The Commute Therapist

“The Commute Therapist” Suryadevsinh Parmar.

Project Type: Director of Photography – Short Film
Location: Bangalore
Year: 2023
Tools Used: Sony A7iii (s-Log), DJI Ronin, Vacuum Mounts

“The Commute Therapist” is a short film by Suryadevsinh Parmar (his directorial debut) made for his pre-graduation project (7th semester project) at Srishti Manipal Institute in October 2023. I worked on Surya’s crew as the Director of Photography.

As the DP, I worked with Surya to bring his vision to life as best I could, from breaking down the screenplay into shots, going on location recces to find places that would be ideal for a shoot like this one to finally executing them on the shoot days. With Surya, I blocked each shot and setup dual-camera setups wherever possible inside the car to maximize coverage of both characters and keep options open for him during post-production.

FILM SYNOPSIS:

Karan, a young man, arrives in Bangalore in search of his long-lost father. He bumps into Pankaj, a chatty taxi driver. Initially put off by Pankaj’s outgoing nature, he eventually warms up to him and with his help, overcomes his anxiety and fears about his mission.

CAST:

Prateek Sultania as Pankaj
Jayanth Aadithan as Karan

CREW:

Writer, Director, Editor – Suryadevsinh Parmar
Directors of Photography – Ved Murarka
Sound Recordist – Tanmayi Jarubula
Production Designer and Manager – Archita Wadhwani
Executive Producers – Mahijitsinh Parmar, Preeti Parmar
Assistant Director and Director’s Assistant – Anoushka Rege
Camera Operator/Assistant – Suryadevsinh Parmar
Production Assistant – Meera Savargaonkar
Sound Designer – Ishan Kejriwal
Storyboard Artists – Shaunak Deo, Akshadha Mishra, Zoheb Zakeer
Project Mentor – Unni Vijayan