UPAJ: IMPROVISE ON AMAZON

Phew… I forgot to post this news to my blog.

So the documentary I directed, “Upaj: Improvise”, is now available on Amazon to rent and to buy.

Film Still

The film is about a creative collaboration between Kathak master Pandit Chitresh Das, and tap star Jason Samuels Smith. It’s about a union between classical Indian arts and African American roots music & dance. It’s about preservation of tradition in a rapidly changing world. And it’s about friendship.

Pandit Chitresh Das & Jason Samuels Smith

Film Still: Jason and Chitresh ji.

I was commissioned to do the project by Rina Mehta, largely because my background includes both film and dance (my mother directs a dance company).

Donald Young and Stephen Gong, at the Center for Asian American Media, generously took the film, and us, under their wing and helped us raise funds to produce the movie. They also presented an early cut of the film at their extraordinary film festival.

The team at CAAM Fest: Jason Samuels Smith, Pandit Chitresh Das, Antara Bhardwaj and myself

One of the film’s biggest champions is its producer, Antara Bhardwaj (an accomplished dancer herself) who guided the film from prep to completion, and is the guiding force behind the movie getting on to Amazon. I am grateful.

I’d like to acknowledge and thank Shipra Shukla, who produced a sample of “Upaj” that helped raise funding, and Shaun Jefford, who was our 2nd unit director in India.

The experience of making this film was both brutal and brilliant. I learned a great deal that I didn’t know I didn’t know about the craft of film making and about the rich traditions of jazz, tap and Indian classical music. The production took us from San Francisco, to New York, to Mumbai, Kolkata, Uttarpara and Kharagpur.

Film Still: Mumbai and the Indian Ocean.

“Upaj: Improvise” had a festival run a few years ago, and aired nationally on the PBS World Network several times. Since then, the film has been dormant. I sometimes got letters from curious parties and dancers asking how they can see it. I’m happy to say there’s finally a way that they can.

I hope you enjoy it.

Pandit Chitresh Das, Jason Samuels Smith, and myself while filming in San Francisco.

Sound mix at Skywalker Ranch with John Nutt (a hero of mine), Pete Horner, and myself.

At Mill Valley Film Festival with producer Antara Bhardwaj and myself.

At our premiere screening. Everyone in this photo knows how to ham, except me. I’d not have posted this, out of embarrassment, if everyone else in the image didn’t look so great. Pandit Chitresh Das, Jason Samuels Smith, Antara Bhardwaj and Shaun Jefford.