T HE J O UR NE Y O F IND I A N T RU CK A R T OFFICIAL SELEC TION
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
FILM FESTIVAL
FLORENCE INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL
INDI A N F IL M F E ST I VA L
2013
2013
2014
CHICAGO SOUTH ASIAN
RIVER TO RIVER
NEW YORK
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
2014
2014
AUTOMOTO
PHILADELPHIA
DOCUMENTARY TEAM Concept and Research Produced by
Shantanu Suman Talkies Films (Mumbai)
Directed by
Shantanu Suman, Istling Mirche
Director of Photography
Istling Mirche, Shantanu Suman
Music Director
Atif Afzal
Written by
Shreedavy Babuji
Translation
Shreedavy Babuji
Post Production
The Cutting Crew (Mumbai)
Audio Producer
Radioactive Productions
Narrator Chief Editor Assistant Editors Art Director
Website Facebook page Twitter
Bapi Bit Raju Pandit Sanjay Thakore, Vinay Uduta, Mithun Swamy Shantanu Suman
www.projecthornplease.com projecthornplease hornpleasedoc
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The truck is my life. This world doesn’t matter to me, for my truck is what makes my world. And when my life would come to an end one day, my truck is what’ll make my hearse.
Mohammad Abbas, J&K truck driver
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CONTENTS SYNOPSIS 04 SHANTANU SUMAN 06 ISTLING MIRCHE 07 SHREEDAVY BABUJI 08 PHOTOGRAPHS 09 PRESS RELEASE 13
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Top: Using spray paint on a truck cabin Bottom: Hand-painted lion on the back of a truck in Sirhind.
HORN PLEASE Horn Please is a documentary that encapsulates various aspects of an age-old folk art form of India — the TRUCK ART, an art form that makes journeys through the dusty highways of India, incredible in more ways than one. With a kaleidoscope of bright paints, motifs, typography and some unique couplets, these Indian trucks take you on a rather colorful journey of the diverse cultures and beliefs of the country. The designs painted on the trucks do not merely stand for aesthetic purposes, but they also attempt to depict religious, sentimental, and emotional viewpoints of everyone related to the truck industry. This documentary focuses on the origin and evolution of truck art, and how it influences not just the world of art, but also the lives of its artists and the truckers who interact with it on a daily basis. At its heart, Horn Please investigates on whether the once-accepted type of art as a unique form of expression, will survive the test of time in this era of capitalism. projecthornplease.com / 04
The title of the documentary — Horn Please — is derived from a message seen behind most of the trucks in India. It is a signal for the vehicles behind the trucks to blow the horn before overtaking. The sheer exposure of the signage has led it to become a popular phrase among Indians. The inception of this project goes back to an original idea for a thesis project by Shantanu Suman, a graphic design graduate student at the University of Florida. While at UF, Shantanu spent around 10 months doing bibliographical research and trying to find published scholarly papers on the subject. When he realized that nothing much had been
documented about the Indian Truck Art, he decided to travel to India for a detailed research. During the summer of 2012, Shantanu traveled to India in search of various truck artists and a lot of others who were related to the industry. In India, he was joined by two of his friends, Istling Mirche and Shreedavy Babuji, and together they began their journey to discover everything that they could about the Truck Art in India. Despite being accompanied by limitations of time, money and high-end equipment, the documentation of the research was not given up on. The goal was to conduct field research, document it using the visual media, and to gather maximum amount of information to support a documentary film. Seven states across India were covered in 45 days, over 45 people interviewed, and about
A decorated truck in Jodhpur
160 GB of data was collected in the form of video footage and still photographs and notes. During their journey they were able to exchange ideas with a myriad of individuals, including truck painters, art historians, designers, transporters, truck drivers, and typographers. Their research showed them that in a developing nation like India, owning a vehicle itself is a matter of huge pride and distinction. It is a mark of achievement. However no truck is left to look bare as only a vehicle serving its intended purpose. The investment made to beautify the truck is always dependent on the trucker’s affordability. It can be made either garish or comparatively simple, however, sheer peer pressure makes no trucker want to be left out from what can at times be, an innocent showing of one-upmanship. projecthornplease.com / 05
SHANTANU SUMAN Research & Concept, Director, Director of Photography and Art Director Contact Details: email: sumanshantanu@gmail.com mobile: (352) 792 5100 twitter: @sumanshantanu
In August 2013, after graduating from the School of Art + Art History (University of Florida) with a Master of Fine Arts (Graphic Design) Shantanu moved to Asheville, NC to work as a freelance graphic designer. Being an ardent Indian street art fan, Shantanu dedicated the final years of his graduate studies to research, investigate, and document this vernacular art form from India for which he received various recognitions and awards. Shantanu hails from a city called Bhilai in India. His professional experience involves working as an Art Director at various leading advertising agencies in Mumbai and New Delhi. During his advertising stint at agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, McCann, Publicis Communications, some of his work earned him appreciation and various projecthornplease.com / 06
national and international awards including Cannes Silver Lion, Cannes finalist, D&AD Inbook, Clio bronze, AsiaPac finalist, Spikes finalist and couple of more. Shantanu believes that very little has been done to document the Truck art of India. Hence, he collaborated with a group of professionals from India to make Horn Please. His earlier projects based on Indian Truck Art have been featured in various printed publications and design websites including dieline.com, underconsideration.com, designworklife.com, itsnicethat.com, kyoorius.com, uppercasemagazine.com, and nothingmajor.com. You can find out more about Shantanu Suman and his work at www.shantanusuman.com
ISTLING MIRCHE Director, Director of Photography and Post Production Supervisor
Contact Details: email: justalkies@gmail.com mobile: 9820099854
Istling Mirche is the Founder and Director of a Mumbaibased production house, Talkies Films. Istling is an adfilm director, and has some leading brands in his portfolio like P&G, Tata Sky, Jindal Steel and a few more. This two-time Gold Abby Award winner commenced his directorial career in 2010. His very first ad film for Rotaract Club won him a lot of appreciation and various accolades in the advertising industry. Since then, there has been no looking back for him. Before he formed Talkies Films, his professional experience includes working as an Agency Producer for nine years in various leading advertising agencies of India like JWT, McCann and Publicis Communications. Through his stint
in advertising, he has worked for brands like Nestle, Levis, HUL, Coca Cola etc. Istling hails from Kamalnagar, a village of Karnataka in India. He moved to Mumbai in 2001 to pursue his graduation, and has been in Mumbai ever since. Being an ardent fan of music, theatre and art, Istling was quite excited when he heard about Shantanu’s thought of documenting Indian Truck Art. He readily agreed to partner with him in this project. And Horn Please stands to be his first documentary film. You can find out more about Istling Mirche and his work at www.talkies.in projecthornplease.com / 07
SHREEDAVY BABUJI Scriptwriter
Contact Details: email: shreedavy@gmail.com mobile: 9920970506
A writer at heart and by profession, Shreedavy Babuji works as a Senior Copywriter at DDB Mudra, India. With over 7 years of work experience at various advertising agencies of India like Publicis Communications, DDB Mudra and Leo Burnett, she has developed advertising campaigns for some leading brands like Citibank, VIP, Parle, Lipton etc. Through her stint in advertising so far, Shreedavy has won various international and national awards including six Cannes finalists, Silver Adfest, four Adfest finalists, three Silver Abby and four Bronze Abby. Shreedavy was born and brought up in Indore, Madhya projecthornplease.com / 08
Pradesh. She moved to Mumbai for her Post Graduation studies in 2007, and her passion for her career has kept her in Mumbai itself ever since. Apart from her career, she has always been passionate about studying different art forms like music, design and everything that she comes across. Therefore, when she heard about Shantanu’s thought of documenting Indian Truck Art, she readily agreed to help him in whatever ways she could. Horn Please, along with being a major learning experience, is also a one-of-a-kind project in her portfolio.
Top: Various stages of a truck body construction, Sirhind Bottom: Construction of a truck's cabin, Sirhind
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Top: Hand-painted planks on trucks, Sirhind Bottom: A decorated truck in Jodhpur
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Top: Hand-painted typography on the front of a truck in Mumbai Bottom: Raja Gharu adding finishing touches to a panihari painting, Jodhpur
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Top: Hand-painted typography on the front of a truck in Mumbai Bottom: Istling and Shantanu at the back of a semi-painted truck, Jodhpur
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Uppercase Magaznie (http://uppercasemagazine.com/blog/2014/1/20/the-truck-art-of-india)
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Gainesville Sun press release (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20130314/ENT/130319840)
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Messy Nessy Chic (http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/12/04/honk-if-you-love-the-subculture-of-indian-trucker-art/)
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Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design (http://www.mdcmoad.org/Event.aspx?EventID=12125)
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Review by www.ghostsigns.co.uk (http://www.ghostsigns.co.uk/2013/05/horn-please-and-the-wonderful-world-of-indias-hand-painted-trucks.html)
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OFFICIAL SELEC TION
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
FILM FESTIVAL
FLORENCE INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL
INDI A N F IL M F E ST I VA L
2013
2013
2014
RIVER TO RIVER
CHICAGO SOUTH ASIAN
NEW YORK
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
OFFICIAL SELEC TION
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL
2014
2014
AUTOMOTO
PHILADELPHIA
www.projecthornplease.com Twitter: @hornpleasedoc