1 Nenokkadine, a movie shoot

by chance had chance to see a movie shoot in mumbai.  it was shooting of a dance scene, in bandra, mumbai.  it happened at a place called royalty, .  the shoot involved about 15 to 20 people wearing hat and striped coat and dancing in the background.  the hero was mahesh babu (telugu film hero), and main actress/dancer was sophie chaudhary.  there were half a dozen english girls, who were part of the professional dancing crew as well.  and about 30 white foreigners as extras, standing around the scene - which was supposed to be a club in London!

the shoot went on from like 12 noon to 830pm in the evening.  it was intense work for the whole crew.  the dance director, from chennai (forgot his name), was giving instructions in 4 languages, telugu, tamil, hindi and english.  (sophie chaudhary was speaking in english, and i dont think she knows telugu or tamil, but she was the fastest to learn and often used to complete it her stuff in just couple of takes.  she was on heels the whole time, wearing a sequined dress, which would have made it tough to sit down, without crumpling it.  how she managed to express intense energy required for the shoot remains unknown.  i became a fan just on the basis of focus and energy she induced).  \

it was very time consuming work.  first they will play the song for 15 to 30 seconds.  then choreographers will show the moves and immediately the background dancers will pick it up and do it.  then, light and camera focus/angles will be set, with the same part of the song playing, and dancers dancing.  in the place of the main dancers (hero & heroine), 2 dance masters will occupy and show the moves.  then h & h will take their positions and rehearse with dance masters guiding them.  then actual shoot takes place.  all around people who are in the club also dance like anything - and energy explodes from everyone around.  the final take would be okayed after 3-4 attempts or even 10-12 attempts.

then, immediately now part of the song will be rehearsed in the same manner.  there is chaos everywhere and lots of people going in and out.  food is available at regular intervals and tea is kept in a corner most of the time.  i was barefoot, and nobody really noticed it.  maybe another barefoot first - being in a shoot.  but the whole place was pretty ok to walk barefoot.  i met lots of new people, and in between takes we will chat, about world peace to world cinema to card tricks.  a spanish guy showed amazing card tricks - he shows you a card and then in a minute guesses which card you saw.  then he keeps a card in his pocket and ask you to guess a card, and then takes out that same card from his pocket.  i just couldn't figure out how he did it, even though i saw 2 of his tricks, and i selected the card in 1 of them.

mahesh babu was the lead actor and he was focused and focused on work.  all the people were mostly polite and helping each other and giving suggestions to improve.  i am sure, its not easy to be calm in such an intense work schedule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_(2014_film)

will write more about it later..  it was a huge experience and had lots of insights.  would say, must for once in your lifetime...

Being a barefooter…

Every time i put my foot down,

It reminds me, i am naked,

Vulnerable, human and rooted to this earth..

Every time, I see someone else

Stare at my bare feet, and say nothing

I feel conscious, of causing disturbance

In peaceful urban Mumbai life…

Second nature it has become,

To walk over broken stones,

In last 6 months, had no scratches on feet

But mind becomes turbulent, am I right?

Almost one in a million, the infamous way…

Had I declared affinity to an organized religion,

Or penance or asceticism as reasons,

Would things have been different?

As my replies to why barefoot, grow shorter

Along with enthusiasm, as others seem to feel

Forced to offer me excuses for not being barefoot,

But I am still rebelling, struggling & remaining human.

meaning...

what do you want
to do with your life,
which purpose to select
from a thousand wishes...

means are more important
than what you want
haunt they if you win,
securing insecurities...

but that's a distraction,
while pondering on about a goal,
and it also rhymes with a girl,
but, let's watch a cricket match...