Anton Gomes is a disillusioned carpenter turned coffin maker who lives with his equally distressed wife and oppressed son in a small village in Goa. An insignificant matter blows into a huge fight between husband and wife and the truth about life as it is brings an unlikely participant into Anton’s humdrum existence.
Death, masquerading in human form arrives to teach Anton the most valuable lesson on life!
The Coffin Maker is a moving film with warm, emotional moments and subtle humour.
Cast |
Characters |
| Naseeruddin Shah | Anton Gomes |
| Ratna Pathak Shah | Isabella |
| Randeep Hooda | The Man |
| Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal | Philomena |
| Anand Tiwari | Joseph |
| Benjamin Gilani | Jose – The baker |
| Denzil Smith | Father John |
| Yadu Sankalia | Fernandes – The butcher |
| Amit Sial | Alloue |
| Shilpa Shukla | Samantina |
Crew list |
|
| Production House | Shree Narayan Studios Pvt Ltd. |
| Producers | Bharat Vijan / Ambika Vijan |
| Writer & Director | Veena Bakshi |
| Cinematographer | Mahesh Aney |
| Editor | Nipun Gupta |
| Sound Designer | Bishwadeep Chatterjee |
| Location Sync Sound | Nihar Samal |
| Music | Bapi – Tutul |
| Art Director | Gautam Sen |
| Costume | Fabeha Khan |
| Executive Producer | Dilip Borkar |
| Lyricist / Singer | Hema Sardesaai |
| Production Manager | Gaurishankar Jaiswal |
Veena Bakshi began her career working with renowned Ad film maker Prahlad Kakkar while still studying in college, learning the ropes of film production. A few years later she joined Dilip Ghosh and moved from production to direction, assisting Dilip for 4 years till 1990 when she started her own ad film production house Searchlight Productions.
Having worked with all the large agencies like Ogilvy, JWT, Lintas, Contract, TBWA etc and some of the most prestigious clients and products like Unilever, Cadbury’s, Pidilite, Tata, J&J, Voltas etc., she has also made educational films for UNICEF.
Veena shut down the ad film shop in 2003 and turned towards feature films. She spent the first few years exploring ideas and taught herself to write scripts.
The Coffin Maker was one of the first scripts written by her and is her first feature film. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Randeep Hooda, Ratna Pathak Shah, Mahabanoo Modi Kotwal and a whole host of other fabulous actors. Currently the film is in the film festival circuit looking for an India release in 2014.
Veena has also been visiting faculty with Xavier’s Institute of Communications and is now visiting faculty at Met Institutes of Management.
" I started to write The Coffin Maker in April 2006 with the mind that it wouldn’t take me more than a month or two to complete it. The script took me almost ten months.
The story is set in that part of Goa that is generally not exposed to tourists. The real Goa. Still conservative, orthodox, far away from the beaches that host shacks where drugs, sex and rock and roll supposedly rule.
The idea of this film began with a conversation among friends of what would happen to a coffin maker if he was visited by Death. I wanted the film to be set in a very quiet village tucked away in a forgotten corner. The visible silence and serenity was to be a sharp contrast to the turmoil in Anton’s mind and life. The quietude of acceptance can never show how badly scarred a person is. The search for the house could have been a film script all by itself. 350 years old. Run down. Owned by an eccentric engineer who surprisingly had even purchased his coffin! The garden was cleared a bit and the workshop was constructed.
We, Mahesh Aney – the DOP and I academically chose to shoot on film format as we were looking for colours to pop out in their own natural hues and shades and not force them out. The decision to shoot in Goa irrespective of majority of the scenes being indoors was deliberate. There is a sharpness in the light that pervades Goa. The slightly oppressive lighting in the house is symbolic of the conflict and dysfunction that seeps through this family of three. We intentionally placed the dining table in the kitchen to make the room smaller as this is the most used room by the characters to push them more into each other’s space physically.
The music of the film has been scored thematically as another layer of the script. It binds in some scenes while it distracts in some scenes. The music composers decided to work with 4 to 5 key instruments that have an European orientation because of the strong influence of Portugal on Goan music. Having said that the decision to stay away from trumpets and drum sets which are predominantly used in Goan music was a creative call.
The sound design of the film done by Bishwadeep Chatterjee has been kept to live sounds almost in its entirety. The film is shot in sync sound and not one dialogue was dubbed in post! Nihar Ranjan Samal wielded a whip on the set to see that none of the actors fall below a certain accepted performance of dialog delivery.
The inimitable Naseeruddin Shah essays the role of Anton with such an ease. He slid right into his skin from word go giving a power packed performance in every scene. Ratna Pathak Shah as Isabella was incredible swinging from the disillusioned to the romantic shy wife with total ease. And Randeep Hooda played Death with equal doses of humour, grit, seriousness casting fear where required. The Coffin Maker is a complete labour of love from each and every department and person who worked on the film. My goal was to strike the right tone for the film – a precarious balancing act between realism, fantasy and nightmare – and to stick to it with unswerving confidence."
- Veena Bakshi
Bharat Vijan is into land development dealing with large building projects.
Shree Narayan Studios was built in 2009 in Kolkata and today boasts of being the best equipped studio in every way in the eastern region in India. Dealing with film companies created an interest in film production, and the year 2010 saw Bharat financing and producing his production number 1 The Coffin Maker under the joint banners owned by him Shree Narayan Studios and Shree Narayan Pictures.
The future is bright as Bharat looks forward to harbouring and encouraging talent in the film making business.
