It was a pending decision for almost 5 year. I was striving to make my first short film from last so many years obstacle by finance & a great team. In the summer of 2009, I finally decided, finalized my screenplay & quit my ad agency job. Now I proudly say that all the efforts where worth it. While making SMS, I have actually come nearer to myself as the journey is far greater than the destination.

 Starting the idea of SMS was from the scratch. It was the winter of 2008, when I was just reading a text message & walking on the pathways of busy street of Mumbai – the idea strikes. First draft of the screenplay was written on my cell phone’s notepad in a local train’s journey. As the more filtered drafts came in, I was ready with the final script by the start of 2009. Finance was the major issue as I always wanted to be a step ahead. SMS was a high budget compare to other short films of the same length. The team was made & the first short was taken on the evening of 31st August, 2009. As I saw the rushes, I was surprised & became more confident towards my goal as a film maker. Post-production took a while, but the end result surprised everyone. It was the journey while making SMS emerged me as a whole new person with sharper perceptions.

 The idea behind making a film of text messages wasn’t appreciated initially, but I was very much confident that it was different. It’s an incident rather than a story, which changes the idea of the people. What we make out from a person’s first impression may be totally different from his personality. The notion of raw emotion that lead us to take drastic steps which may even change our life. SMS has done it for me.

 Making a film, meeting many people, receiving so many comments, team-up with creative brains, waiting for the reactions was a whole new path of life. I am very thankful to all the actors & technicians associated with SMS, which is & will be very important to all of us. This is all very personal. Of course, every frame of film is close to me & very personal. It wasn’t me who made this film; it was the film that made me.

Rajinder Singh Puller
Mumbai, India - December 2009.