When Sameepa’s sister, Preeti Shah, creator of Spotlight Style & the Shaadi Studio, first contacted us to capture her sister’s South Asian wedding celebration in New York city, I was humbled by the invitation and knew this would be an opportunity to create something special. Little did I realize that spending the day with Sameepa and Beeren would leave such an impression. Rarely does a couple come along with such grace and tenderness. Sameepa & Beeren’s gorgeous Hindu wedding, held at espace, in the heart of the theater district in midtown Manhattan, is among the most beautiful we’ve had the privilege to capture. And that is due in no small part to the true love these two share for one another. We hope you enjoy their trailer. Assisted by Adam Forgione and Anthony Quintano
Does it still exist somewhere, in some ethereal place, waiting to come to fruition again?
Could a fictional narrative capture an emotional state, and the true meaning behind a real, live event with more drama and conviction than a traditional documentary?
These were just some of the questions that arose when I took on the “CITY OF LAKES” project late last year. First, it would become an unprecedented attempt to combine a fully scripted, produced film with a real, live wedding (central to the plot) into one, seamless film. Second, the live wedding and production would be shot entirely on-location in Udaipur, India over a period of nine days. Third, the skeleton crew I would commission would be made up solely of live event filmmakers from across North America, who would shoot the live wedding events and production simultaneously & exclusively on DSLRs, the Canon 5D MarkII and Canon 7D.
The project would require a leap of faith first from Chicago natives, Melissa & Samir, who initially invited me to document their three-day destination wedding in Udaipur, India, while simultaneously considering a Bollywood concept they hoped to premiere at their reception. I quickly realized no concept film could rival the fairy tale wedding they had planned. So after pitching the idea to combine a scripted concept with their wedding film to produce a much more meaningful ‘hybrid’ feature, they deliberated, and finally took the leap. For that, I can’t thank them enough. It then took a leap of faith from my DP & Co-producer Patrick Moreau, who was skeptical, but eager, followed by talented wedding filmmakers Joe Simon & Casey Warren. Rounding out our team was my jib operator, Chris Geiger, Amish Solanki, and Mumbai-based super-producer, Pravin Thakur; a true miracle worker.
“CITY OF LAKES” is as much a documentary about what it means to return to the birthplace of one’s ancestors, as it is an exploration of the Hindu faith, and the rituals of a Hindu marriage. Central to this is the Ganesh puja, which in simple terms, is a prayer over a fire believed to invoke the spirit of Ganesh, a great deity and protector, who can remove all obstacles from one’s path. The puja is performed several times in the film and carries great significance to the plot and characters in both literal and metaphoric ways.
Melissa & Samir had always dreamed of being married in India. We hope this film helps them cherish that dream. But it could not have been without the acting talents of Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda and Rushad Rana, who were consummate professionals and a joy to work with. It also could not have been without the support of our sponsors: Canon, who provided two pre-production 7Ds and a host of L-series lenses; Tiffen, who provided all of our lighting; and Cinevate, who sent us much needed gear and sponsored an incredible behind-the-scenes campaign viewable at Cinevate.com.
The challenges were immediate, abundant and frequent. At times, we were certain the film was destined for failure; I wondered if the film was too ambitious to execute. It took the perseverance of filmmakers who deal routinely in making the spontaneous appear staged and constant script re-writes to adjust to the obstacles.
You won’t find many studios ready or willing to post a full length edit or main feature online for anyone to see; and for good reason. Event films are documentaries meant mainly for the people who lived them. But it’s with pride that we share Melissa & Samir’s ‘hybrid’ feature, “CITY OF LAKES,” which hopefully achieves more than a documentary, and perhaps at the same time, more than a scripted film.
There is a final question we hope you’ll find difficult to answer as you watch our film. In more ways than one, try to answer:
What is real?
Thanks for watching,
-Kevin
Pacific Pictures presents “CITY OF LAKES”
Starring Melissa Kumar, Samir Shah, Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda & Rushad Rana
Written & Directed by Kevin Shahinian
Produced by Kevin Shahinian & Patrick Moreau
Line Producer Pravin Thakur
Director of Photography Patrick Moreau
2nd Unit Director Joe Simon
2nd Unit Steadicam Casey Warren
Film Editor Kevin Shahinian
Jib Operator Chris Geiger
Set Photographer Amish Solanki
And so much a wedding symbolizes. So many questions it tends to raise: What is love? What is faith? It was our hope to explore these themes in a far more dramatically engaging way than we felt possible in a traditional documentary… Perhaps there is more within this story then meets the eye.
In the fall of 2009, Melissa & Samir embarked on an incredible journey to Udaipur, India, to fulfill a lifelong dream of having their wedding in the country of their ancestry. This transcendent place, affectionately called the “CITY OF LAKES,” located in the breathtaking region of Rajasthan, would be the setting for their extravagant, three-day marriage celebration, and the backdrop of our unprecedented film production - shot entirely on-location. We believe this to be the first ever live event/scripted concept production ‘hybrid’ film ever produced on this scale. It was shot entirely on DSLRs, the Canon 5D Mark2 and 7D. We hope you enjoy the trailer for “CITY OF LAKES” and look forward to sharing the film with you soon.
Pacific Pictures presents “CITY OF LAKES”
Starring Melissa Kumar, Samir Shah, Anubhab Saha, Sharon Chawda & Rushad Rana
Written & Directed by Kevin Shahinian
Produced by Kevin Shahinian & Patrick Moreau
Line Producer Pravin Thakur
Director of Photography Patrick Moreau
2nd Unit Director Joe Simon
2nd Unit Steadicam Casey Warren
Film Editor Kevin Shahinian
Jib Operator Chris Geiger
Set Photographer Amish Solanki
With special thanks to Canon & Tiffen/Steadicam, Dennis Wood and the entire Cinevate team for their support.
In the fall of 2009, Pacific Pictures embarked on a journey to Udaipur, India, to document the three-day wedding of Melissa & Samir in a rather unprecedented way. Unlike a traditional documentary, their real, live wedding would be integrated into a fully scripted, produced concept movie, with the hope of telling the story of their wedding with a heightened emotional authenticity and dramatic scale. “CITY OF LAKES,” as Udaipur is often called, commemorates Melissa & Samir’s journey to the transcendent place of their ancestry and the joining of two families in light of their past and the promise of their future. This would be our biggest production to date and we’re excited to share more behind the scenes images to come… Stay tuned tomorrow, as we proudly debut the full length trailer.
Let It “Snow” | Can a love story be told as a thriller? That was the dramatic challenge with Megan & Narbeh’s concept, “Snow.” When I first heard the story of Megan & Narbeh’s true romance, I knew we had the basis for an international suspense film on our hands. Narbeh was a member of the Swedish Air Force, and he used to sneak off the base at night just to spend time with Megan. But how could a suspense film celebrate the couples’ hometown of Uppsala, Sweden, and at the same time spotlight the moments that made this couples’ journey to marriage unforgettable?
Megan and Narbeh would make Los Angeles their new home before the summer of 2009. So, pressed for time, I made the journey to Sweden with my second shooter, Ben, (who plays the other Swedish soldier in the movie) in March in the dead of winter; weather was sure to be a character in this one. I’m proud of what we pulled off on a European production with no crew, shooting non-actors in the dead of winter. But the thing I’m most proud of when I watch “Snow” are Megan & Narbeh’s performances. They were pretty nervous, and close to cancelling weeks before we arrived. By the end, they were sad our shoot was over. Casting Swedish star Andreas Wilson was another huge thrill. I’ve never worked with as brilliant an actor who could nail every nuance in the first take.
The Los Angeles premiere on 8.22.09 was electric. Megan & Narbeh had no idea we commissioned an aerial shoot. Narbeh had been begging me for a teaser for months but I held my ground to maintain the surprise. The look of shock and awe on their faces, as seen in the clip below, was well worth it. I look forward to sharing the rest of their wedding highlights soon. We’ve been holding this film back for five months, so it gives me great pleasure to present Megan & Narbeh’s Sweden Thriller “Snow.” Enjoy!
