, Aidan has recently worked in marketing at Universal Pictures, and taught film production at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Aidan Hill has been Shonali’s “guru” since Film School. When he smiled after the reading of the 20th draft and said she was ready to make the film – she knew that the script must finally be great! CO PRODUCER: ATIYA BOSE Atiya and Shonali are sisters and went to UCLA Film School together where they produced each other’s films. Atiya’s short films won critical acclaim both in the film school and in international festivals particularly – “Woman and Girl” and “Some Water Will Boil.” After graduating from UCLA Atiya worked as a private investigator for a premier investigative firm in Los Angeles. She has recently moved back to India and is planning to start a school for girls in a slum. Atiya was integrally involved with the making of Amu. She read each of the 21 drafts – discussed, debated and counseled. She auditioned 60 Indian American actors with Shonali for the role of Kaju before they discovered Konkona. During the shoot she could not be there as she was mothering Shonali’s two children in Los Angeles – a critical role in getting the film made. She was actively involved in the edit which took place in LA. LINE PRODUCER: SANJAY BHATTACHARJEE Sanjay met Shonali while he was pursuing his course in Film Production at University of California Los Angeles. They struck more than a chord and Sanjay became the Line Producer for Amu, his first feature. Sanjay has been in the industry for 14 years and has had a brief stint at HBO, Los Angeles, Plus Channel, Delhi and as independent Producer/Co-Producer of TVCs, TV Software & Corporate films. Currently he is Executive Producer for a film, Manorama- Six Feet Under, a murder mystry produced by Shemaroo. His forthcoming projects are: Mother Tongue- A Supernatural Suspense to be shot in Calcutta & London with British & Indian cast as a Producer. Stamp Collector- A coming of age stroy of a little girl to be Co-Produced with a US Production House. Amu was the first feature film that Sanjay line produced. It was the only Indian film shooting at the time that came in on time and under budget! SOUND RECORDIST AND DESIGNER: RESUL POOKUTTY Resul Pookutty gives a new definition to the art of sound direction in Bollywood films. A graduate of India’s premier film school the Film and Television Institute in Poona Resul is now well established as a sound genius both aesthetically and technically. During the post of Amu which was done in LA the lab was astonished at the perfection of the sync sound in noisy crowded places – wherein not a single shot had to be ADR’d. Resul brings the same meticulous attention to detail in independent cinema such as Amu and Mixed Doubles as he does to Bollywood films such as Black, Zinda, Kyon Ho Gaya Na. He won several awards for his work in Black. PRODUCTION DESIGNER: AYESHA PUNVANI Amu was Ayesha’s first feature film. Since then her film credits include Khosla ka Gosla, Bluffmaster, Road to Ladakh, Amavas. Working with a tight budget on Amu Ayesha and her team created remarkable settings for the film such as the relief camp and the beer bar, brought out in the art direction the class differences between the middle class Bengali family home and the opulent Sehgal home and enhanced the authencity of the film. ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: NEELIMA GOEL Neelima came to Amu with many years of production experience primarily in television. Amu was her feature film debut as an Assistant Director. She was fiercely loyal to Amu and weathered many storms equably with her tact and firmness. She is currently working with the BBC on several documentary films in India. SCRIPT SUPERVISOR: SHUBHA RAMACHANDRA Shubha is one of the top script supervisors in the Indian film industry. Continuity is not something most Hindi films have bothered with but that is a trend that is changing rapidly. Amu was the second feature that Shubha did in this capacity, the first being Hari Om by Bharat Bala. Since Amu she has been Script Supervisor and Continuity for the Hollywood film Marigold directed by Willard Carroll, The Contest – an English film by Manish Acharya and Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. – a Hindi film by Reema Kagti. Following Amu she was also 1st AD on My Brother Nikhil. On Amu she was indispensable to the Director. COSTUME DESIGNER: SUJATA SHARMA Sujata is an established and experienced Costume Designer in the Indian film industry having worked on many big as well as independent films. Her meticulous attention to detail, her understanding and sense of different Indian social milieus, her plumbing the depths of the script’s characters to figure out what they wear – make her an asset for any film. On Amu her biggest challenge was dressing a hundred extras for the relief camp – and also her triumph – as they looked completely authentic. ADDITIONAL CORE CREW ON SHOOT Director’s Acknowledgement: A film cannot be made by one person. It is the outcome of the work and inspiration and talent of hundreds of people. Amu will always be the most special experience and film of my life and I will always remember the Amu crew because they were fantastic and gave so much of themselves. From every “spot boy” (a mind blowing designation and discovery in Indian films!) - to the gaffers, camera department, production boys, “setting”…. they were the best. Within that I would like to specially acknowledge a few people whose passionate commitment and dedication to Amu went beyond the call of duty. Amu would not have been Amu without them. TINA NAGPAUL Tina was the Financial Manager of Amu – and kept everything running smoothly and efficiently. She relieved me of a lot of my functions as Producer and I felt secure that she was there to keep an eye on things. She was also the Directors Assistant and truly kept both my body and soul together. She was the only Amu crew who worked in LA and India – she coordinated the auditions in New York for Kaju and line produced the LA shoot. Tina has now shifted back to India from the US after living here for many years and is currently writing her own script and working as an AD in Bombay. MANDAKINI DUBEY Manda’s contribution began with the very first draft of Amu. A Ph.D in English Literature and talented writer her feedback was great. But her essential contribution was on the set of Amu. She was my “eyes” sitting and watching the shots on the monitor while I would be right in front of my actors. She was also the shoulder that I could weep on through the many storms I encountered and gave me much succour and strength. Manda also edited and contributed to my draft of Amu as a novel which Penguin asked me to write after the shooting. ALI ABBAS ZAFAR Ali who was the set designer on Amu came up with some truly brilliant suggestions that were all grounded in my script which he grasped completely. The one that I will be permanently indebted to him for is the crane shot as the last shot of the film – also the most talked about and memorable shot. He was indispensable on set in solving myriad problems quickly and quietly whether technical or creative. Ali also coordinated the entire Indian release of Amu single-handedly including the marketing. Since Amu he has worked as Assistant Director on Willard Carrol’s Marigold, Rajshree Ojha’s directorial debut and Shaad Ali’s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom in which he is currently assisting in the post. He is also writing his own first feature which he will direct. SUNIL PANDEY Sunil was the first person that I hired on the Amu crew based on an email he wrote me in LA. He was in the Production Department starting of as an assistant and becoming the Coordinator. I worked closely with him in pre production in choosing locations. I will always be grateful to him for finding me the location for Amu’s home and the riots – a core location for the film to work. It was pouring with rain and we had to get out of the car and walk down this dirty railway line to a slum. The umbrella dropped and we got soaked as I kept staring at the location that I had written 21 drafts about. He had managed to understand what was in my head and find it for me! It’s quite another drama and story that that very location turned out to be the constituency of Jagdish Tytler – one of the ministers well known for his role in the ’84 carnage! Sunil worked incredibly hard and slept the least of anyone on the shoot. After Amu he has done various films including being AD on Rang de Basanti. He is currently 1st AD on a film being produced by Aamir Khan.