The Brief
Masters' Union commissioned a film inside its Owners & Promoters Management (OPM) Programme — the cohort built for second and third-generation business leaders inheriting and reshaping family businesses. The cut needed an authentic family-business story rather than a testimonial — proof that the programme actually moves real businesses, not just CVs.
Masters' Union commissioned a film inside its Owners & Promoters Management (OPM) Programme — the cohort built for second and third-generation business leaders inheriting and reshaping family businesses. The cut needed an authentic family-business story rather than a testimonial — proof that the programme actually moves real businesses, not just CVs.
The film blends classroom material from OPM with location footage from Baheti Steels in Hyderabad. This case study covers the location shoot — Gaurav and the steel yard.
The Approach
One day of recce, one day of shoot. I designed the lighting, the blocking, and the shot list on the recce so the shoot day could move fast. Location was Gaurav's steel yard and the surrounding area — an industrial environment with unpredictable light, dust, working trucks, and no production design to lean on.
One day of recce, one day of shoot. I designed the lighting, the blocking, and the shot list on the recce so the shoot day could move fast. Location was Gaurav's steel yard and the surrounding area — an industrial environment with unpredictable light, dust, working trucks, and no production design to lean on.
Heritage. Programme. Application. And then change.
LEARNING
A family-business film works when the camera trusts the subject. Gaurav's gravity carries the whole arc — what he says about his father, the floor, the decisions he's making — without needing to over-direct it. The strongest takes were the ones where we held the frame and let him land the thought.
A family-business film works when the camera trusts the subject. Gaurav's gravity carries the whole arc — what he says about his father, the floor, the decisions he's making — without needing to over-direct it. The strongest takes were the ones where we held the frame and let him land the thought.
CHALLENGES
— No gaffer, no art person. Lighting was mine end-to-end — designed on the recce, executed on the day with the crew I had. Set dressing was whatever was already living in the yard.
— Biggest one: the on-ground crew didn't share a language with us. Every setup had to move through a translation layer, on a day where we couldn't afford to slow down. Required clearer pre-viz at recce, simpler verbal cues on set, and a lot of pointing.
— Industrial yard variables — working trucks rolling in mid-take, weather, dust, ambient noise, no real control over the floor.
— No gaffer, no art person. Lighting was mine end-to-end — designed on the recce, executed on the day with the crew I had. Set dressing was whatever was already living in the yard.
— Biggest one: the on-ground crew didn't share a language with us. Every setup had to move through a translation layer, on a day where we couldn't afford to slow down. Required clearer pre-viz at recce, simpler verbal cues on set, and a lot of pointing.
— Industrial yard variables — working trucks rolling in mid-take, weather, dust, ambient noise, no real control over the floor.
CREDITS
Producer: Abhishek Mishra
Associate Producer: Swarnim
Creative Director: Devansh Kotak
Director: Manasvi Dhawan
Director of Photography: Akshay Pawar
Brand: Baheti Steels
Featuring: Gaurav Baheti
For: Masters Union
Associate Producer: Swarnim
Creative Director: Devansh Kotak
Director: Manasvi Dhawan
Director of Photography: Akshay Pawar
Brand: Baheti Steels
Featuring: Gaurav Baheti
For: Masters Union
