Film Set: Life Is More Than Light And Shade For A Gaffer

In a warehouse in Kandivali in Mumbai, there are rows upon rows of packed light equipment. It is Mulchand Dedhia바카라�s empire that perhaps will not have an inheritor, even though his youngest daughter, Hetal, is the first female gaffer in the industry. Hetal, 37, wants to get into production and direction, to chase her own Bollywood dreams.

Mulchand, 68, started out as a lighting man for weddings and functions and used to install generators in 1967. He grew up in Charni Road in Mumbai and his father was a grain merchant. For a long time, his family didn바카라�t understand what he was doing.

It was in 1978 that he saw a British gaffer working on lighting a set and decided to become a gaffer.

바카라�Those wedding days were a lot of fun. I was even doubling as a DJ and playing these records. I used to get six paisa a day. It was a good life,바카라� Mulchand recalls. 바카라�I was surrounded by many young boys and girls who kept asking me to play this or that song.바카라�

It was in 1980 that he first began working as a light man.

바카라�I quit Hindi cinema from 1982 to 1996 and then worked on a few indie films,바카라� he says.

In 1996, he worked on Dev Benegal바카라�s film and a few others but it was all within the circles.

It was a hard life. His son fell and he needed medical care, which was expensive. Back then, he was working on one film in a year and that wasn바카라�t enough. Mulchand hustled to make ends meet.

바카라�I designed bindis and then I joined Lijjat Papad but wherever I was, I was a superpower,바카라� he says.

In 1997, he entered the commercial cinema fray.

바카라�The commercial cinema was not very professional. There were no schedules and things kept changing,바카라� he says. It was Aamir Khan, who he had worked with in 1947 Earth, who called him to work on Lagaan. But Mulchand knew what he was doing. He knew the camera couldn바카라�t see anything without the light and that바카라�s why gaffers were important. He made his own lights. He understood the story has a tonality and that only lighting can provide it. Only the light could create the mood.

The year 2000 became the comeback year for him as a professional gaffer in Bollywood.

Perhaps the struggle, the rags-to-riches story and the legacy of his work has made Mulchand someone who wants to have the last word. After all, he had been involved in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Don (2006) and The Bourne Supremacy (2004). Working on so many projects with people from across the world helped him understand a range of techniques.

The warehouse with its trucks and its thousands of lights and staff bear testimony to his craft. Like many others, he had wanted to be an actor and did a few cameos. But, in the end, it was his understanding of light that made him a known name within the industry.

바카라�I had ideas. I never got stuck. Even now I keep playing with lights,바카라� he says.

Today, there are more than 1500 gaffers in the industry. He trained 15 of them in the last 42 years.

바카라�It is not an easy job. Some gaffers are good at designing, a few are good at cabling. Me, I think about the script and design and prepare.바카라�

Hetal, 37, the daughter who broke stereotypes and took on a job that only men did because it involved carrying and operating lights, is the future. She had watched her father work on the sets and then decided to take over the reins. 바카라�When she joined, I told her she will never get any help from the boys,바카라� says Mulchand. Hetal started out like any other trainee; she hung around carrying heavy lights in the beginning.

바카라�I thought it was a fun job to become a gaffer and there was always something new,바카라� she says.

Now that she has done it, she wants to try other things. 바카라�Your time is gone,바카라� says Mulchand.

바카라�Time never goes,바카라� says Hetal.

When she walks out, her father follows her. There is love and there is the question of legacy. And with light, there are always shadows.

(This appeared in the print edition as "Chiaroscuro")