Description:
Shell Lubricants presents Ram Bhandari, the Bangalore Bat Doctor. In the film he talks about how his expertise and craftsmanship have led to an in-depth understanding of India’s cricketers’ needs and what makes a powerful partnership.
The Bangalore Bat Doctor Transcript
[Background music plays]
Shot of busy Bangalore street scene at night, which moves from out of focus to in focus.
The Shell Pecten appears on screen over the top of the footage.
[Text displays]
Shell Lubricants presents
Cut to shot of the end of cricket bat handles, piled up. Cut to shot of Ram sliding two parts of a cricket bat together. Cut to shot of Ram sanding a cricket bat. Cut to shot of a newspaper article with the headline “Will Bat Man’s Magic work on Sachin, Viru?”. Cut to shot of a cricketer bowling a ball at a batsman, both are dressed in whites and are practicing in outdoor nets. Cut to shot of a stack of cricket bats piled up.
[Text displays]
The Power of Partnerships
*****
In Ram’s workshop setting: a shot of a ball of rope unwinding appears. Cut to close up of Ram turning a cricket bat in his hands. Cut to close up shot of Ram sanding a cricket bat with sand paper. Cut to side on shot of Ram sanding a cricket bat with an electric sander.
[Text displays]
Featuring Ram Bhandari
The Bangalore Bat Doctor
Head shot of Ram hammering appears. Cut to close up of Ram sanding a cricket bat, looking down the length of the bat, turning it over and slapping it.
[Ram Bhandari]
“I have been making bats since 1997-98.”
Cut to close up of hammer on workshop surface. Cut to close up of pieces of wood and tools on workshop surface. Cut to close up of pieces of wood, tape measure and string on workshop surface.
[Ram Bhandari]
“I make crickets bats for the Indian cricket team” Cut to shot of tops of colourful cricket bats lined up against wall of workshop. Cut to shots of photos of Ram with various cricketers, stuck to wall of workshop.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid.”
Cut to long shot of Ram practicing his strokes with a bat, framed by the lit doors of his workshop.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Everyone gets bats from me.”
Close up of Ram’s hands spinning a bat, then placing the bat in a vice. Cut to close up of Ram’s face as he concentrates.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Not all bats are the same. They are all different.”
Shot of Ram looking horizontally down the shaft of a bat as he holds it out in front of himself and turns it.
[Ram Bhandari]
“The most important thing about a bat is its balance.”
*********
Daytime shot of Bangalore street scene with vehicles driving past. Cut to closer shot of tuk tuk driver, driving past. Cut to shot of two cricketers in whites and Ram walking across a practice ground in daylight. Cut to ariel shot of practice ground. Cut to close up of cricketer wearing head guard, staring intently ahead. Shot switches to close up of bat being moved into batting position. Cut to close up of ball being turned in bowler’s hand, followed by a shot from behind the batsman as the bowler bowls a ball towards him.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Every player prefers a different type of balance on their bat, I see the footwork of the player and the body language and what kind of shots he plays.”
Close up of Ram looking out through the nets appears, followed by wide shot of the batsman hitting the ball as it is bowled to him by the bowler.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Is he a defensive player? Or a hitter?“
“According to that, I make it.”
*******
Close up of reels of string, tools and tape measure on workshop surface. Cut to close up of Ram hammering a nail into a bat. Cut to close up of Ram sawing wood. Cut to close up of Ram sanding a cricket bat with an electric sander. Cut to close up of Ram looking out through cricket nets. Cut to shot of batsman hitting ball from behind. Cut to close up of Ram sanding a cricket bat with an electric sander on his lap. Cut to shot of batsman hitting a ball from the side on. Cut to close up of Ram sanding a cricket bat with an electric sander. Cut to wide shot of a batsman hitting the ball as it is bowled to him by the bowler. Cut to close up of Ram sanding a cricket bat with electric sander. Two quick shots of the batsman hitting a ball. Cut to close up of Ram looking out through the nets.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Super sir, ok, super.”
**********
Close up of newspaper article, panning across the headline: ‘Sachin’s Bat Doctor hopes he’ll sign off with 400’. Cut to another close up of a newspaper article with the headline ‘The Batter Half’ and a photo of Ram. Cut to shot of Ram picking up a framed photo of Tendulkar from a shelf in a room.
[Ram Bhandari]
“The special thing about Tendulkar's bat is that he used to check the balance of the bat himself.”
Shot of Ram talking to camera.
[Ram Bhandari]
“And then I would make minor adjustments to it according to his footwork.”
Wider shot of Ram with his back to the camera, looking at the framed photo with shelf unit on the wall visible in the background. Cut to shot of Ram looking at the camera, holding the framed photo of Tendulkar.
[Ram Bhandari]
“This is the partnership, how we're connected”
********
Cut to footage of a large statue of a deity in urban gardens by the side of a Bangalore inner city road, as if shot from a moving vehicle with loud sound of motor vehicles in the background.
Cut to a shot of Ram walking down a stair well.
[Ram Bhandari]
“A strong relationship,”
Long shot of Ram in an indoor hall talking to two cricket players dressed in whites, one holding a bat and the other a ball.
[Ram Bhandari]
“needs four critical things.”
Cut to shot of Ram talking to camera, sat in his workshop, holding a bat.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Firstly, trust.”
Cut to close up of Ram’s hands, sanding a bat.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Second, passion.” Cut to close up of the back of Ram’s head as he works. Cut to close up of Ram’s hands, sanding a bat.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Next, pure love for the craft.”
Shot of Ram looking down the length of a bat. Cut to shot of Ram talking to camera, sat in his workshop, holding a bat.
[Ram Bhandari]
“Finally, a lot of knowledge.”
*******
Shot of Ram using a cricket bat, watched by a group of interested boys in an outdoor urban area on a dusty playing field. Cut to head and shoulders shot of Ram laughing and joking with the boys. Cut to shot of two boys playing crickets, hitting a ball and running to and from the stumps.
[Ram Bhandari]
“My relationship with the players is strong because they fully trust me.”
Cut to full shot of Ram sat in his workshop, concentrating on working on a bat, surrounded by bats and his work station. Cut to a shot of Ram in the same environment, laughing whilst he works.
Cut to wide shot of Ram on a flat roof, looking out over the roof tops of Bangalore at dusk. The sky is a dusky pink colour. Above Ram’s head in the sky, the following words appear in white:
[Text displays]
Together becoming a champion is possible
The shot pans up to display just the sky. The Shell Lubricants logo appears over the top of the sky shot.
[Text displays]
Shell Lubricants
This is replaced by the animated logo ‘Together anything is possible’. Individual words fly in to form the whole logo. Each letter of the logo is made up of a different photo.
[Text displays]
‘Together anything is possible’
This is replaced by the Shell Pecten with a final flourish of the music.
