In August 2000 I got a call from iDream Productions saying that they would like to discuss a new film idea with me. I had been in touch with them for another film, which for some reason was getting delayed. So now there was a new project. I was excited. When I met them the next day, I was asked just out of the blue, "Would you be interested in Gulliver's Travels?" Interested? I jumped at it! It took me a few microseconds to say yes and the only reason why I said yes with such an alarming speed was because of my tremendous enthusiasm and complete ignorance about the technology involved. Even if I had one hundredth of an idea about what awaited my team and me, I might have been skeptical…

What exactly does it take to make a children's film? How is it different from a normal film? What are the ingredients that go into such a film? What is it that attracts and excites a young mind? These were the questions that hounded me once the film was on. There was even a lot of research done but eventually I had to go by my instinct. To make a children's film, you have to carry a gun in one pocket and your childhood in the other.

With the film having 62 minutes of high quality special effects, two key players in the film were the Cinematographer and the Special Effects Director.

The choice of Jogendra Panda as the cinematographer was automatic. We have been working as a team from our student days at FTII. Even professionally all my films have been shot by him, including the Marathi feature film, which I made in 1996. Besides the great rapport that we share, he has a tremendous inclination towards everything technical. He has this almost magical ability to use his vast knowledge for a purely aesthetic resolve.

For the Special Effects there was some research done. Although we were in touch with some foreign studios, both myself and iDream Production were very keen that the film be executed entirely in India. By instinct we knew that we had the expertise. We just had to find the right people.We found the perfect balance of personnel and equipment at Maya Entertainment Ltd. Biju D. who was the creative head at Maya had been waiting for an opportunity like this. He grabbed it with both hands and completely immersed himself in the project - lending it a quality that is not seen in any Indian film till date.

Next came the Music Director. Narayan Parshuram works together with his brothers under the name of Three Brothers and a Violin. They have been producing talking books for children since 1996 and have about 30 titles to their credit. Their series of Karadi Tales talking books are extraordinary and for me to have them as the music directors for this film came as an obvious choice. I was sure that besides their personal experience of working with and for children, they would bring with them a collective experience of giants like Gulzar, Naseerudin Shah and Girish Karnad with whom they have been closely associated. Most importantly, I liked their music. It is charmingly simple, innovative and catchy. Their instrumentation is multi-layered which makes their music more and more exciting with repeated listening.

Soon the entire team was formulated and the work began on screenplay and storyboarding.

There was absolutely no pressure from iDream n during casting. This was a great relief because I knew that the actual star of our film was hiding within us.. Jaaved Jaafrey and Gulshan Grover were the only established actors in our cast. The only baggage that they carried was of immense talent and complete devotion to the film. All the rest were extremely gifted newcomers and were quite naturally driven by their ambition.

Jaaved produces positive vibes wherever he goes. He is relaxed with his body and has no inhibitions about his limbs - probably because he is such a fabulous dancer. Whatever the reasons, he comes across as a friendly person, someone you can talk to. Someone who will respond with warmth. This body language was paramount for Aditya's character. He is a giant but a friendly one. We didn't want to spend even a few seconds of film time to explain this. The equation had to be instant.

Besides the acting abilities of an actor, his physicality vis-a-vis the character is very important. Before we finalized the cast we had made extensive sketches of all the characters. Each of them was concretely etched. I saw Chattan Singh mostly in ½ or ¾ profile - always half bending, stretching his neck and looking from the corner of his eyes. This would accentuate the knifelike beard that we had designed for him. It was also necessary that the actor should have a dynamic nose and a large forehead. Only then would the beard look menacing. Gulshan's facial structure fitted the character to the tee.

Jhamunda is a creation of Chattan Singh. He doesn't have a past. He is not what one would call a fully formulated human - intellectually and physically. This had to be reflected in his body language, his dialogues. Jhamunda speaks only in monosyllables. Even when he speaks longer sentences, the grammar is all-wrong. His body movements are staccato. They are not refined. He is someone who is coming to terms with himself - with his hands, with his legs and with his thoughts. Joy Fernandes was able to depict all these aspects with tremendous insight. His sheer size and weight makes him more dependent on his arms and his face, which are electrifying and mobile. The animation that he can achieve through gestures is quite incredible.

The other central character of the film is Jeran - the soldier. During the casting for this character, I was looking for an actor who could combine two almost diametrically opposite personalities. I was looking for an amalgamation of Tom Cruise and Amol Palekar. This was essential because his is the only character that changes drastically within the film. From being a simple romantic soldier he slowly starts taking charge of the situation. Finally he leads his people from the front. Manav Kaul has this duality. His conventional good looks are offset by a certain vulnerability. On one hand he is supremely confident while on the other he is still groping. He has been able to pour his self into the character to make it that much more attractive and endearing.

We started the shoot on 27 January 2001 at Film City. Our first location was the Shundi village created so very imaginatively by Art Director Wasiq Khan and his assistant Dipankar Mondal. Then after a month, we moved to Chandivali Studios where we had setup the Jhamunda cave. All these were non-SFX scenes and the shooting went off normally like any other film. Then in March, we moved to the National Park to begin our shooting with Jaaved for the SFX scenes.

Jogendra Panda and Biju had worked out exactly how we were to shoot these scenes. We had a storyboard in place. Actors were made aware of the special effort required from them. Everything was planned in great detail.

Each composite shot has multiple layers. In Jajantaram Mamantaram these layers vary from three in some shots upto seven or eight in others. While shooting, for e.g., Aditya with the villagers, the first layer was of Jaaved. We would place one-foot dolls at exact positions to give a reference to Jaaved. Each doll would represent one character in the scene. There would be a doll for Jeran, one for Amori and so on. Jaaved would have to look into the eyes of these dolls while he spoke his lines. Naren, the chief assistant director would give him the dialogue cues. After we had canned Jaaved's layer the camera team and the SFX team headed by Prasad would start taking the measurements. The camera height, the tilt angle, focus distance, aperture, light angle, water level etc. were all recorded in a register. This process of taking the measurements would last approximately 30 min. between each and every shot.

Then a reverse process would follow to shoot the second layer, that of the villagers. Based upon the measurements, the camera would be placed at a certain height, with a certain tilt angle and so on. This process would again take about 30 min. and after having fixed the camera, we would call the 'small' actors. Like dolls had been provided to Jaaved for his eye contact, we would place a 36 feet long bamboo as a reference for the 'small' actors. They had to look up at this bamboo while performing.

Then we would shoot the background without any actors.

The most important thing was that all these layers had to be shot before the light conditions changed drastically. Due to this, the entire SFX shooting of Jajantaram Mamantaram has taken place outdoors between 10.30 am upto 4.30 pm - in Indian conditions, really a nightmare for any cinematographer. During this time, the light is hard, toppish and the colors lose their saturation. That the film is eventually looking the way it is - is purely because of Jogendra Panda's magic.

The entire process of measurements would depend on the complexity of the shot. Sometimes during the shoot there would be long periods of inactivity. Only four crewmembers would be taking the measurements while all the rest were waiting. These breaks can become extremely trying. It breaks everyone's rhythm - from the director to actors to lightboys. We all had to be extremely patient.

While we continued our shooting, the earlier rushes were being edited and sent off to Maya Entertainment where the postproduction had begun. In a couple of months we were able to see the results. This worked as a shot in the arm for the entire unit because what we saw was quite magical. The big-and-small was working and we continued with our shooting with renewed zest.

The editing of this multi-layered film presented numerous restrictions on Aseem Sinha and his associate Avinash Walzade All the layers of each shot had to be synched precisely, according to the action. This, most of the times was not easy, as on the normal editing monitor the image size of the 'small' people was so small that at times it was difficult even to see them. Moreover after these layers were roughly composite on the Avid, the image quality reduced even further making their lives more difficult. Also, unlike a normal film, this SFX film didn't give them a lot of room to experiment with the material. They had to stick to the storyboard as the material was shot accordingly.

Most of the low-resolution work at Maya was complete by the time we finished our shooting. Then began another long and trying process of upgrading the shots to film resolution. A team of approximately 30 computer artists was working round the clock not for days or weeks but for months.

Parallel to this, the sound postproduction had started as well. Films that come into the genre of fantasy adventure by their very nature demand a full and larger than life sound track. Arun Nambiar got down to work. Narayan Parshuram came up with exceptional background music and Alok Dey mixed the sound track making a perfect blend of dialogues, sync effects, non-sync effects and the background music.

Jajantaram Mamantaram has been released all over on May 30.