Earbuds, South Asian-led Zombie film, set to premiere at Tasveer Film Festival

Director Archana Shinde, alongside stars Venk Potula and Chhaya Nene, discusses the making of ‘Earbuds,’ the importance of culture in storytelling, and the joys of collaborating on this South Asian-led zombie film.

“Four Samosas” Actor Venk Potula and Actress Chhaya Nene, known for Netflix’s “The OA/ABC’s “Big Sky” and her own multi-award winning film “Kurta Pants” star in writer/director Archana Shinde’s “Earbuds”. The film is set to have its premiere at the prestigious Tasveer Film Festival in Seattle on October 19th, 2024. The festival is the only South Asian Oscar Qualifying Film Festival in the world.

We sat down with Potula, Nene, and Shinde to discuss the film and the process of making it.

First question to Shinde, tell us about “Earbuds.” How did the concept come about?

It all started on a very unremarkable morning. With my Earbuds on and my back turned to the world, I was working on a script, so completely lost in the moment that I didn’t even notice when my husband casually wandered into the room. In an effort to show his undying affection, he put his arms around me, startling me to death. I yelped in fear pushing him away. After I regained my bearings but still seething, I tried to explain to him that he needed to stop scaring me because I didn’t want to routinely scan my surroundings as if I were writing during a zombie apocalypse. But he was hurt because I rejected his hug. So, like a normal long-term couple, instead of talking about the misunderstanding, he moved on to start his day and I furiously wrote the first draft of the story.

That’s pretty funny and yes definitely the start of a fun script, Venk and Chhaya, what attracted you to Earbuds?

 Venk:

Archana had reached out to me via email and she sent me the script after seeing Four Samosas. I was honored she thought of me for Raj. I connected with the back-and-forth banter the two leads had and loved it. I auditioned for the project and they gave me the part!

Chhaya:

I had met Archana when she and her husband had come to see “Yoniverse” which is a play I co-wrote with three other incredible ladies. Archana and I connected right away and when we chatted about the script I knew it was going to be a lot of fun. Simi is smart and fun and I liked this role, she’s different to what I get cast for which as an actress is exciting because it gives us room to play.  It’s also amazing to see a fellow Marathi creative doing amazing things. I was in!

Chhaya, glad you mentioned recognizing someone from the culture; it leads me to my next question. Archana, why is keeping culture important and this feels like the first Indian American/diaspora zombie apocalypse film, can you talk about that?

Culture plays a pivotal role in my stories because it not only helps the characters set apart but also elevate them. Even though Indian culture is distinct, I also want to make our stories more accessible. I want the culture to be a lens and not a curtain that shields these amazing characters from making choices despite what their culture dictates. At a point, the characters do transcend their culture and wrestle with the same dilemmas any other person on this planet would entertain when facing a zombie outbreak.

Venk, you’re working with a South Asian female director and the cast is entirely South Asian– this has happened for you on “Four Samosas”… How does that feel? What kind of environment does that create?

It feels very special. For me, I’ve always felt that you have to create the world you want to live in. The environment feels welcoming in the same way that coming home does. It just feels right. To be a part of a project with so many talented South Asians artists is inspiring and I’m even more inspired to see that Earbuds is premiering at the Tasveer Film Festival in the company of so many other South Asian artists who are also out there making movies. It’s great to see a community of filmmakers galvanize together. I feel lucky to be a small part of it.

Tasveer is a big deal, Chhaya. what does it mean to you to have “Earbuds” at Tasveer given that you are a lead in this?

I was so excited when Archana called Venk and I. Tasveer fosters a space to uplift voices like ours and that is special. There was a time not that long ago where it felt like South Asians were at the cusp of making it mainstream and then the pandemic hit. What I like about us is that we are resilient and we find a way. Tasveer is a great way to highlight and showcase talent that would not have otherwise been seen. It is one way to make sure we get good content out there.

READ: Chhaya Nene’s ‘Kurta Pants’ set to premiere at CSAFF: A conversation with the filmmaker and Festival Director Jigar Shah (September 15, 2024)

Shinde: 

To echo what Chhaya just said– back in 2011, I went back to India to shoot my UCLA thesis film because the story and the characters were Indian. Now we have a thriving pool of talented South Asian actors here in LA and I wanted to take advantage of that. So, I was determined to have an entire South Asian cast including the three voiceovers in the film.

That’s right, this film features an entirely South Asian cast. What is the goal with this short? What’s next Archana? 

The short is a proof of concept for the feature where we see the main characters go on a journey to reunite with their families. The journey involves not just fighting off the zombies but also fighting off the demons that threaten their relationship.

Okay, rapid fire questions for you three. Archana, tell us about some of the joys of making this? 

We shot the film in our apartment and I was working with Cyrus, my husband who produced the film with me. That was one of the biggest joys of making this film. Working with talented actors like Chhaya Nene and Venk Potula was amazing. Their chemistry dazzled us right from the audition. Mohana Banerjee and Rishi Jaiswal were fantastic. Everybody who worked the set was very kind with their time and their dedication to the project. Our DP Ali Paras and our AD Jenny Choi made sure that we got all the shots I needed. Post-production was truly a joy because of talented artists like Walter Volpatto (color), Vince Colavitti (sound) and Saurabh Bhalerao (music). All of these incredible filmmakers made ‘Earbuds’ possible and seeing the characters I wrote come to life and being able to direct the story I wanted to tell felt extremely rewarding.

Venk, tell us about some of the joys of making Earbuds either with your fellow castmates/director?

One of my favorite parts of making earbuds was taking photos of the couple in the film with Chhaya, my lovely co-star. It was one of the first things we did and I felt it really was the best way to just dive into the characters. Seeing the photos finally printed out and framed really made the set feel like Raj and Simi’s space and that made me tap into the role in a more intimate, meaningful way. Shooting is always so much fun. I loved working with all of the cast and crew, and one of my favorite scenes to shoot was the kitchen scene where Raj and Simi finally make up only to have one last distraction almost break them up again in a lovely, tender, comedic moment.

Chhaya, was there a moment or two that stuck out on set? A fun moment?

Definitely. Physicality and dance in this piece stood out, there’s a moment when Venk and I are dancing in the kitchen and just the joyfulness of that moment stood out. At the same time, Mohana and Rishi were dancing and that felt fun. a time where we could all just be.

Also, I ate a lot of gulab jamuns for the shoot and they were delicious but I still have not eaten one to this day. You’ll see that moment in the movie and know.

We are looking forward to seeing this film! Last question is advice from each of you for those who are starting out or those who want to get into filmmaking but are stuck?

Archana:

Watch films that you enjoy and figure out why you like them. Reach out to people with similar interests. Filmmaking is hard but like life, you don’t need all the answers right away before you even start. Enjoy the journey. Enjoy the process of finding solutions as you go.

Venk:

Just start. If you’re stuck, it’s probably because you are scared of what ‘they’ might think or because you don’t think you are ‘good enough.’ All of that is just fear. Which – to me – doesn’t exist. It’s an illusion. So the key is to just start. Forget about it being good or bad, just do it. If you do it enough you’ll eventually get to where you are trying to go. And then – and here comes the hard part – you have to keep going. Do whatever you have to do to keep yourself in the game. Just start and stay in the game. You can never lose if you’re always on the court. Eventually the other team will get too tired and miss all of their shots and you will take the lead.

Chhaya:

Breathe. Remember the why, what are you trying to accomplish? Think about that and then find how you can simplify it. I find writing down the big picture and then writing down a one sentence statement of what you want to do helps bring it down to a manageable sized task. That is doing the work. I then break that sentence down to something I can do every day to get to where I want to go. It’s also ok to suck. The first thing you do may be amazing or it may need work but nothing gets done if you do nothing. I made my first film on an iPhone in one location and we are just coming home with five wins ranging from Best Short to Best Debut Director. All you have to do is start and know you have people rooting for you.

“Earbuds” will premiere on October 19th, 2024 at the Tasveer Film Festival. You can find the film on Instagram at @earbuds.film.