Bollywood--Here I Come

Post by **Nigel** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:34 am

I just got my first invite to shoot a Bollywoood Flick...It is the most amazing thing I think I have ever seen.

The stereotypes are correct. It's a Boy meets Girl. Boy can't have girl because of the fact that they are from different casts. Finally, love wins and they are together. This only happpens after about 10 song and dance numbers. It blows me away Busby Bekeley is still alive it is just now he is called Santosh and lives in Mumbai.

If this all works out it will be the best time of my life.

I just needed to share my glee.

Good Luck

Post by **teadub** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:07 am

That's fantastic. I would love to shoot one of those Bollywood musicals. Yellow and Indigo scarfs everywhere, that would be great. Besides, I would love to travel to India.

Post by **reflex** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:18 am

teadub wrote:That's fantastic. I would love to shoot one of those Bollywood musicals. Yellow and Indigo scarfs everywhere, that would be great. Besides, I would love to travel to India.

Strange as it may seem, there was a Bollywood production filming in central Calgary last summer -- One of their ADs mentioned they were here for the "exotic locale," which I found tremendously amusing. I guess the grass is always more exotic on the other side of the ocean. :lol:

Post by **ccortez** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 4:57 pm

Damn! Everybody is working on Bollywood flicks these days!

I have a friend who is a costumer and set decorator and you'll never believe what she's working on here in Austin --

<b>Bollywood Horror Movies! </b>

E.g. they're remaking "The Ring" (IIRC) right now. The story is basically the same as the original, but they break out in song and dance occasionally. The same company is doing several of them.

I have to get in on some of this action. It sounds like soooo much fun!

:lol:

Post by **mattias** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:02 pm

reflex wrote:Strange as it may seem, there was a Bollywood production filming in central Calgary last summer -- One of their ADs mentioned they were here for the "exotic locale," which I found tremendously amusing.

that is kind of amusing, but...

I guess the grass is always more exotic on the other side of the ocean.

the webster disctionary says "exotic: from another part of the world", so you don't have to guess; it's the definition. :-)

/matt

Post by **reflex** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:44 pm

mattias wrote:
reflex wrote:Strange as it may seem, there was a Bollywood production filming in central Calgary last summer -- One of their ADs mentioned they were here for the "exotic locale," which I found tremendously amusing.
that is kind of amusing, but...
I guess the grass is always more exotic on the other side of the ocean.
the webster disctionary says "exotic: from another part of the world", so you don't have to guess; it's the definition.

/matt

Drat. Why is it that Scandinavians always correct my English? [that was a rhetorical question: My best friend is Danish and can't write properly in any language...] :lol:

My well worn copy of the Globe & Mail style guide (required reference for journalists in this country) has the following bizarre entry on the subject:

Exotic: Of foreign origin, or, by extension, strangely different. Nude or scantily clad dancers have become so commonplace that they should be called that, not exotic dancers.

:roll:

Post by **mattias** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:52 pm

*lol*

/matt

Post by **Nigel** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:33 pm

It is all very exciting. I have another meeting with the producer and director on Tuesday. We will just have to see what happens.

Good Luck

Post by **reflex** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:37 pm

Nigel wrote:It is all very exciting. I have another meeting with the producer and director on Tuesday. We will just have to see what happens.

Nigel, promise us that if you get the job you'll post a "diary" -- it sounds like an unforgettable experience.

Post by **woods01** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:25 pm

I have some buddies who gripped and lamped on a Bollywood. They said
they had a lot of fun working on somthing completly different. However they
also said the production paid them crap and had generally a lot of money
issues which made the behind the scenes activity pretty mickey mouse
compared to our local low budget productions. But I would still do one
just for the experience of a musical.

Post by **Nigel** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:21 pm

Haaaa!!!

There will be no "diary". If I there is something I wish to share with the board I will do so. There is no need for people to read about my trials, tribulations and laughs whilst I do my job. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Good Luck

Post by **T-Scan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:25 pm

What's Bollywood?

Post by **Nigel** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:27 pm

It is the nick-name for the movie biz in India.

Good Luck

Post by **S8 Booster** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:46 pm

Good luck but take care.
Bollywood has a reputation for being ruled by a die-hard mafia (more than Hollywood ;-) ) allthough some try to deny it.

Think Ruby Wax did a TV part from there and she felt pretty unsafe if I remember correctly.

Anyway an Indian born actress from my hometown, Monica Bedi went there as an promising actress but seemed to marry a mob-boy in the industry and got stuck in deep shit:

http://www.bollywhat.com/darkside.html
http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bolly ... 110-0.html

More stories about BW:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=no&q=bo ... SÃƒÂ¸k&lr=

Anyway, sure it is going to be an unforgettable experience but take care

R

Post by **S8W** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:25 pm

I just wanted to say my piece. Many Indians resent the western name Bollywood as it can imply an industry that is in the shadows of Hollywood. This is clearly not the case Indian cinema is diverse and its cinematography is truely remarkeable. Rather than Bollywood it should be refered to as Indian Cinema, which is the largets film industry in the world and produces more films than Hollywood about 900+ films a year.

Not every film is a musical romance, infact serious films of international recognition have come out of India, most recently a film called 'LAGAAN' which was nomiated for an oscar. Films tend to be made in many of the Indian languages of which there are many, some of them are Hindi, Telegu, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bengali, infact the world famous Director Satyajit Ray made films in Bengali.

It is frustrating sometimes that there is little knowledge about Indian cinema in the west. Indian cinema is full of diversity and these days high technical standards on par with the west, and films are much ore than song and dance melodramas.

Tanya