Short Film: Mulit

I haven't always been a sell out. I spent two summers working at a film editing and graphic animation company. My cousin was the CFO and he made up a job for me, his favorite unemployed cousin. He convinced the company's owner that they needed to track all inventory so if there was ever a move they would know which equipment and furniture goes in which room, etc. So I spent my summer sticking barcodes to equipment and taking photos for a database on some old lap top they probably tossed away. When I wasn't doing that, I was dropping "spots" (industry talk) off at advertising firms and picking up XBox games for each editing room from the Virgin Mega Store.

There was this dude with a mohawk I would hang with. One day him and a few others were crowded around his computer watching what seemed to be a Bollywood movie to me. I later found out it was a tongue-in-cheek spoof of 70s Bollywood and a short viral marketing film for Absolut though it's not obvious. Rather than shoving their product in every shot, they present the shape of the Absolut bottle in architecture, stains on walls, decorations, shadows, space, candles, and belt buckles. It's cut real fast so in most instances you don't notice them though there are over 20 instances where the shape is used.

From Absolut Pictures: "It was filmed on location in India over the course of eight days in October 2002 and directed by Czech Ivan Zacharias. It is a love story with all the ingredients: a beautiful heroine, a dashing hero, a love that crosses the boundaries of class, a jealous antagonist, a powerful primeminister and extravagant song and dance numbers." You may recognize the Vijay character from Meera Nair's Monsoon Wedding. Vijay Raaz played Parabatlal Kanhaiyalal Dubey, aka PK, in that film.

More than a tale of love and class, it's about the origin of that sweet ass haircut called The Mullet. You may be surprised.