THE STORY & EMOTION
The Basketball Game That Became a Wedding Location: Jaypee Palace Hotel & Convention Centre, Mussoorie Film Duration: 42 minutes Riddhisha and Akshay live in US. Tech jobs. The life Indian parents dream their kids will have—stable, successful, far from home. But when it came time to get married, Akshay had one request: "Can we do it in INDIA?" Not because it's romantic (though it is). Not because it's convenient (it absolutely isn't). Because when he was seven, his parents took him to Jaypee Palace. And he remembers thinking, as a kid, standing in that lobby with mountains visible through the windows: "Someday I want to do something important here." MAY BE Twenty-three years later, he did.
CEREMONIES
1. Basketball in Sherwani This has never been done. Not because it's technically difficult. But because no one has been crazy enough to try. Seven groomsmen. Full sherwanis. Gold embroidery. Turbans. In sneakers. Playing pickup basketball at 6am on the wedding morning. The looks on hotel staff's faces as they watched this unfold? Priceless. We shot it handheld. Fast cuts. Treated it like a sports documentary. Because technically it was. The shot that made it to the poster: Akshay mid-layup, sherwani flowing, mountains in the background, golden hour light hitting his face. This image went viral. Featured on every wedding blog. Made Instagram explode. Because sometimes the most memorable moments are the ones nobody planned. 2. The Day Wedding Most Indian weddings happen at night. Fire. Drama. Maximal lighting. They chose 12pm. Natural light. Mountain backdrop. No LED walls competing with reality. The mandap was simple. White flowers. Minimal draping. and a big ganesha handmade witrh flowers behind. Let the Himalayas do the decorating. We shot this on long lenses. 85mm. 135mm. Compressed the mountains behind them. Made it look like they were getting married on top of the world.
The Approach
3. The Vows They wrote their own. In a Hindu ceremony where most vows are in Sanskrit that couples don't understand, they wrote theirs in English. Seven promises. Alternating. He'd say one. She'd respond. Back and forth like a conversation. Promise 4 was: "I promise to never beat you at basketball." She said: "That's because you can't." Everyone laughed. Including the pandit, who definitely didn't understand but felt the vibe. 4. The Sunset After the ceremony, before the reception, we took them to the edge of the property. 6:15pm. Magic hour. The valley below turning gold. We gave them one direction: "Stand there. Talk to each other like we're not here." What followed was six minutes of them processing what just happened. Holding hands. Looking at mountains. Occasionally laughing at nothing. We didn't direct a single moment. The film's final sequence is this. No dialogue. Just them. Mountains. Sunset. Sometimes the best cinematography is knowing when to shut up and shoot.
Team Behind
The Challenge: How do you make a daytime mountain wedding feel cinematic, not documentary? Special Thanks: Jaypee Palace - For the court and the view The groomsmen - For being ridiculous in the best way The mountains - For showing up Shot over: 2 days Edited over: 43 days Featured on: 12 platforms and counting Special Credits : The Couple: Riddhisha & Akshay - For flying 8,000 miles to get married in the place where it mattered Our Team: Lead Cinematographers: Ashish Kabir, Ashish Thakur, Vishvaas Bhatia Drone Operator: Suraj Editor: Iqrar Ahamd Colorist: Iqrar Ahamd Same day Edits & Trailer Cut: Ashish thakur
Their combined vision and dedication brought this ambitious project to life, with every frame reflecting VYZN’s belief that cinema is the ultimate language of storytelling.
SHOOTING STYLE
Technical Notes: Shot on FX 3 and Sony a 73 24mm, 50mm, 85mm, 135mm GM primes Drone for valley establishing shots (those mountains deserved their own scene) Rode Wireless GO II for vows (hidden mics so we got every word) The Edit: Two parallel storylines that converge.
The LOCATION
Mussoorie in December. The winter session entered. The mountains are still green. The air smells like pine and possibility. Jaypee Palace sits on a hill overlooking the valley. Not the most luxurious property in India. But the views? Undefeated. Every room faces mountains. The lawn where they got married? Mountains. The basketball court where we shot? Mountains. About that basketball court: Akshay's groomsmen—all from college—bonded over pickup games. Weekend warriors. Pretend they're still 22 and athletic. They wanted to shoot something "different." We said: "Basketball. But in wedding clothes." They said: "You'guys are insane."
These results prove the power of cinematic storytelling in brand campaigns. By merging creativity, technology, and culture, Snapdraxxen didn’t just launch a product it launched a movement.
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