Yes this is a man with a jackhammer...and YES....this is the house next door to our current location....where for two, YES TWO solid days they have been tearing down a house using multiple jack hammers...Ear-splitting pounding noise less then 15 feet away from the room we are shooting in...This is why they don't do sync sound in India...everything is dubbed later....
Finally we have a moment's peace....the jack hammers have stopped - we are rolling camera, when suddenly we hear screaming and yelling out in the front yard...the Eunuchs have arrived.....YESSSSS.....you read the right....EUNUCHS!
There is a great tradition of cross-dressing men in here. It has been estimated that there are at least a million eunuchs in India. They are known as hijra, and make their livings as beggars, prostitutes and by removing "bad luck".
Removing bad luck provides a big part of their income. This is because eunuchs have suffered the very worst fate that could befall anyone, and so do not mind accepting a little bit more for a fee.
Groups of hijra also turn up uninvited at weddings and dance around the guests, to take away any bad luck that may befall the groom and bride. However, it is an expensive matter to get the hijras to leave, making this a lucrative part of their income. This is why they showed up on on set...to be paid to leave...
Sashi tries to reason with the Eunuchs.....
But they were quite an Angry Bunch...and at one point I thought we'd have a girl(boy??) fight on our hands! - It took 300 Rupees to get them to leave....
Just another "average" day in India film production.....!
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