Last year was bad for all of us because of the deadly virus and the lockdown. People had to stay indoors, creativity went for a toss and the daily struggle became tough. The world as we know it changed forever and it is still adapting to the new normal. Bollywood and OTT’s rising star Manoj Chetan Singh Kaira’s creativity will help you visualize your quarantine days through his short film ‘In Return’ on YouTube.
The short film has been directed, shot and jotted down by actor Manoj Chetan Singh Kaira. The actor made his way into Bollywood after 18 years of hard work and dedication to the acting industry. Manoj Chetan Singh shared his experience of making his short film saying, “Last year when Corona pandemic was at its best, creative people were locked inside their house. Birds were freely flying in low pollution sky and many migrant birds were visible through my window which is attached to mangroves, that beauty used to give me motivation at this tough time. Many people have started doing online film festivals for short films then this idea clicked my mind.”
On sharing how the actor got the idea for his film he said, “Initially I made a 3-minute film and shared with my friend Abhimanyu Ray, “he told me, why don’t you elaborate it and make it a full-fledged short film. I agreed with him and began shooting for my film. I did everything from acting to directing to writing. I broke my phone while doing a scene and after three days of my shoot I was stuck with no hope left because everything was shut, then Nabahuti Ray helped me by giving her a standby phone iPhone 6s and I shot the full film.”
While sharing about the hardships the actor faced to get his desired shot and the members who joined his team for his short film, the actor said, “In the film apart from me there are dogs and birds. To get a proper scene as I wanted to take me months. I used to feed one bird another bird use to take it, the same with the dogs, it was very hard to manage them. I must have fed more than 10 kg of chicken to dogs to get the right shot. After few days I broke my mobile stand, then I used books and other household things to get the right height. In post-production national award winner sound mix Mandar Kamalapur joined the team, I used to dub with my mobile sound recorder and send it to him.”
Lastly, the actor shared how he loves cinematography and excitedly said, “I submitted my film to few festivals and it got selected. Although, filmmaking is a tough business and I have started loving and respecting every film after directing my first film because now I know how much hard work requires to make a film.”
On the work front Actor Manoj Singh will be soon seen in the Applause entertainment web series which is directed by National award-winner director E Niwas. The title will be revealed soon. The actor is also trained under theatre personalities like Arvind Gaur and Tarun Kumar Shukla, who also have done many workshops with actor Neeraj Kabi. There are many more projects under the pipeline for this actor which will be announced soon.
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