Bolly Blog 11 - Little Acts of Kindness

We are into the grind of shooting now…It's up at 4:00 or 4:30AM, on the set by 6:30AM and then a long day of often complicated scenes, mainly with child actors. When we are focused and prepared the day goes smoothly and "we make the day" as the say. Unfortunately, we had a 1st AD in pre-production who scheduled the impossible on some days and then left the production, (Thanks a lot pal!) - Some days we scramble, we push, doing 20-25 set ups a day, (That's an HUGE amount for those of you who don't know). Some days we just don't finish the scenes scheduled. It's then back to the apartment where Derth, Uma and I try to reschedule the next day and come up with a better plan and then fall into bed by 11:00PM. We then get up and do it all over again….

One particularly hard morning, I was touched by a simple act of kindness that reminded me why it's extraordinary to be here in India. On the way to the set most mornings, we stop by Sundeep's, our gaffer's house, to pick him up. On this morning, he crawls into the car and presents me with a beautiful yellow orchid blossom. He then tells me that his mother has sent it to me as a gift. I look up and see a lovely woman standing behind a gate. She has a halo of morning light around her and she gives me a little wave as we leave. I got a little choked up, as we drove to the set, amazed that she would think of me and give me such a perfect little present. The flower's aroma lasted all day, long into the night when we were still on the set…

Presenting one with a token like a flower or a sweet seems to be a way to show affection and good will here in India. A couple of mornings the kids have brought me sweets that have been blessed by their local temple. They proudly present them to me and wait for my reaction…It reminds me of all the Southern hospitality we were shown in Shelbyville when we shot "Our Very Own."

Actually, we begin each day with a Hindu blessing...

Each morning there is a ritual done by the set/prop department. They light special incense in a coconut and then pass the coconut to everyone on the set so they can take their blessing, which they do by waving their hands over the flame and bringing the aroma toward their face. I think this is similar to having sage burned on a set and is supposed to be good luck for the shooting days….

The Camera Being Blessed....Most days it works…some days better than others!