BLOG INTERVIEW - Ravi Godse

Meet Dr Ravi Godse. An NRI physician who loves making films and writing novels.

Dr Ravi and Mr Hyde, a film about a doctor who turns filmmaker, has been written, produced and directed by Godse. What's more - Godse also plays the lead role. The film, which releases on DVD in the US on July 17, was shot with a small but professional crew in only 5 days.

Godse told Toe Knee Unplugged he now plans to direct a 'Bollywood' film based on his popular novel 2 Guys, 3 Girls and a Mad Professor. The Pittsburgh-based doctor says its been ages since he visited his hometown of Dombivili, India but hopes to do so soon.

A comedy about a doctor who went to film school to make a film about being a doctor. Hmmm! Dr Ravi and Mr Hyde sure sounds autobiographical?

I am a real life doctor and I did go to film school. I had some of the experiences and I do believe that life imitates art but I still won't call it autobiographical. The dusky Colombian nurse and blond Irish boy, who play my wife and son in the movie, will stand testimony to that.

How easy or difficult was it for a physician like you to make a movie?

It was easy to make a movie as a physician. Life being an independent movie maker is hard. You need a thick skin and need to call in a lot of favours, knock on doors of whose existence you were hitherto unaware.

Being a doctor here, all my calls are returned, no matter who I call. The calls stop once they know why I am calling but I get one chance.

Going to film school as a physician was a little tough. I was a straight A student since pre-school and had a hard time dealing with initial C grades.

Any chance of Dr Ravi and Mr Hyde getting a theatrical release

If the movie does well in DVD circuit, there is a chance it can play in theatres somewhere, at least in a limited way.

Though the picture was acquired on video, we have taken painstaking care to maintain fidelity to 24 frames per second and if printed to 35mm film, it will look good.

2 Guys, 3 Girls and a Mad Professor was an interesting read. Any plans to write a novel in the same vein?

I would love to. Currently, I am writing historical travelogues for a webzine. I have long since harboured ambitions to try and get a PhD in History...and might write a book on the Duke of Wellington or South Africa's Telecommunications Minister who is a friend of mine.

And what's next on the movie front?

I wrote my second movie I am a schizophrenic and so am I. It's a courtroom drama. In fact, I just finished shooting it as well.

Does your next film also draw on your experiences as a physician?

Yes. It is a movie where the physician gets sued.

Any plans to make a full-fledged Bollywood film in the future?

No...Let me qualify. I am directing a movie on 2 Guys, 3 Girls and a Mad Professor, in the next few months, hopefully and that can qualify as a Bollywood movie.

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