March 10, 2004

There's no business like show business...

Just to set the record straight: The movie business is BORING!

There's the cool costumes, the directors, the lights, the cameras, the big stars. But above and beyond all that is the endless waiting: the soul-crushing tedium of standing in a dust bowl under the hot Indian sun, having had to wake up at 4am that morning, dressed to the hilt in thick 18th century woollen British soldier uniforms, filming the same scene for the 7th time from the 100th angle, and realising that the entire three days it's taken to shoot will probably amount to a little over 28 seconds of actual screen-time.

But... hey... I'm in a Bollywood movie! B..B..B..B..B..B..B..B..BOLLYWOOD!



Literally pulled of a street in Bombay by a talent scout (or rather a white scout), we were whisked up to a hill station only 5 hours out of town (an Indian 5 hours that is... more like about 8 or 9 by my reckoning). The film is called "1857: The Rising" and is supposed to be a pretty big deal: starring stunning-but-short Amer Khan (a big Indian heart-throb) and directed by English Mick Ward with a funky northern accent (assistant director of Snatch) , the movie's set to be released internationally in January 2005.


with Bollywood superstar Amer Khan

If the quality of extras is anything to go by, I figure success is pretty much in the bag. I just hope I can make it to the awards ceremony.

Posted by Andrew Wallace @ 6:44 PM