It has been a year since The Vibe was launched and it has since been exploring contemporary lifestyle, like no other channel. Founded by Asad Abid, the channel has dived into creating authentic experiences that are aimed at inspiring people to live a better and conscious lifestyle. From snow boarding to skiing, from the Andaman Islands to the Himalayas, they have covered an array of topics and destinations. Adding another experience to their list is a new adventure called ‘Sailing the Kalizma’. With the Kalizma yacht at the centre of its story, The Vibe explores the islands of Seychelles in the Indian ocean.

From exploring the history of the Kalizma to unraveling the mysteries of Seychelles, this is a journey that gives you a new perspective on beauty. To know more about ‘Sailing the Kalizma’, Pandolin caught up with the Founder and Executive Producer Asad Abid and Cinematographer Sukesh Viswanath (Rohan  Thakur was the other Cinematographer) who take us behind the scenes of this magical video.

Asad Abid

Asad Abid

Asad it has almost been a year since ‘The Vibe’ was launched, how has your journey been so far?What were the obstacles you’ll have had to overcome?

It has been crazy and overwhelming! We have got a positive response for all the content that we have put out. We clearly see a space for this style of storytelling and are keeping it very authentic and contemporary. The channel has grown tremendously and we have built a community of half a million followers, especially on Facebook. Now, we are looking forward to partner with brands and do a lot of content in this style.

There were a lot of challenges. I am trying to get people to understand the mindset of making such content. You can’t approach this in the traditional style of production, it doesn’t become economically viable and that is a very big challenge; to keep the cost low and yet to do such quality content. A lot depends on the opportunity we create with people, both in front of and behind the camera.

We would like to become opinion leaders in contemporary lifestyle

How was the idea for Seychelles developed and how did the Kalizma become the driving force of the story?

On ‘The Vibe’, we have been creating content on topics that speak about contemporary lifestyle. We have covered topics like snow boarding, skiing, trekking, backpacking, a lot of outdoor and contemporary lifestyle. People like the whole idea as it is no more just for adventure seekers, it is a way of life for many people. But sailing was a topic that we hadn’t touched upon yet. We thought if we had a great location and did a sailing feature, that would be extremely cool.

One of our team member happens to be a scuba diving master. We covered scuba diving extensively in our first episode ‘Away From Home’ where we showcased the Andaman Islands. So, we have been very active in the diving community and this network let us to the Kalizma and the experience it offers. We reached out to them and asked if they would like to partner on a feature around the yacht. They were more than happy and it was pretty exciting to film the video.

What was the idea behind incorporating the Kalizma and the island of Seychelles in the same story?

The idea basically was that the Kalizma sails into Seychelles because it has such beautiful beaches and the island has so much to offer. The experience of a journey is not complete without the destination itself and the destination that was chosen was Seychelles. It is part of the Indian ocean and is simply beautiful. The destination gives that added charm to the Kalizma.

We wanted to capture the essence of the place, the community, their food, everything

Coming to you Sukesh (Viswanath), can you tell us a bit about the brief you received for shooting ‘Sailing the Kalizma’?

The brief of the video was basically that we are going on the Kalizma and shooting on land, air and underwater. We had to approach the video like an extremely stylish music video. Initially, we were going to cover multiple islands, but that wasn’t possible because the weather didn’t permit it. Hence, we covered one island and tried to capture the essence of the islands through our video.

The Vibe

Cinematographer Sukesh Viswanath with Paloma and Emanuel

Asad can you tell us a bit about the hosts, was there something specific that you were looking for?

We wanted to show people who are comfortable and conscious about the ocean culture, people like Paloma (Monnappa) and Emanuel (Abeyewardene). We don’t cast actors, we cast people who live such a life. If you see Paloma’s Instagram, you will clearly see that she is a beach bum and is the most comfortable in water. She is also a conscious ocean culture activist. She has some relatability with the ocean and so does Emanuel, who also happens to be a colleague of Paloma’s and has worked with her closely. The brief for the video was to be your natural self, we would also record day logs after every day’s shoot, just to capture the mood and the vibe of that day.

The experience of a journey is not complete without the destination itself

Which parts of the island did you concentrate on and what kind of challenges did you face during the making of the video?

We went there during the monsoon, which isn’t the most ideal time and therefore, we didn’t get to cover all the islands. But we could explore Mahé extensively, which is the central and the largest island. We wanted to capture the essence of the place, the community, their food, everything. It is like any other island, a lazy town with a very laid-back kind of vibe. The rainy season gave it a holistic feeling of going to an island and camping out and chilling.

Weather was the biggest challenge. It would be sunny for a few seconds and suddenly, it would start pouring. Our forecast apps were useless, you couldn’t predict anything and therefore planning the shoot became difficult. We were there for seven or eight days, but we managed only two or three shoot days. We did shoot in the rains as well, but it was challenging.

Talking about challenges, Sukesh what kind of challenges did you face while filming the aerial and underwater shots?

With the drone, the only challenge we faced was the weather. Also, landing the drone on the moving yacht was a bit tricky. For the underwater sequences, we did a lot of pre-diving scenes and if you see the video, there is a lot of breath-hold diving. I am diving instructor and have been doing underwater shoots.

Landing the drone on the moving yacht was a bit tricky

In terms of equipment, what did you use for the underwater and aerial shots?

For underwater we were shooting on the GoPro Hero5 and aerial was shot with the DJI inspire drone.

Lastly Asad, what are the future plans for The Vibe, how do you see it grow?

We would like to become opinion leaders in contemporary lifestyle, especially in the youth space. We want people to do things that are inspiring, which push you to live better. That is the kind of space we want to capture. We also want to navigate brands and marketers through this style and narrative of storytelling paired with the appeal of visuals. We just want to inspire people to live better, live a more conscious and cool life.