Before making It’s All In Your Head, India’s Dhruv Solanki completed his engineering degree and was teaching chemistry. In an exclusive chat, the filmmaker talks about the professional switch, the big lessons he learnt while making the film, the arrogance he lost during the process, and his equation with the collaborators. Solanki’s debut, It’s All In Your Head had a digital release earlier this month and is now streaming on GUDSHO in India and NoBudge in the US.
It’s All In Your Head and Dhruv Solanki
It’s All In Your Head explores challenges and stereotypes that Indian youth face in their daily lives while struggling to realize their dreams in small towns of India. The film won the Best Producer award at The African Smartphone International Film Festival in Nigeria last year. It also made it to the official selection at Dhaka International Mobile Film Festival as well as Diamond Star Penang International Film Festival (Malaysia), apart from being screened out of competition at Ojo Movil Festival (Peru). The film has also travelled to several Indian film festivals including Ajanta Ellora International Film Festival and Indian Film Festival of Bhubaneshwar.
It’s All In Your Head is also a case study at Met Film School in Berlin, Germany. Faculty member at the school, Beth Sanders, who is also a member of BAFTA
First Trust Large Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund
as well as the European Film Academy, chose the film for her postgraduate students.
Solanki claims he was “very arrogant” before he made the film, but when he started meeting people, he realized he is not the only one talented, nor is he the only one with pain. With the research work for the film, he realized how other people are way more talented and are also willing to understand and empathize with a different perspective. “(My) self-importance completely disappeared, and not just in terms of professional talent but even in my personal life. I am immensely grateful that I could meet people more talented than I am, way more hardworking than I am, way more generous than I am. That was the best learning.”
Admitting that coming from a non-film background gave him the extra struggles of an outsider – from making ends meet with a day-job to doubling shifts for writing and making his own films, Solanki says he has done it all for his passion of making films. “I have to do a job in a completely different industry, make money from that and take that money and put that money into this industry.”
Making of It’s All In Your Head
Shot on an iPhone within a span of ten days, the film can be viewed as a slow, laid-back one. Explaining the reason, Solanki says, “It was intentional. It was like one of the first pointers that I laid down. Most films about coming-of-age are very high in energy and the conflict and drama are heightened, but the daily life that we live and I experienced is very banal on the outer surface. I wanted to make a film which is basically antithesis of all the prominent things, I wanted to do an antithesis.”
Recalling the time he shot It’s All In Your Head, Solanki says the toughest part was managing the finances. He shot the film on an iPhone 13 Pro Max in 4K, in a total of ten days. “Apart from that (financial issues), I would say the biggest struggle for me was to just manage the five girls – all of them have different energies, different characters. Ensuring they can be seen as a group, and also maintain their own individuality was tough. That was intimidating and a difficult part of the process.” He also recalls that a lack of money guided them to shoot gorilla style, and the team even got into fights with people in places such as a temple and a mall.
LSD 2 Actor Bonita Rajpurohit edited It’s All In Your Head
One of the lead actors in the film, Bonita Rajpurohit was recently seen in Love Sex Aur Dokha 2 (LSD2). She not only acted in It’s All In Your Head but also edited the film and assisted Solanki as his assistant director. After winning the Miss Trans Queen India title in 2019, Rajpurohit worked modelled for Vogue & Cosmopolitan magazines, apart from some fashion brands. She has also worked in several TV commercials and theatre plays. She also directed her fashion film for Urbanic and is working under the mentorship of filmmaker Alankrita Srivastava as a writer and director.
Solanki reveals he first met Rajpurohit in 2020 when he was writing a fictionalized version of his own life story and she suggested he should make a film about sisters. He refused her offer. “Very obviously, because her idea was about five sisters into fashion and Instagram, etc. I’ve never used social media in my entire life. I spend my time teaching chemistry, reading books, so we came from very different backgrounds.” However, the two bonded over their love for films and ideologies. He adds that creatively, they think differently, and it often led to tussles. However, he admits she is his bouncing board.
Solanki’s next projects
The filmmaker confirms he is already working on three more projects and has even shot his second feature which Rajpurohit has co-directed.
(This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity)
