Bolly Blog 14 Halloween and the goblins are out!!

BOOO....Happy Halloween to all in America!...and Yes, there are tricks being played here in India...and some treats too!

I am sad to report that it finally happened...I succumbed to the mean old food goblins and got sick on Monday...and the worst part was that I was at the nicest hotel in town...The Taj Krishna - Sunday brunch, which at the time seemed fantastic...This was my first day off and I had done a little shopping (see sandals below) and then gone to the hotel for a nice brunch and then a pedicure ($13 dollars and the best one I've ever had - the glass of champagne I had with brunch was $18 dollars...go figure!)

My New Indian Sandals w/my fab Pedicure...Nice Huh?

Any way...I woke up in the middle of the night feeling terrible. I tried to pull myself together to make a 6:30AM call. I get to the set, then had to turn right around and go home for the morning....Feeling much better now, a day later....I figured out that is was most likely the glass of fruit juice I drank....It's coke or coffee or bottled water from here on out...

So here it is, Halloween today...Everyone is in good spirits...We are finally on to a new location, having spent the last 8 days in one house....Things are going well...We are moving right along getting scenes shot...I have brought candy corn all the way from NYC (thought of you Amy Landers-Eagles, as I munched on our fav candy!) - When out of no-where the goblins strike AGAIN....

Suddenly, there is no power on the set - Lights go down and we are in black..."This better not be what I think it is" says Large Lady American Producer....I go outside and see a frantic little man running from the Generator in a panic with a large 5 gallon container......NOOOOOO!!!! - Large Lady American Producer shouts.....The Genny has run out of gas...AGAIN! (this happened last week and I was assured that it NEVER happens on movie sets in India...a freak thing...Honest, Large Lady...)

So then Large Lady American Producer swears OUT-LOUD for the first time since she hit India....And we wait 20 tense minutes. Tense because we HAVE to finish the the scenes that are planned for today. We have gone over a few days and we can't extend the schedule any more. The other line producer and I have been negotiating with another production to keep one of our actors for a couple more days, as they are due on another set...So Yes..it's panic hour...

Finally the the little man with the 5 gallon drum returns...and we wait.....while he tries to get the generator running..

SINGLE MAN TRYING TO START UP GENNY.....


And we WAIT.....

TWO MEN TRYING TO START UP GENNY.....


And WE WAIT.....

FIVE MEN TRYING TO START UP GENNY.....


And in that waiting time, Big Lady American Producer learns the phrase...."La Parua" which means "Take it as it comes"...another lesson learned half way around the world...Have fun today! Trick or Treat! - Shan

Bolly Blog 13 First day of shooting

We got back some stills from Kiran, our on-set photographer. These are from the very first day of shooting and we were thrilled! Kiran is the best on-set photog I have ever seen...You don't know he's there and then he comes back with these!

Shiva, Teja, and Kunal in their first scene!
(Don't they look cute in these uniforms?)

The boys did great...and it was a relief to finally begin shooting!

We then move on to the audition scene - This is where the three boys audition classmates to appear in the movie they are making.

The Crew watches the rehearsal of the audition scene


Uma is very smart and has these kids improv and act silly and we get some excellent footage...Some of these supporting kids are real little character actors, very funny and natural. They are kids being kids, while we let the camera role...

Heart-felt student 1 and 2 ...


Re-enacting a scene from The God Father


You bet I can dance!


The girls watch the auditions...


Deepti explains the next shot to me.
(Yeah I know, I know, the bags under my eyes are even worse here in India!)


Hamid, Ravi and Onka watch the auditions....hmm....


A great group of photos!

Thanks Kiran!

Bolly Blog 12 - Deepti The Sikh and the Tango

So today it's a quick post...as I have a ton of work to do. We have finally resolved ourselves to the fact that the old AD has screwed us up big time - so I am having to re-do the entire shooting schedule today, while the rest of the team continues shooting. Doing a schedule usually takes days, if not a week or two, so I'm under the gun here...

Last Sunday we actually got a couple of hours off - and there was a holiday in progress - the end of Ramadan, which I learned is the month in which Muslims must fast during daylight hours and eat when the sun goes down. The purpose of fasting for Muslims is to teach patience and humility - this is the way it was explained to me at a party for Eid (I think it's pronounced "Eat" at least that's what I heard.)

Uma and I met a couple in our local cafe about a week ago, Firdarsi Hydrie, who is a local journalist. We had a very interesting conversation with them...They invited us to their Eid party and I attended it with Deepti our 2nd AD...as Uma was too busy working on his shot lists.

We had some very good food and met a lovely man, Dr. Mette, a doctor of children's medicine that had just taken up Tango dancing. His tale was just like the Richard Gere/Jennifer Lopez movie - He stumbled upon a class at his local gym and gave it a try - Now he is obsessed and plans his life around his tango lessons, going almost every day. Deepti turned him on to a new teacher...She has learned tango as well....(Who knew Tango the "thing" in Inida!). I insisted that they give us a little performance right in the middle of the party....pix below....His moves were quite accomplished and I must say his turban really added to the dance!

Do a little dance....


Get Down tonight!....


Just one more surreal moment for ya, from half way around the world!

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!

Bolly Blog 10 - Break over MOVE!...Break over MOVE!!!

That was the cry Saturday from the 1st AD Sashin. We were trying to get this giant elephant of a production moving, because we were shooting a song which appears in the movie - an Indian version of a Music Video, which appears in the middle of the film.

We had 40 kid extras who were trying to learn choreography..oh and you can't call them extras here in India because it's an insult..you must refer to all extras as Jr. Actors, even if they are 75 and balding…

Our "Jr Actors"- dont call'em extras!

So there we are with 3 different sets in a lunch room that echo's, a children's song that sounded really cute the first 25-30 times it was played back..but after the 12 hour and the 300th time it's played back, I wanted to cut my ears off!…I really shouldn't complain though…Aravind my Indian Line Producer once spend 17 days working on a song in a river in the middle of the rainy season!

Speaking of kids - take a look at this little guy…

he's my shadow today - I gave him a little lollipop and he keeps following me around holding out his hand…

I gave him four of them by the end of the day....yes I am a "Sucker" for letting this little guy play me...but I ask you, could you resist??

There are so many cute kids here everywhere you look on the streets in the shops…often when we drive to work we will see sleepy eyed little kids waking up and walking around the streets, often half dressed…Some times it gets a little scary as little tiny children are just hanging out with no parents close by, as traffic whizzes past them...and I'm talking little, maybe two-three year olds. The crew assures me that their Mama's are close by and they are safe..hmmmm..It's quite a sight to see all these little beauties running around...

Bolly Blog 9 - My Kick @*ss Team!

Let me introduce you to some of my fantastic crew, who are making this whole wild experience a pleasure...even though it's long hours and often difficult times…

India Line Producer - Aravind

This is my life-line and my rock after only 2 weeks - Aravind has 10 years of experience in the film business and most importantly 10 years of personal relationships here in Hyderabad. He is very well respected in the Indian film community…It's a marvel to watch him in action, zooming around on his motor bike to locations and being the calm but firm leader of our crew. You can ask him a question and he pulls out his cell and has the answer in about 20 seconds every time…and believe me these are often very HARD questions to answer….He's got this awesome Zen thing going on and all here on the set adore Aravind….

Director of Photography - Derth Adams

Derth is the other American on the crew and my roommate as well. He as done features as well as a lot of documentary style tv shows using HD, including Fear Factor, Project Greenlight and my FAVORITE, Project Runway.(You know I am pumping him for behind the scenes details!) He really understands light for HD and with this Viper camera we are using, he is giving our film a great look. (Collateral, Zodiac and Miami Vice were are features shot using the Viper.) He's also a Northwest boy - Born and raise in Spokane Washington.

PM's Prabaka and Srinivas

Production Managers - We've got two - Here are Prabakar and Srinivas hard at work. They act as our location managers, vehicle coordinators, translators when necessary and have found us some great locations. Prabakar is also a very "stylish" guy. His fabulous Indian cotton shirts are legendary on our set…

Our Hardworking AD's

Sachin, Jagdesh and the lovely Deepti have the difficult job of keeping this production moving every day - They also double up and do continuity and work with the actors on lines, so they are running, running, running, every second!

Deepti preps

Deepti gave me a great lesson on the history of Indian film one day…some of which you can find here at this Wikepdia page India Film and for a more in-depth look at the Telegu film industry which is based in Hyderabad try here. Tollywood

Calm Cool and Collected...Our Gaffer

This handsome fellow is Sundeep, our Gaffer. Sundeep was brought up in the film business. His father is Tollywood cinematographer/producer, S. Gopal Reedy and both father and son are very well know in the southern India film world. Sundeep gives us a lot of insight on the "India ways" of filmmaking and getting things done here. I don't think we could make this movie without him. Sundeep is also a DP and in the past year was in Washington D.C. shooting a movie.

The Amazing Production Coordinator

Here's our Sashi, Production Coordinator extraordinaire and another guy we couldn't live without. 24/7 Sashi eats/sleeps and I am sure dreams about "The Family Picture." He has already taken me on some great Hyderabad adventures. The first week I got here, I really needed a new pillow and Sashi escorted me one night into the local shopping district. Watching him negotiate down the price of a simple pillow was quite impressive. Sashi is another film fanatic and he is planning to go to UCLA for film next March…(I have a feeling he could teach a class there after this experience!)

Costume Designer Huma

Huma is our beautiful young costume designer - She is a teacher at the local fashion design school in Hyderabad and she is creating miracles because we have a very limited costume budget…Huma travels all over the city and has special vendors she sees to get the best prices…She's promised to take me shopping soon! - She has a staff of three working under her, including a tailor - who has offered to sew me up anything I want…I guess that's very common here - many woman will go pick out beautiful fabrics and have them "stiched" as they call it, because it's much less expensive then buying clothes in stores…I can't wait to get my India shop on with Huma...

I'll fill you in on more crew members as I get their pictures…(Some of them are very shy) But now it's off to bed - another early day tomorrow. I have been averaging 5-6 hours of sleep a night - but that's okay - that "Oh my god we've got to make our day" feeling is what is keeping me going on little sleep. Hope you are all well in America. I'm a little homesick today, but It usually goes away quickly...and missing Richie makes me a little sad today too... (please take care of him, you New Yorkers! ) xoxo Shan

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...

Bolly Blog 7 - The Family Picture

A little about the movie I've come to India to make....

"The Family Picture" is a children's movie in three different languages - Hindu, Telegu and English - It's the story of a little boy named RAVI who is crazy about the cinema. He finds a movie camera left in a hotel by an American Movie Critic. He convinces his best friends Hamid and Shiva to make a movie with the camera in 7 days, before the critic leaves India and of course the hilarity ensues!

The boys cast in the movie are amazing kids and I sat down with each of them for an impromptu interview which follows....

Teja S. is our Ravi and our "old pro". At only 12 years old he has made 40 movies in Southern India, mostly in the Telegu language. He appeared in his first film at only 2 years old.

His favorite part was the role of the young Hero, Indra, in a recent Telegu film, which brought him a lot of fame in Hyderabad. Teja makes 3-4 movies a year and still attends school full time. Teja's school is the oldest school in the state and was built by King Salar Jung for his children to be taught. The campus is on 350 acres!

Besides movies and school Teja loves to ride horses.

Teja tells us he's not really interested in American movies - its' "Tollywood all the way!", but he hopes this film will be successful so he can come to America to...He also wants everyone to know that Snickers is his favorite candy bar and he wants to say "Hi" to his best friend Vic..."Hi Vic!"



This is our Hamid - Kunal Sharma, who plays the little movie producer in the film. His favorite American Movies are Home Alone - Broken Arrow and Fast and Furious and He also loves to go to Hindu movies. When he goes to the cinema it's a real family affair. Parents, Brothers, Sisters, Uncles, Cousins will all attend together.

Kunal loves cars and the last two books he read were the biographies of Karl Benz and Henry Ford. He is also a bit of a 9/11 conspiracy theorist and sent me to this web site...where the $20 dollar bill proves EVERYTHING about 9/11, including the fact that "Ben Laden did it!"

Kunal is also the cast smarty pants and he watches Discovery Channel and National Greographic and History Channel regularly, His motto? "Money can buy you a bed but it can't bye you sleep...." This is Kunal's very first movie and there is sure to be more to come...Watch out India!


This is Shiva who plays Onka, and our "Star" when the kids can't find a heroine He is forced to put on the dress! Shiva began in films only 1 year ago and has already made five or six Tollywood movies. Brendan Fraiser is his favorite movie star and the Mummy is his favorite movie (He says HI! to Brendan in America....)

Shiva loves dancing and loves to compose his own steps to Tollywood songs. He was orginally discovered in a local department store and hopes to go to American really soon. He'll even travel in my suit case, he tells me and this little guy is so cute I might just take him up on it...He also hopes that you will come visit him here in Hyderabad and would like you to say Hello to him in the comments of this blog...He would LOVE to hear from you!!!

More to come from the set!!!....

Bolly Blog 6 - What's Missing From This Picture???!

Out scouting locations a couple of days ago - We go to one of the larger Hyderabad cinemas, where movies play all day and many people and families attend (They say 90% of India attends the movies regularly - kind of cool huh?)

As we are leaving, somebody mentions to me that I may want to stop by the bathroom as it's hard to find clean ladie's rooms out and about and this cinema house has a good one.

I make my way up a couple of flights of stairs and enter this room....




take a look from another angle....

Yes it's what you think it is...a bathroom stall with something missing!!!! and for the record...my friends were correct....that hole in the ground was VERY clean....

Bolly Blog 5 - Day 1 Hyderabad - Pre-shoot

view from my building......

As you can imagine I don't even know where or how to begin....this place is absolutely amazing but definitely not for the weak of heart.

It has been non-stop since the moment I stepped off the plane - arrived to our apartment at mid-night. I am sharing a place with Uma Thumrugoti the director and Derth Adams the DP

My roomies- Uma and Derth

By the time I got home the first night - it was midnight and there was a shoot planned for 7AM then next morning...so yup, I plunged right in...and it was actually a perfect way to start this adventure as we were driven all over the city....OKAY watch this video because this is just a taste of what it's like to be in a car in Hyderabad...

Imagine that crazy New York City Taxi driver...The ride you had, where you swear you were NEVER going to get out of the cab alive...Every single car on the road drives like that. Thousands and thousands of dare-devil auto-cowboys. In order to get anywhere, the driver plunges into oncoming traffic and at the last spilt second, on-coming cars veer away, just missing a bone crunching mess of an accident, where you will be bloody victim...This is what it felt like after 36 hours of travel and 5 hours of fit-full sleep.

My own personal "Auto-Cowboy" Subbu, strikes a pose...

This day was a pre-shoot, shots of the city to use as texture and transition in the film. Our first stop was a market-place, where the Viper camera and yours truly were the main attraction...I was pretty much surrounded by kids the minute I stepped out of the car, as an amazon white lady is not something they get to see everyday...

my new friends

The crew sets up the camera as quickly as possible and we try to get off a few shots of the market place - this is almost impossible, as everyone wants to stop and look at the camera.

Derth Trying to shoot the market place

Uma directs surrounded!

We then go on to breakfast. I am sitting in a cafe with about 10 India crew members who don't know what the heck to make of me. I nibble on a power bar as they eat strange breakfast foods and we smile back and forth at each other. These men are very shy and respectful and it makes me feel shy in return. (Shannon Shy???!)

The rest of the day and the next we drive around the amazing city of Hyderabad. So much to see...so much to tell...The Crew guys and I are becoming pals and I think they are happy to have help, as making a film in India is a daunting task, as you will see in the coming weeks....

Some snaps from the 2 day shoot...

Pigs,Cows, Oxen, roam freely on the streets...

My loud wardrobe fits right in today!

Charminar perhaps the most famous Hyderbad image to get on film.

India's version of a Hot Dog Stand...Food looked great but I can't go near it according to my crew or I'd be down for the count!

I leave you with the image that has stuck in my head from the two day shoot...and I think maybe the best way to show you the beauty and the harshness of Hyderabad...