The young, wise crab

Yashasvi Juyal’s name may not ring a bell, but this young lad, who’s still in college, is trying his best that in a few years, it will and must.

His first documentary film, A Wise Crab, about a spot boy in the Hindi film industry (lovingly called kekda or crab) who dreams of becoming a filmmaker, earned a Special Jury Mention at last year’s MAMI film festival in Mumbai. It was just the boost that the young filmmaker was looking for. “I was ecstatic that it got that recognition. When you’re out for the first time, it’s such a mixed feeling. And to top it, to get noticed and appreciated!” says the 19-year-old.

Riding on that inspiration, Yashasvi is now ready with his new documentary, Armaan. The story of two aspiring musicians wanting to make it big, Armaan brings focus to the life of Shri Suchit Narang, a national award-winning visually impaired musician.

“One of my two aspiring musicians is a rock fanatic and the other is Bollywood-oriented. Both are talented and are seeking their perfect mentor when they come across Shri Suchit Narang,” says Yashasvi.

Musically inclined
Besides music being the crux of the film, the documentary dwells on the challenges and strengths of visually impaired musicians. The struggles of small town musicians, drug abuse and the new-found enthusiasm for reality shows are also shown here.

“It’s the story of one of my classmates — Armaan — who was considered the rock star of our class and, completely charged up with his music, he went abroad to study it. Years later, he returned dejected and depressed, having taken to drugs.

When we met up, he said he wanted to unlearn and relearn everything in music, in India. Because that’s where the soul of music is, he believed,” recounts Yashasvi.

Sensing the opportunity for an interesting documentary, he asked Armaan if he could shadow him in this journey for the right teacher. Another musically inclined friend, having tasted rejection at a reality show, joined in, and soon they had a story going. “Through the eyes of my three musical protagonists, I have tried to show their efforts to be in unison with music – some efforts may be crazy, some ambitious and some visionary, but it is the unifying power of music that brings together a national award winner, a rehab-return and a reality-TV-show-rejected aspirant,” says Yashasvi, who is taking his movie to MAMI this month.

That’s the budget?
Forty minutes long, it has been shot over 11 months in Rishikesh and Dehradun, and also covers Dehradun’s Beatles Ashram. Hold your breath now — it has been made in a shoestring budget of Rs 2,500! “Cost is not easy to handle, but then I was the director, the cinematographer and the editor, with one helping hand in my assistant Ashish,” says Yashasvi candidly.

The young man himself has big dreams as a filmmaker, but wishes to wrap up his studies before embarking on them. While his brother Raghav Juyal has made a mark for himself with his dancing, acting and anchoring skills, there is another Juyal ready to wow audiences with his work.