Siblings -- Krati and Varun Tandon -- always dreamt of making films. While they were still in college, they started their own production house called -- Kya Baat Hai. The duo , along with a few friends started making short films, “But, as we had no internet those days, we just kept them or got them screened at film festivals and colleges circuits,” explains Krati, who takes care of everything for her production company.
While Krati went on to study business, Varun took to full time filmmaking. He was even mentored by Ritesh Batra. The duo is now in the news for their latest film Syaahi on the YouTube.
The film, which won many awards including Best Film Audience Choice (Seattle South Asian film festival, 2016), Best Film Audience Choice (Alexander Valley Film festival, 2016), Best Director (at Grand Troyes International Short Film Festival, 2016) and the Best Actor award (Grand Troyes International Short Film Festival, 2016) to name a few.
Syaahi, which means ink, is about a young boy, who feels neglected by his writer-father. Certain events in his life lead to the restoration of the communication between them as a family.
Ask Varun, what triggered off the idea for him to write the story and he responds with, “Once I wrote the story, it didn’t leave me. I knew this had to be our next film. Syaahi is about seemingly simple events which end up altering a child’s view point towards life. All of us have had these moments.”
In the past, Krati and Varun have made films like Gulcharrey (2011) and Noor (2013), which are available on YouTube. “ Gulcharrey did really well online,” beams Krati, who then narrates how they raised the funds to make this film. “I approached my batch mates in my business schools to finance Syaahi. They were kind and many came forward as co-producers. My marketing skills came in handy,” laughs Krati, who adds that the film was shot in the hills completely using solar power.
Did Krati and Varun ever fight or face sibling rivalry while working? “No, there is no sibling rivalry. We, in fact, share a good rapport as even as children, as we never lived together. We have lived in different cities. But we do fight a lot with each other when we are not working together. Then we take a day’s break from each other and get back to work together again.”
To watch Syaahi click here https://www.youtube.com/
