Sahi was 16 when he left home for the first time. Armed with a DV handycam (which belonged to a classmate), he ventured to make his first short film for a competition organised by the Osian Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema. He was one of 30 participants selected, which meant Sahi took part in workshops with the likes of legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle and director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. He also saw Wong Kar-Wai films on the big screen for the first time. Later, he was also invited by Berlin Talents (who were helping organise the initiative at Osian) and it was the first time Sahi left the country by himself. Between attending workshops by Ridley Scott and Wim Wenders, and partying with Christopher Doyle, Sahi was certain his dream about working on a film set was about to come true.
After finishing Class XII, Sahi opted for a gap year to recalibrate his choices. He also got himself his first ‘film job’ in Mumbai, working with Vasant Nath (one of the writers of Sacred Games) and Bharat Bala, who were conceptualising an ambitious Indo-Japanese crossover project, starring renowned Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu. The project fell through, but Sahi fondly remembered “going to office” for a whole two months before returning home to Bangalore. It was around then that Sahi decided he wanted to broaden his interests beyond film. He went on to study Philosophy at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi. “I think of it as a great backbone for what I eventually set out to do. It made me think and form opinions,” said Sahi, “especially when there are no right or wrong answers.”
At one point, a confused and conflicted Sahi wrote passionate letters to acclaimed directors like Abbas Kiarostami and Wim Wenders, asking if he could assist them on a film set. “I don’t think the letters reached them,” Sahi said, clearly amused by the memory of his younger self. After graduating, Sahi got his first job at the Delhi Art Gallery, where they had just acquired 80,000 negatives of photographer Nemai Ghosh, a close collaborator of director Satyajit Ray. Sahi was part of the small team that archived the negatives. He also studied most of Ray’s works so that he’d be able to identify which behind-the-scenes shot was from which film.
It was also around then that he applied to FTII. His first choice of specialisation had been sound, but he didn’t qualify because he had no science in 11th and 12th. Sahi then picked cinematography. “Looking back, it almost seems like the obvious choice, coming from a visual background like painting,” he said.
Ext, South Block (Central Secretariat): Day
Sauntering in the South Block area around the Ministry of Defence, both Sahi and I are reprimanded by the security personnel, who tell us to stay off the grass. “Why?” Sahi asks. “You’re not allowed,” snarls the personnel. I sense an irritation in Sahi, but he lets it go. As we walk away from the barricade, Sahi tells me about an incident from the filming of Eeb Allay Ooo! when the director Prateek Vats, Sahi and the film’s writer Shubham had to deal with an irate security officer.
“At one point during our shoot, Prateek (Vats), Shubham and I were entering the Ministry of Defence with our camera. The security personnel blew his whistle and asked ‘Kidhar jaa raha hai? (Where are you going?)’ We told them we were making a documentary on monkeys in the area. Suddenly he gave us a wide smile and said “Today is a weekend, you have to come back on a weekday!” and started laughing. It’s an ice-breaker with any of the personnel if you ask them about monkeys because they deal with it everyday.”