SHORTCODE

Challenge Accepted

Intention/ Purpose


The main intention across all three films is to inspire. The overall message that no matter what life throws at you, success or failures, we are ready. ‘Challenge Accepted’.  The idea is to create a campaign of three films, each having an inherent quality with tone and structure but all aim to inspire.

Script
Treatment

AB de Villiers
-REFLECTIVE

This film stays with AB de Villiers’
reflective state of mind.

We capture him seated in the
team bus on the way to the hotel
from the airport. “I still remember
that night. On the bus, from the
airport to the hotel.”

AB de Villiers is with his team mates in
the bus.“We had lost an away game,
another close one. Things were really
quiet.”

AB de Villiers never engages with the lens until
the very end. He is introspective, looking out of
the window and occasionally a smile or greet
to his team mates. The inner voice sets the
mood for the film.
“It was then that it happened.”

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The film is interspersed with footage of a scoreboard
suggesting a close game that was lost. This is cued
with SFX of cheering crowds and then silence.

We follow this with a shot of the stadium
light switched off.

This cuts well to a shot of the street light
passing over AB de Villiers face. We see
the pain on his face (a subtle expression).

The other focus of the film is the fans queued outside the stadium. We see a mix crowd – friends, couples, a father, two brothers, university mates, some older people, three girls, an office executive, a lady by herself and so on. The queue has many fans but we focus on a few.
“Driving past the Chinnaswamy, our home. It was really late in night. But do you know what I saw? A mile long queue. Thousands of fans, queuing to buy tickets…That is when it struck me: I need to be like those people out there. I mean, look at them. They go through the things we go through”
AB de Villiers bus is en route to the
stadium. We see fans running past the
bus. The first shot of the fans queued is
an immediate blur. We return to focus on
the face of a few later in the edit.
“Success and failure doesn’t happen in
cricket alone. They go through their jobs,
their relationships, their lives. (I mean their
cricket team isn’t doing great either.) But
yet here they were, this late in the night,
smiling, chatting.”

“And I knew tomorrow when we play, their
roar - that patented Chinnaswamy sound,
isn’t going to be any weaker.”

The film ends with a flurry of shots of the stock
footage where AB de Villiers resolves that win or
loss, tough opposition or not, asking rate or not,
we are and always will be ‘Challengers’. “That was
when I decided. Come what may, whether we win or we
lose, we will enjoy the game. A tough opposition? We’ll
enjoy that. The pitch isn’t offering us anything? We’ll enjoy
that, too. Weather, a ridiculous asking rate? We’ll enjoy
those as well. Whatever the challenge. We’ll enjoy it. Like
those fans outside the stadium, late in the night.”

These last sequence has an intensity
as each line is spoken and as we cut
between AB de Villiers face and the
stock footage. We never have AB de
Villiers mouthing the lines on screen.
These words are his inner voice and is
translated as an voice over all the
visuals in the film. “That day, or rather
the night, I realized something: All my
life I’ve been a winner. But we are
more than just that. WE ARE
CHALLENGERS.”

Navdeep Saini
GRIT

Navdeep Saini
GRIT

Navdeep’s film is different in pace, structure, music and feel from AB de Villiers. This film is younger in approach. It also is a film that mixes shooting formats making it younger in feel. Navdeep’s film has a varied spatial landscape. We move between gully cricket to net practice in a big stadium to a practice in a local ground to finally a RCB dressing room.

The gully cricket is shot in an iconic location in Delhi. We include many shots of Navdeep bowling with dust, sweat and grime.

The scene where he is not allowed in Kotla stadium is staged cleverly. We show a burly security guard shooing him away. The next shot we see his P.O.V. of a scrawny lazy security fellow outside a local ground. We cut back to a mischievously smiling Navdeep who raises his eyebrow to suggest that this is the moment of truth.

The film is interspersed with shots of the tennis ball being replaced with a leather one. We also inject a wide shot of Delhi from the sky.

The film ends with Navdeep getting ready in the dressing room with his team mates. We include a shot of the fans cheering outside in the stadium. The sound continues over the lines and Navdeep ends with saying the final lines to camera – Par jo kuch bhi ho, Challenge accepted!

“Under-15, Under-19, woh poora
circuit hi miss kar diya maine…"

“Bas, gully ka tennis ball bowler tha,
aur woh hi rah gaya…"

“Bade stadium mein bowling karne ki
bade dreams dekhe the…”

"Par ek gully cricketer ko Kotla main
gussna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin
hai!”

“Phir ek din pata chala ki Delhi ki team
ek chotte ground mein practice kar
rahi hain, Security bhi zyada khaas
nahin tha. Toh socha, “Bhai, this is my
way in!”

“Ground mein practice bowlers ki kami
thi, aur kisi ne mere haath mein leather
ball thama di! Leather ball!

“Maine apne aap se kaha, “Arre, ball ko kya pata, ki bowling main kar raha hoon ki Kapil Dev?” Toh doubt ko kiya out, aur jum ke bowling ki.”

“Challeging tha, par main bhi kisi
challenger se kam nahin tha!”

Aaj main India aur Royal Challengers
Bangalore ke liye bowling karta hoon.
Kotla se RCB! Aagey kahan, kise pata?

Par jo kuch bhi ho, Challenge Accepted!

Sugumar
COMEDIC

Sugumar
COMEDIC

Sugumar’s film is vivid in color, texture and expressions. We try and capture the innocence and the clarity of a man who has spent 12 years of his life dedicated as a fan to his team. The film opens with years being torn away from a calendar and 2019, last year torn away to reveal Sugumar in his own house. Sugumar is trying out different looks and avatars in his bedroom which is adorned with RCB posters and memorabilia from over the years. His wife walks in with a cup of tea. She herself is in a RCB tee with the team colors on her face. Sugumar seems pleased finally with his look and picks up his suitcase leaving for work.

The next scene is Sugumar on his scooter on the way to his office. He gets frowned upon many passerby. Some even mock him.

Sugumar continues to fix his look in his office. The clients frown on the long wait glancing at the small watch on the wall. RCB posters adorns his office walls as well. Sugumar busies himself giving final touches to makeup on his face. The client smiles as he  sits back in his chair and wee see his P.O.V of the Sugumar’s face.

Sugumar’s face is transported in the stadium cheering as the last few lines stream over. A footage shot of a six and Sugumar cheering wildly.

The film opens with years being torn away
from a calendar and 2019, last year torn
away to reveal Sugumar in his own house.
Sugumar is trying out different looks and
avatars in his bedroom which is adorned with
RCB posters and memorabilia from over the
years. His wife walks in with a cup of tea. She
herself is in a RCB tee with the team colors
on her face.

Sugumar seems pleased finally with his look
and picks up his suitcase leaving for work.
“12 years is a long time to wait.”

“During the season you bump into fans of
other teams. And there is you know, the
usual jokes, the jibes.”

The next scene is Sugumar on his scooter on
the way to his office. He gets frowned upon
many passerby. Some even mock him. “And
off season, it’s people on the streets. When
they see me in an RCB jersey. I am asked
everywhere I go, “Why are you still a
supporter?” “Your team has never won!”

Sugumar continues to fix his look in his office. The client frowns on the long wait glancing at the small watch on the wall. RCB posters adorns his clinic walls as well. Sugumar busies himself giving final touches to makeup on his face. “And I say this, every time: Winning a match isn’t entirely up to us. But not losing heart? That is up to us."

The client smiles as he sits back in his chair and we see his P.O.V of Sugumar’s face. Sugumar’s face is transported in the stadium cheering as the last few lines stream over. A footage shot of a six and Sugumrar cheering wildly. “That is what makes a challenger. Win or not, we’re challengers. It is even in our name! And I tell everyone that: We are Challengers! I’ve even told Virat Kohli that!

Tonality

Each film has an inherent tone. The tone varies between comedic, reflective, grit and determination. Each film navigates the narrative through specific tones and end with the resolve ‘Challenge Accepted’. The idea here is to have the script guide the tone for each film. The tone depends on the personality of the cricketer and the fan and the script.

Tone/ AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers, an intellectual cricketer with an introspective personality lends
properly to a reflective film. A film where AB de Villiers eases into his role on
screen as he plays himself. He is comfortable in his role as he plays his part of a
reflective man, a cricketer who observes things around him in an astute way.
Tone/ Navdeep Saini

Navdeep Saini, a young cricketer who through sheer hard work and determination
achieved the impossible. The tone of Navdeep Saini’s film is of hard grit and
determination. Navdeep is a young cricketer with limited exposure to acting for
commercials and this will be kept in mind when constructing his film. The cricketer is
given staccato expressions, short yet explosive expressions. This guy has an amazing life
story that needs to come alive. This film is the only one that traverse times, we move
through years to showcase the cricketer journey to finally end up on the big stage.
Tone/ Sugumar

Sugumar, a die hard RCB fan, who goes through plays his part of a superfan unabashedly.
This lends to a comedic structure that brings out the colorful character on screen. We
capture Sugumar at home, on the streets and in the stadium, always in the
mode of a superfan. He is not waivered in his commitment towards playing his part. He is
always in garb and costume and this throws up some interesting comedic situations.

Look & Feel
Needless to say, All three films are consistent in
look and feel. They imbibe detailed aesthetics
across all layers in the film. The aesthetics evoke
well rounded international films. The camera
works in tandem with the script. The camera
movement is subdued in the AB de Villiers and
its gets frantic in the Navdeep Saini film. The
camera captures well orchestrated scenes in the
Sugumar film.
The color palette of all films is real and moody.
AB de Villiers film has an overall blue hue to the
tone of the film. Navdeep Saini’s film is warm and
dusty and ends being tube lit clean in the
dressing room. The color palette of Sugumar film
is vivid as per the requirement of each scene.
The films will evoke a feeling of inspiration. It will
be melancholic and gritty and at times comedic
within an overall excellent sense of aesthetics.

Format
All three films are shot on multiple camera
formats. We will shoot on 16mm film, early VHS
format and present day ARRI Alexa digital
format. The mixed formats lends to an expansive
film that resonates in present day contemporary
look and feel similar to a Nike or Adidas
International commercial. The cameras are
selected carefully according to scenes and that
adds texture and character to that particular shot
or scene.

Music
The music of each film is selected as per
the requirements of the script. AB de Villiers
film requires a soft symphonic track that
layers in with his words and SFX. Navdeep
Saini’s film allows for a higher energetic
musical score and Sugumar’s film is scored
working with the drama on screen.

The other important aspect is sound design.
All 3 films have a superbly crafted SFX that
blends in smartly with the music and words
spoken.

Each film is unique in sound and visual
design. Spatial design for each film across
sonic and edit structures will be unique as
well.

To Summarize, each film is unique and honest in it’s approach. They all
have one uniform goal, to inspire. Each film is well crafted from the edit
to the way it’s shot to the acting and production design. Our intention is
similar to the cricketers and the fans –
‘Challenge Accepted’