A Passage From India

Last days on the set in Mumbai - Photo by Arpit Shukla

Well, where to start? The adventure in India is over. Long over actually, but frankly it hasn't been easy to relate the story and of course, wrapping it up and getting into something new has been consuming.

I left India in April, about two weeks after the last posting. It was at that time that the true nature of my deal with Indian VFX company and the true nature of the deal between that company and the Production Company making the movie was revealed. In short, the VFX Company had promised a lot of things to both myself and the Production Company and due to either losses in other facets of their business or because it was beyond their reach in the first place, they simply quit paying me. I resigned when the situation became untenable back home with no money coming in and then when there was no response at all to that declared them in breach of contract and when there was no response to that, I came home. I believe the VFX Company figured that the Production Company would pay me in order to keep me on the show. Although that was possible up to a point, it was very difficult to for me or my family to see how it was going to all work out, so I cut my losses and got on a plane while I still had a valid ticket in my hand.

So John is no longer in India. It was a unique experience and of course not exactly what I expected, though truthfully I had few enough expectations coming in. I knew it would be something beyond my previous experience. That's all to the good. My impressions of India are of a country and culture with a rich history, but one which is ultimately very insular and homogeneous. It is a world unto itself, overpopulated to the point of paralysis and largely unaware of the world beyond its borders. There is a culture within that is accepted even though few are content about it. As through much if not all of India's history, the wealthy have their way and the poor accept their lot. A democratic government has replaced the rule of monarchs with a rule of disassociated oligarchs who have managed to characterize the government as bungling and corrupt and incapable of running things. In fact, this does appear to be the truth. So those with money do what they want: cheat the system, pay few taxes and exploit everyone that it is possible to exploit. I was told that that is "how it works" in India. I will argue that it actually doesn't work at all for most Indians but it does seem to be working for the people who told me that. They probably think that that's how it works everywhere and while that's true to some extent there are balances in power in the West that are not evident at all in India. I have never believed in trickle-down anyway but India has shown me what it would be like if we really did let the richest Americans have things exclusively their own way with no interference from the government. I didn't like it.

I am truly sorry that I was unable to stay and finish the film. I was told by some that if I really felt that way then I would have stayed, so maybe I am overstating it, at least in Indian terms. I respect and admire the filmmakers, the performers and the artists who cared enough to really work to make the film something notable. I do wish them well and have every confidence that they will make a great movie that will be the big hit that it deserves to be. 

Like most good yarns, this story does have a sequel. That saga will be continued elsewhere on The Delusion Dog Blog.

Thanks for reading.

Acting the Tourist

The Gate of India

We had a day off so we made a trip to South Mumbai (Old Bombay) with no agenda except a little touring and hoping to hook up with my college roomie who is India mentoring screenwriters as a part of program sponsored by Sundance.

Bandra/Worli Sealink

We took our car down across the Bandra/Worli Sealink, which sounds like a ferry but is actually a bridge. It's been open for a while now but like a lot of other things, still under construction. It was a very nice day, a little hot but after Hyderabad it didn't seem so bad. It takes a little while to get across town to Colaba which is the tourist center. We went straight to The Gate of India, which was built to commemorate the visit of King George V to India in 1911, the first such visit by the Emperor of India. The Gate was finished in 1924 and is most famous as the place where the last British soldiers left India in 1948. The plaza around the Gate is now barricaded which hurts the feel of the place quite a lot. Another one of those things that makes you go hmmm vis-a-vis anti-terrorism. When every landmark looks like a prison yard, who is the victor, the society or the terrorists? The famous Taj Mahal Palace Hotel is also next to the Gate of India. We didn't go in there but instead walked up to the University of Bombay which took us by most of the museums in the area. We didn't know where to start there so that will also be something for another day. 

Taj Mahal Palace Hotel

The Bombay Art Museum

Colaba

Rajabai Tower

Our destination was the Rajabai Tower which is the clock tower of the university and a potential location for a key moment in the film. Across from that is The Oval, a large park or Maiden which is primarily used for cricket. We watched a little of the action there before heading back to Colaba.

The Oval

The Leopold Cafe

We met up with José, my ex-roomate at the Leopold Cafe, which has been at least a tourist destination since the late 1800s. It was shot up by the terrorists who bombed the Taj Mahal Hotel and famously still has some bullet holes in the wall. Yikes. 

That dot above The Gateway is a souvenir of 26/11

Lunch was good and we all got to meet the Sundance group traveling with José. It's pretty weird to be so far from home and run into people you know, but I think it was weirder for José who was just here In A Distant Land for a few days. I think I've become a little used to the swirling culture of India where you never know what's going to happen next. José asked me, "What are the chances? (that we would meet in Bombay)" and my response was "What are the chances anyway?" Anyway you look at it's always great to see friends in far-away places. 

Last Days in Hyderabad

Sunrise from the front gate of the Sitara

It was hot right to the end. Never a cloud (or hardly) for the whole 47 days of the shoot. It made for a lot of nice sunrises and sunsets. We had at least one nice serenade in addition to all the rocking weddings complete with drummers, horses, fireworks and screaming Emcees. The biryanis were always good and it was nice to be in a place that was kept clean even if it was a somewhat artificial.


Here's a little video of a wedding in the front gate of the Sitara. Bang those drums LOUDLY!

A visitor at the set. He's about 14 inches long!

Leave your shoes and your scooter at the door please

One of the nicer musical moments at the Sitara was the youth orchestra concert. I think I mentioned it in an earlier post but here's a few moments to enjoy.

We flew back to Mumbai on SpiceJet which were nice planes with somewhat sub-standard pilots, in my opinion. Maybe it was just a hard day to fly. We might have flown Kingfisher but they are going under, or Air India, but they were full covering for Kingfisher and JetAir both of which are canceling flights faster than the news can keep up. Lots of financial turmoil in India right now. Anyway the Hyderabad airport is the equal of anything I've seen anywhere. Very nice and very new, lots of food and such inside security which never used to be the case. Most importantly everything, including my Strat all made it through the baggage gauntlet. I'm now back at the Novotel in Juhu. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised but as the far as the staff is concerned, it's like I never left. "Mister John" is back in town, cappuccino and eggs over easy coming right up! That's kind of nice.

Transcendence on the set

Here's one from the set that was quite interesting. I don't have much commentary on this, but somehow it seems indicative of some interesting and maybe key differences in the cultures of America and India.

I was sitting in the video tent when from behind the fabric wall I heard a yelp. I thought someone had kicked the slum dog that was hanging around the set. This happens all the time :-( but I wanted to see what the matter was so I got up to see. Where the yelp came from was a small circle of people surrounding a man on the ground who was writhing and occasionally shouting or muttering, which then turned into clear words in either Hindi, or more likely Telugu. He then stood up and began turning around pointing at the sky and kneeling and touching the ground and then the sky, the ground etc. while praying continuously. He then fell on the ground and began prostrating himself with his hands held together in prayer. People were talking to him but he was consumed with his ritual. When he finished he walked away from the set and sat apart from the group.

I did not know this man, but I believe he was one of the day workers. I wouldn't have known him even if he was on the crew. So I went to my co-workers and asked, "OK, what was that about?" and they answered "Possession!" Even though it may seem a little presumptive to say this, I have to add that the people answering this question are guys from the VFX company who are living an urban lifestyle in Mumbai, so the quick and frank answer surprised me. I said, "Oh. So what kind of possession and by who?" They answered that they didn't know, but one of the gods. They added that the people gathered had asked him who was possessing him but got no clear answer. They also asked him to answer questions about their future and fate as is often done in these cases and often answered, but he refused to answer these questions and said that he would only pray and then leave, which he did. The artist I was speaking to also added that he had later seen the same man having a similar experience a little later, off by himself. 

Everyone treated the episode with the utmost respect and seriousness. No-one doubted the authenticity of the event and I was told that it is not uncommon. I was then asked, "Doesn't this ever happen in the US?" At first I was quick to say "No. This never happens." thinking that I can't very well say, "Yes, but we think the people are mentally ill or epileptic or looking for attention," and already trying to sort out how we and they look at this type of thing so differently, but then I realized that this does happen in the US. I stopped and said, "Wait! Yes. It does happen. We call it 'speaking in tongues' and it happens a lot, often in churches dedicated to the practice." I told them of my experiences as a radio announcer when on Sunday mornings we had to broadcast services live from various churches. In Newark, Ohio we rotated all the faiths and sooner or later we ended up at one of these churches where I did witness very similar behavior appreciated with the same seriousness and faith as the Indians were expressing towards this man on the set.

Maybe the most simple explanation of this is that in the west we associate places of worship to our religion whereas in India it's more a part of the environment. I mentioned this idea earlier when observing crew members, even the director, honoring the prop statue of Shiva near our set at Film City. People here don't need priests and churches to pray. You might see advantages to either way of worship depending on your view of religion in general and organized religion in particular. My most vivid impression was that these acts of divine channeling are obviously trans-cultural and the interesting bit is how seriously they are taken in general. Here in India it's immediately accepted by everyone, whereas in the US, even the Holy Rollers are looked at with doubt and uncertainty, never mind people who prophesy out in the streets.

Anyway it was the most illuminating experience of the day for everyone involved.

Night Run to Hyderabad City

We finally made a run to Hyderabad on a Friday night. We didn't get to see much as we came at night and couldn't stay long but at least we got a taste of Hyderabad, literally. As I said earlier, here it's all about the Biryani. Our target was the Paradise Restaurant, which has been famous for the best biryani in Hyderabad for almost 60 years I guess. It's a massive three or four story restaurant festooned by neon. 

The Paradise in Secundabad

To get to Paradise we drove for 90 minutes from Ramoji Film City, and that's at night with comparatively little traffic. That took us through the outskirts of Hyderabad and then through some of the shopping districts where while I was seeing stores that looked a bit more like what I think stores are supposed to look like, but the rest of the car, mostly Mumbaikers were marveling at the sheer scale of the showroom floors. "All that just saris! That's too big!" was a typical comment. 

Hyderabad streets are much much better than Mumbai. They felt totally smooth. Mumbai is constant potholes, broken roads and cobbles, Even the best parts of town have bumps. Hyderabad seemed much more open in comparison, which resulted in easily 60% of people staying in their lanes, as compared to 0% in Mumbai, and less weaving and honking. OK, we still had people crossing the median in front of us on foot on cycles and yes even in speeding cars coming at us on the wrong side of the road, but it still seemed like there was some order. We even saw people stop at traffic signals though our driver did not!

We drove through the center of the city where some of the old British forts remain and saw the lake with fountains and statues out in the water. We ended up across the lake in the part of town that is technically Secundabad where the restaurant is. We had Chicken and Veg Biryani and some chicken kebabs and a chicken sausage of some kind that had really spicy peppers in it. There was mint chutney, curd for the veg biryani and a spicy chicken gravy for the chicken biryani. All very delicious. The most special part of the biryanis here is the sophistication of the seasoning. Lots of different spices are mixed to create just the right balance of heat and flavor. The biryani we had was seasoned with cinnamon and cardamon as well as pepper, masala and curry powders. Really really good.

Biryani!

Yow.

We topped off the evening at Famous Ice Cream where we had desserts which I was told are unique to Hyderabad: a mish-mash of all kinds of ice-cream of different colors and flavors all crammed together in a dish called a "Special" packed with nuts and little gelatin sweeties and such.

That was pretty good, too.

So we finally got out of Film City at least for a few hours. We didn't do any shopping but that's life on the set when you are pressed for time. 

Happy Holi!

Maybe you have heard of India's festival of color or seen videos of people pelting each other with pigment until everyone is a walking rainbow. Well, the day for that, called Holi was Thursday and many in our crew were quite looking forward to an afternoon frolic of colorful fun. 

Well, it turned out that because of situations beyond control (apparently) the afternoon of fun was not possible, but that didn't stop a few determined individuals from jumping inattentive or willing crew members and giving them a dash of color.

I guess I fell into the "willing" category, although I would rather they had not been quite so liberal with the color on my nose. I also wish they had told me that normally people wash some of it off directly because otherwise it takes days to disappear. I still have a pink nose two days later! My shower stall looks like The Cat in the Hat has made a visit.

There was some more colorful fun after work but I missed that (as I was in meetings and having a hard enough time being taken seriously with my bright pink face without blue and green as well) and there were some great pictures from Hyderabad City of the Mayor and Governor covered in colors. I asked why this practice and why this holiday and what did it mean and I was told that the day before Holi is the day where lust and greed were purged by the death of a particular demon and that the whole color thing just seems like a great idea and no-one remembers why.

One thing is sure, when you have a face like this, everyone is quick to smile and wish you "Happy Holi!"

February is HOT!

Return of The Dork of the Desert

It's been hard to remember that it is winter here. Every day here is another day of intense sun and heat. Very un-February-like from a North American perspective. The days are short, but we work so hard it never seems short enough! The temps have gone from 85ºF to 90º and now 95º and higher. We have two more weeks to go and it seems like we'll have to start hitting 100º before we go back to Mumbai. It's not a constant heat though. It's quite pleasant in the mornings and evenings. The afternoons are where it really sets in and we all start hiding under hats and scarves and chasing the shadows for a bit of shade. It's really tough on the actors who have to wear black trench coats or suits of armor while performing action beats standing on pedestals or flying on wires. Not easy.

Sunrise from the Sitara Hotel

I haven't had much time to see Hyderabad though I still hope to make a trip to town. Like everywhere the work of making movies is somewhat all-consuming. I am one of the lucky ones who gets a day off here and there but I use the time to rest and to connect back home while I have a chance. Out here in Ramoji Film we still have some cool things to see with all the weddings and conferences and since we start early we also get to see some good sunrises.

PINK!

Some of the flowers around here are quite amazing at least in terms of color. The bougainvilleas are so bright that in some of the more intense pink shades they cannot even be photographed. This picture was taken on the road approaching Ramoji Film City. The motorbikes were stopping on the side of the road because the color was so intense.

It may be made of plastic but it's still a place where Shiva resides.

We sometimes see some strange collisions of culture here. They built this giant idol of Shiva for some TV show or movie and it just sits off the back of our city set. When there are religious holidays, people come and worship at it, even though we in the west would consider it a prop and of no spiritual significance, here no such distinctions are made. In fact trucks and tractors also become objects celebrating the Hindu deities. This is one of the tractors that pulls our green screens around.

Of course, we make distinctions about things like brand names, whereas here there is no concern at all about authenticity or the baldest type of brand adaptation. Check out this shirt. American Eagle is not imported here and although the makers of this shirt fear being sued for using the name exactly, they don't fear being nabbed for the cheesiest of evasions. It's one of the places where what passes for clever seems a bit overvalued here, but I am told that this is good marketing in the Indian economy. I mean this guy bought the shirt, right?

So now we head into March and more heat, then back to Mumbai where I am told it is "cold" with temps plunging into the low 70s. Luckily I brought a sweatshirt!