Sujay Dahake shares experiences of shooting with a wild cat

Sujay���������sJunnarnatura So when Sujay���������s friends from BBC suggested a visit to a ranch in the Bera district of Rajasthan, he immediately left for the place with his cameraperson who was flown in from Spain. ���������There were four families of leopards living there. We went there hoping to get some footage.���������Using handheld cameras and sync sound to ensure authenticity, Sujay and his crew mounted themselves in the region, patiently waiting for the dotted cat to show up. ���������Every day we would wait for almost ten hours, and would manage to get footage of only 50 to 60 seconds.��������� Almost 70 percent of the film then, Sujay says, has been made using special effects.Despite the availability of factual information, Sujay���������s journey in making the film has been as eventful as Ajoba���������s. ���������The greatest challenge is to tell the story from the leopard���������s point of view and to convince the viewer to sympathise with his struggles, which are very similar to our own.��������� Tackling a subject as niche as this also meant difficulty in securing finance. ���������Producers were apprehensive about this kind of a film as it has never been attempted. Some of them wanted me to make the film in Hindi. What they don���������t realise is that in the linguistic shift, the cultural nuance is lost. Having won the National Award helped in getting the finance sorted.���������Made on a budget of 2.5 crore, Ajoba will be ready by October.