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A Beautiful Film based on the life at St. Paul’s School Kota by two Ex-Paulites

Varun & Rachit, two ex-paulites decided to document the life at St. Paul’s School Kota & created an emotionally uplifting film.

Watch it here….

We talked to Varun and got to know many interesting things about this film, and how they manage to pull it off. Here is the conversation –

What motivated you to work on this project?

I heard from Rachit that St. Pauls is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. I also knew that Rachit had an interest in directing films.

I saw this as an opportunity and thought why not tap it and create something as it was the best platform for us to prove ourselves. We gave our proposal to the school committee and they happily agreed.

From there onwards, there was no Ctrl + Z for us, we only had an option to give our best and make something that gets embedded into the hearts of Paulites.

Varun (Left) & Rachit ( Right )

How was the experience of going back to the school?

We got permission to go ahead with our plan from the event committee however getting he permission from the School principal was a task. I remember we got kicked out a couple of times and were told to come after the school gets over. From there, the true Pauliteness ignited within us.

We somehow managed to sneak into the school and started our shooting as and when we found good subjects without the Principal’s knowledge. That was truly a nostalgic moment for us as to how during our school days we used to bunk lectures and roamed here and there.

During the shoot, we did everything we used to do during our school days right from attending morning assembly to sharing tiffins with the young ones. For a second we thought that we are back in the past. Seeing our classrooms and meeting our teachers were some moments that can not be defined in words.

How was the reaction of teachers, friends, and parents after seeing this film?

Until they saw our film, they thought of it as just another ordinary film. We wanted each and every Paulite, be it of the first batch or the last, to relive his 14 years in these 10 minutes.

No matter what, but by the end of the 10th minute, the eyes of all the students and teachers should be wet and filled with mixed emotions. I and Rachit took the two corners of the stage to watch their reaction when the film was being played. It was a dream come true moment for us when we saw more than 1500 people stood up with never-ending hoots and applause. 

 These were the words of one of my friends –

There was hooliganism going on in the auditorium before the movie started, proving that a true paulite never changes. People were a little less interested in the speeches given by former principals and they were busy interacting with their friends whom they are meeting after ages. The moment the movie started, there was pin-drop silence, their eyes were fixed upon the screen. Few eyes were seen with tears rolling down. That was something never seen before in the history of St. Paulites

After the movie ended, we were called upon the stage, I heard hundreds of people shouting “ONCE MORE”. The first person I looked down from on the stage was our Rev. Fr. Principal who had a big grin on his face. 

Varun is a professional photographer and filmmaker. While Rachit’s main interest lies in writing and directing films. This film is their major debut project together.

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