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So what happened ‘After the Third Bell’? Answers Ajay Govind!

In a previous interview with independent filmmaker Ajay Govind, he was busy wrapping up his film After The Third Bell (ATTB), after overcoming the challenges he faced while putting his debutante feature film together. Exactly after a year, Ajay came to us with the news of his film releasing on April 4, 2014 in PVR Cinemas across eight cities, and it ticked our curious mind to know the journey of the film from the point we left it. What happened with After The Third Bell after its making?

Somebody has rightly said that films come with their own destiny. In Ajay’s last interview with us, he told us that he was unsure about the film’s release and had another plan. Today, we are proud that the course has taken a good turn for him, as he is now gearing up for the film’s release. “Last February, i.e. in 2013, we were raising funds to finish the film. We crowd sourced talents to do different jobs in ATTB. Someone worked on colour grading while someone chose to do sound designing for our film for free of cost,” recalls Govind.

By the end of October 2013, which was exactly two years after his film After The Third Bell’s production began, he managed to finish the project. “Thereafter I went to Film Bazaar 2013 in Goa with a purpose of finding a collaborator for my film. That’s where I met Shiladitya Bora, who is with PVR Director’s Cut. I made him see the trailer of my film. We then had another meeting in Delhi, after which he decided to get me a release in PVR cinemas,” says the filmmaker.

“In the last week of December, we agreed on a workable deal. We looked up at the possible dates. I required approximately three months for the release, as it involved generating funds to market it right. That’s how we chose our release date.”

The filmmaker has targeted the fund amount to be around six to seven lakh, which will primarily be used to carry out some technical changes in the film and for marketing and publicity. “We want to run the trailer a week before the release and do some publicity with the help of posters and standees in and around theatres,”

Although Ajay is well versed with crowd sourcing, this is his first attempt at crowd funding a project. “We have done crowd sourcing where people worked with us. Now I am looking at generating funds. I don’t need talent but money.”

Speaking on the method of crowd funding, Ajay tells, “We are about 20–25 people who are directly associated with the film. Each of us is reaching out to our immediate network of friends and family. We have not engaged in any crowd funding platform per se. We are just directly reaching out to people.”

Speaking on the crowd funding trend followed by independent filmmakers, Ajay says, “I think people want to fund films because they appreciate the struggle that artists and filmmakers go through. Also, people are enthusiastic about seeing their names as the credit rolls on screen.” Ajay neither thought that he would end up crowd funding his film nor had any plans to do so.

Ajay is also currently looking for sponsors and collaborators. “We are targeting small to middle businesses, start-ups and new companies who can benefit from this collaboration.”

Talking about the response ATTB has received so far, he says, “ The campaign has currently crossed INR 3 Lakhs and looks like it will definitely reach or cross the INR 5 Lakhs mark by mid Feb.”

The scenario of independent films releasing in India is slowly changing. “Earlier, the challenge was to find a release. But now it is to get the audience to the theatre.” In this day and age, when multiple films release on a single day, it becomes difficult for independent films to compete with big banner productions. “That’s the kind of competition we have. However, we believe that the advantage with Indie films is that their content is unique and new. People have become strong-headed to reject the content that is not good and opt for stories that are new or fresh. That’s the hope for independent films. But we’ve planned the release of our film on a day when there is no big film releasing before or even on the same day. Hence, nothing will completely overshadow our film.”

Ajay believes that the only game changer is the trailer — the more people watch it, more are the chances of them catching the movie on screen. “That’s possible when we reach out to people through social media and other media platforms. The only disadvantage is that there are no stars associated with our production.”

While preparing for the release, the filmmaker is also working on his next project co-produced by actor and producer Sanjay Suri. The untitled film is a thriller based in Ladhak. “It is actually a film that I wrote in the middle of 2013. I met Sanjay to offer him a key role in the movie and he was keen in acting as well as co-producing it. We are still looking for funds, as this one has a huge budget.”

After The Third Bell will release on April 4, 2014 in PVR cinemas in Delhi, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Bombay, Pune, Bangalore, Cochin and Dehradun (tentative).

If you want to contribute to the film, visit —https://www.facebook.com/afterthethirdbell?fref=ts or contact Ajay Govind at http://www.wordsrhythmsimages.co.in/