Bolly Blog 8 Pre-Production...the longest week ever!!!

Goddess Shrine

Some Highlights from the week:

The art of diplomacy and negotiation is a lesson I am learning....and learning and learning..as no deal is EVER final, which is very hard with a low budget film. Sometimes I have to be the mean old producer from America, but with a big smile of course!

The SURREAL MOMENT OF THE WEEK....meeting the choreographer...To have a successful film in India it must include songs with dance - much like our music videos, so we went to meet a choreographer on the set of her song...It was after dark and we were driven about 20 minutes through the crowded streets (No one ever sleeps here, I swear...11:00PM is like 5PM in NY or LA) We then go off road... It felt like we were on safari...passing all kinds of people living in tents and shanty style shacks. We stop in middle of NO NO NO-where, near a huge fortress looking thing.

We then stumble through a dark tunnel-like passage into an ancient shrine - It is PITCH BLACk...We round a corner and there are Blinding lights - 500 people - Movie Cameras and the most elaborate colorful set of a goddess shrine that I have ever seen. (these pix don't do it justice) There is also the deafening loud playback of a Bollywood song.

Of course, once again 500 people stare at the big white woman as we are lead into the middle of the crowd, where the choreographer stands watching a monitor. Chairs appear for all of us.(DP Derth, Director Uma, Line producing partner Aravind and myself) They are carried by "Set Boys" and the second we are seated we are given little porcelain tea cups filled with Chai Tea. We sit in a circle and have tea with the choreographer while 500 people stand around watching us....

Then I notice a bunch of men spray painting pieces of Styrofoam bright red. There is a mountain of it and the men have paint all over themselves and are painting the pieces as fast as they can...

I then look over to see that they are spreading the red pieces over a huge hole...the lights are turned up and I realize that they have created an amazing Hot Coals effect by shining lights up through the styrofoam...

These brightly clad dancers dance over the coals, and as we leave,the BOLLYWOOD SONG BLASTS through the night....

That was the high point of the week...The low point was working a 14 hour day - and then getting home and being locked out of our apartment...
Uma Tries Door....

Derth Waits after a LONG DAY

We sat in the hallway and then the super came and INSISTED we come into his apartment to wait...And for some reason which I was much too tired to figure out, He had the impression that Americans drink scotch and only scotch....He FORCED and I mean FORCED me to drink a Johnny Walker Black...(yes Richie they have it here, so now you can come visit!). Then his college age daughter arrived while Derth and I are sitting in the corner of the room - It was her birthday and suddenly at 12:15AM there were 15 teenagers running into the apartment screaming and yelling with balloons and flowers and gifts....and YES I lost it...laughed so hard that tears were streaming down my face....at the absurdity of where I was and what I was doing!!! -

We ended the week by finally having some real fun - Derth and I went to a pricey hotel so we could eat a salad...because we have been afraid to try veggies anywhere else....and the best part? You guessed it... INDIA CHAMPAGNE!!!!!

Sula is a sparkling vintage from India, a vineyard outside of Bombay and it was wonderful...very comparable to any shitty-split I have had in the US....

Just another day of pre-production in Tollywood!!!!

More to come...