Sydney based film producer Ganesh Loke has produced Bollywood/Indian movies Sarfaroshi, Shoor Aamhi Sardaar, and music albums as well as the Australian short film “Let’s change the world”.
Recently, he has completed the shooting of his new Hindi song ‘Hamko Tumse’, which was released on YouTube and received more than 140,000 views within a week.
The Australia Today talked to Ganesh about his latest venture and his shooting experiences during the coronavirus pandemic:
Q:How was your experience in pandemic regarding the shoot of your song?
Ganesh: During this pandemic, due to the travel restrictions and other rules, it was very difficult to travel to India from Australia. It was hard to get any return air tickets. But I managed to get the air tickets and the travel exemption. I landed in Mumbai in early December 2020. The travel experience was not as before because there were a lot of rules such as wearing facemasks, social distancing needed to be followed. After arriving in Mumbai, it was again hard work to assemble our production team and get them ready for the shooting.
Q: What was your reason to continue with your project regardless of the pandemic?
Ganesh: This pandemic has raised a lot of challenges in front of us. Actually, I believe that one must take risks in life for progress. I can not just sit on the couch and wait for the situation to get normal rather I would prefer to make my own ways and fight through the challenges to achieve the goal. It needs a lot of determination and hard work, but it is possible. This is the message I wanted to give to my team that, regardless of any situation we can achieve our goals if we are determined.
Also, many of the production team members were out of work due to the recent lockdown and the closure of theatres in India. We have around 200 members in our staff which includes the production team, direction team, cinematographers’ team, choreographers’ team, art direction team, spot boys, make-up team, etc. They wanted the work, not charity.
Hence, I decided to face all the challenges to complete and release the song on time by 1st January 2021, and we have done it.
Q: What other preparations you needed to do for this project?
Ganesh: Of course, all projects need a lot of preparation but with my team in Sydney, we rehearsed the song couple of times before recording. Then we recorded it in the studio in Sydney. I have written its lyrics along with managing the production and acting on screen. We have spent hours on lyrics and the music composition to make it perfect.
Q: Tell us about the new talent you have intoduced in this song project?
Ganesh: Well, in this song, we have given an opportunity to a new music composer Ms. Jogal, who has done a great job in composing the music after our experienced guidance and support. Also, our singers of this song are quite new. We have always supported the new talent in Australia and India.
Q: Is it part of your ‘New talent search program’?
Ganesh: I am always looking for new talents for my projects but now we have launched a ‘New talent search contest’ through which we want to give opportunities to the new talent in India and Australia. Any talented person in India or Australia, who thinks they are good at singing or music composition, or acting can participate in this contest by registering. They may get an opportunity to work with us on our next project.
More information about it is given on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SarfaroshiTheMovie Or they can email me at CEO@IndoAusEntertainment.com for any queries or information about this contest.
Q: Are you still persuing some political activities? Are elections still on your mind?
Ganesh: Yes, of course. I have been working with organisations in Western Sydney as well as in India for the last 15- 20 years. I have supported the homeless people in Parramatta and provided them food and clothes.
In rural India, I work with an NGO for sponsoring the education of poor kids to support their aspirations, so that they can get higher education and achieve their dreams. I will continue with my social work & other projects and will try to ‘Make a difference’ and inspire millions of people around the world.