Behind the scenes

Saadgi Gupta and Nikita Nevatia in conversation with cinematographer Durga Chitrak as part of the podcast

While filmmaking is commonly associated with actors or directors, it really does take a village. There are assistant directors, line producers, script supervisors, cinematographers and so many other roles we are unacquainted with that strive to make every frame perfect. And Wild Tapes, a podcast by two 24-year-olds working in the film industry, is an attempt to acknowledge all that hard work.

Saadgi Gupta and Nikita Nevatia conceived of the podcast in July. They set out to interview assistants and associates who have been neck deep in the Mumbai film industry - tapping into Bollywood, web series as well as advertising films. In August they released their first episode with guest Ella Jaiswal, who works as an assistant director, and have since put out 10 episodes.

The making of Mirzapur is also explored in depth in the podcast with the assistants involved in it

While Gupta is based in Nepal as of now, Nevatia lives in Mumbai. So both recording and technical execution were challenging. "We were lucky to have friends who helped us: Aniruddh Ramjiwal did the editing, Vikas Singh helped with art and graphics, and Devraj Bhaumik worked on composing music," Gupta says.

Rolled out in a candid manner, each episode is insightful to listen to. Guests open up about their professional journeys and what certain job profiles - a focus puller, for instance - actually entail as well as the qualities they need. Wild Tapes is also interspersed with fun nuggets; for example, in an episode where Mirzapur's entire team of assistants is invited, they talk about being in tune with each actor's temperament.

Nevatia explains that the podcast also stemmed from the absence of a feeling of community in the industry for assistants and associates. "We found that our guests were very eager to come on board. Assistants and associates are used to being behind the camera and so for our guests to be interviewed by us and spend time laughing and talking for those 30 minutes, was quite something. We appreciate the work HODs do, but we're also so used to feeling unimportant," she shares.

The duo are planning a second season but Nevatia informs that it will be streamlined. "We'll spend a couple of months recording the interviews and then release episodes so that we don't put a strain on our guests and ourselves," she says, while Gupta adds, "[We're] trying to tap into more niche and unknown departments such as spotboys, prosthetics, and light designing."

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