Amitabha Singh is a name to reckon with. Well, he is one of the top celebrated cinematographers of Bollywood. Three of his projects KHOSLA KA GHOSLA, CHILLAR PARTY and THE GOOD ROAD have won the coveted National Awards.
While KHOSLA KA GHOSLA and CHILLAR PARTY bagged the National Awards for Best Feature Film in Hindi and Best Children’s Film respectively, THE GOOD ROAD, which was also produced by Amitabha, was honoured with National Award for Best Gujarati film. Not only this, THE GOOD ROAD was also selected as the official Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards.
After tasting success as DOP, Amitabha Singh is now venturing into direction with SHORTCUT SAFAARI that attempts to reconnect us with our roots through the eyes of seven children and showcase the natural world in contrast with the humdrum and chaos of daily city life. The film has already made its presence felt over various National and International children’s film festivals. And with Amitabha Singh being at the helm of affairs, SHORTCUT SAFAARI surely appears to be the best jungle adventure film with children and a winner in hand.
Wonder, after having a hat-trick with National Awards, the directorial debut SHORTCUT SAFAARI may be Amitabha Singh’s fourth victorious project!
Besides the kids, SHORTCUT SAFAARI also features Jimmy Shergill in a pivotal role.
Check out the Shortcut Safaari video below.
Gibberish language to be used for the first time ever in Amitabha Singh’s Bollywood film SHORTCUT SAFAARI
Have you heard of any movie beginning with an unknown language, one that we are not aware of as yet? We don’t think so! Bollywood has always experimented with various languages, but for the first time ever producer-director Amitabha Singh has gone ahead with a gibberish language to begin his movie – SHORTCUT SAFAARI when the main credits roll. The video, which shows the friendship of a girl with a leopard, is something you definitely have to see to believe! Apart from the cuteness, the video has also incorporates the current ‘selfie’ trend. More so, the selfie is also uploaded on a social networking website!
Interestingly, the introduction sequence has been composed by SHIP OF THESEUS fame music composer Rohit Sharma. Rohit had quoted, “I really wanted to keep the sound very basic close to roots and earthy. A child’s life is very simple so the sound of this track had to be kept at basics. Amitabha did not want a song; he wanted music so I came up with this idea of a gibberish language. The next thing was to really pen the language to fit the music track. Amitabha encouraged me to sing it also because he felt that since I created this new language, I would be able to sing it well.”
We think Rohit has been successful in doing that. Check out for yourself!
SHORTCUT SAFAARI trails through BNHS Goregaon with city kids
Cinematographer turned Director Amitabha Singh, organized a fun trip for children from Nehru Nagar public school, Kanjur Marg East to explore Mumbai’s very own biodiversity and natural environment. Amitabha directed SHORTCUT SAFAARI with a view to reconnect children with their roots and showcasing the natural world amidst the humdrum and chaos of daily city life.
SHORTCUT SAFAARI has made its presence felt over various National and International children’s film festivals across the country and now the film has embarked upon a new journey to connect as many children as possible to nature through various innovative activities and screenings. With SHORTCUT SAFAARI, Amitabha consolidates his position in the children’s film category. He has earlier helmed the camera for CHILLAR PARTY, KHOSLA KA GHOSLA and India’s Oscar entry in 2014- THE GOOD ROAD.
Talking about the event, Amitabha Said, “The core message underlying the film is balance, trust, friendship, mutual respect, teamwork and gender parity. Without sounding preachy, I wanted to acquaint children with a value system which will help them go a long way. In fact, if you look at Jataka tales or folklore, they are beautiful stories and you would always remember the moral of the story. Similarly through my film I would want children to take away a few leanings.”
Singh added, “The Natural World is trying to speak to the manufactured world all the time but somehow, we seem to miss that call almost always. The result is quite evident, global warming, sea level rising, you see the season change getting erratic. Nature has started revolting in this own little way. I read a report in a magazine that twenty years from now Mumbai will be under water. We should really take cognizance of these little signs that nature is leaving for us and resort to course correction.”
The children enjoyed the nature trail and were almost surprised that a forest existed within the city limits of Mumbai. City kids were joined by bloggers and social media influencers to experience a real nature trail. Topics on the surrounding flora and fauna were discussed alongside a tree adoption plan.
With the inclusion of bloggers and influencers, the makers of Shortcut Safaari are committed to reach out to as many urban children as possible and conduct short trips filled with activities that would connect them with the natural world outside their televisions and play stations.