The Making (and Manhandling) of a Star
Trip Start
Jul 25, 2006
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88
165
Trip End
Ongoing
Agra,
India
Saturday, December 15, 2007
The email was from a person who belonged to the same web site as I did. Couchsufing.com is an international web site that basically - well, basically allows you to be a global bum for free. Well, that's a lie, in the words of the web site itself itself the goal was "seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding." This is a noble goal, a worthy goal, and one that I support.
But in other words, it provides you with free places to stay all around the world.
The email said "Foreigners needed for a film shoot."
At some point whilst travelling in Africa I had made a list of goals for India
The Taj - 12
. There were two. One was to buy an old Royal Enfield (a motorcycle for you non two wheel types) and spend a few months touring around southern India. This was not meant to be due to the Indian Embassy of South Africa only handing out three month visas to non-South Africans, instead of the six months Canadians were supposed to recieve. (As an aside - should you ever wish to experience bureaucracy at it's very irritating, swearing under your breath, swearing over your breath worse, go see the Indian embassy in Johannesburg. You won't be disappointed.)The second thing was to be an extra in a Bollywood extravaganza. I had bangra-ed in public before, and was ready for my close up, Mr. Nahasapeemapetilon. And within a short time arriving in India I had my big break.
But it would Hollywood, not Bollywood I was destined for.
The film was tentatively called "Slumdog Millionaire" based on a book called "Q and A". It was basically the story of a young, illiterate waiter who went onto the Indian version of Who Wants to Be Millionaire? ("Who Wants A Samosa?" Whoops, that's inappropriate.) The girl he was in love with was a huge fan of the show, and he thought if he could win the show, he could win her love
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. The story continues from there (check out amazon.com or imdb.com for more info on the story). While being shot entirely in India, the director was British. Danny Boyle is probably best known for the movie adaptation of Trainspotting, and the re-imaging of the zombie genre with 28 Days Later. Now he was taking on the rags to riches story of a young Indian boy that involved no heroin abuse or zombies (I know, I know but the guy's good, it could work.)The movie needed "foreign tourists" for at least two days. The shoot was inside the grounds of the Taj Mahal. Now to my knowledge there is no lack of tourists at the Taj Mahal being one of the biggest atractions in the world, but with free transport, free accommodation, free food, and a thousand rupees a day I decided not to mention this.
The Shoot
Before heading into the Taj, all of the extras were herded into a open air classroom setting to get instructions from our handlers. We were quite a mixed lot. A casual survey revealed French, Germans, Brazilians, Argentineans, Tibetans, Mongolians, and Americans to name a few. Once seated, we received our instructions. The first rule was whatever you were wering at that moment was the ONLY thing you could wear for the entire shoot. Those in the biz call this "maintaining continuity". After all, you don't want some guy in your background wearing a hockey jersey in one scene, and a toga in the next (and if you saw how many travelers dress in India, that is not such an outrageous example; but that's a whole other entry). This was fine until rule #2 was announced - absolutely no visible brand names
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. This had not been mentioned before, and was a good example of the leadership techniques of our handlers - don't tell us what to do until after we've done it wrong. After a minor riot from a group of young fashionistas, shirts were turned inside out, and jackets and sweaters were swapped. We all looked like a drunks after a night of partying in a second hand clothing store. I gave up my fleece to Frede, an Argentine I had befriended. So began two days of pretending not freeze in the chilly December air of Agra. I'm sure the perceptive viewers will wonder why some people in the background of the movie look like they are ready for an artic expedition, some for a hot summer's day, and others like they didn't know how to dress themselves.Shooting in the Taj presented some unique difficulties. Video cameras were not allowed past the main entrance of the Taj. The film crew had to set up their cameras on the platform that led down to the actual grounds of the Taj. This meant a lot of long distance shots. The other thing was no loud noises were allowed. This meant none of the usual "CUT!" and other exciting movie jargon was allowed; not even the cool little clapper. The thousands of Indian and foreign tourists who were NOT part of the shoot presented their own difficulties. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY can stare like an Indian (as any foreign woman can attest). In scenes where we, the important "tourists" were walking past the camera, resisting all urges to look over at the camera and be discovered, many India tourists simply stopped and stared, and stared, and stared. I actually felt pity for Mr. Boyle.
Our instructions for the two days basically came down to this. 1. Never block the REAL actors when the camera was rolling
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. 2. Walk up and down and look like tourists. Since they could not tell us when they were shooting, we were to just keep walking up and down until someone told us to stop. This meant that most people simply wandered off and enjoyed two days of free food, accommodation, money, and free entrance to the Taj. Myself and a smallish group of stalwarts kept the faith and spent our days wandering up and down the paths for the camera.I broke rule number one, rather forcefully, by mistake. The crew were trying to set up a shot of the lead young actor leading two tourists he was guiding through the main gates into the grounds. Extras were split up between two different sides, and told that they would given the signal to walk up the steps. I was on one side with only one or two others, while the larger group was on the other. Action! Unfortunately our handlers were as confused as everyone else, and didn't give us the signal. Then one started hissing "Go! Go!" I took off at a fast walk, trying my best to get up the steps and through the scene. Along the way I bumped into a smallish body that was in my way, and "sort of" pushed him to one side, giving him a bit more of a harder bump than intended. Afterwards, I looked back and sure enough, I had manhandled the star. Needless to say, we shoot again.
And again. And again. This is what I learned about the movie business - "Perfect!!! Let's do it again."
The movie should be out Autumn 2008. Look for me. I'm the cold looking guy in the blue shirt and sunglasses knocking over small children.
Comments
Well!
It's so good to see you writing, we heard you had been quite ill. SO, who was the big important star you tried to trample?
Re: Well!
Thanks! Yeah, I hit a bit of a wall out here, but I'm working my way back into the saddle (Geez, how many metaphors can I work into this?) I'm glad you back and reading. :) The star? Some British Indian kid, can't remember his name. Let's face it - I was the real star. :) Or at least I proved I could beat up the real star, push come to shove.
Take care.
slumdawg..
i belive you are standing behind that blue and white stripe sweatered woman..
http://tinyurl.com/bbbmxl