A photocopy machine is an integral part of Naseer’s film
Naseeruddin Shah’s next film will indeed star the actor, but it will also feature a photocopy machine in an important role. Directed by ad film-maker Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Hope Aur Hum looks at how the senior-most member of the Srivastava family, Nagesh (played by Naseeruddin), and his obsession with his old copying machine, called d Mr. Soennecken, start to take a toll on the lives of the entire family. In fact, Sudip wrote this film based on a real incident. When he was a fine arts student in Kolkata, West Bengal, the director used to get photocopies from an old man who owned a machine very similar to Mr. Soennecken. Sudip one day happened to see the old machine being thrown out and a new copy machine being brought in, and the event inspired the film’s story. Sudip says that he couldn’t buy the original machine, so he sat with his art director, Tapas Singha, and they decided to build a similar photocopier. The director says, “When we began, I had no images of Mr. Soennecken; only pictures I had drawn as a young man. Tapas and I began the work, and it was coming together well, when Ravi K Chandran (cinematographer) told us it didn’t have the vintage feel. An acid wash was an option, so, Tapas and I brushed the whole thing with acid, and then we brushed it down with water again before it burned, and then polished it. The machine is truly made from our blood, sweat and tears.”
He adds that when the whole cast and crew saw Mr. Soennecken for the first time, they couldn’t believe it was created on set.