QUOTE MARTIAL
MAKING WAVES
SHORT TAKES
SOUTHERN SPICE
ROUGH CUTS
MEMORIES
ARCHIVES
MOVIES CHAT

Class act

Click for bigger pic!

Ashish Kanvimde

For some time we can quite forgot that we are on a Hindi film set, particularly a typical Bollywood potboiler like Biwi No 1. There are too many fresh and friendly faces around for that. For this is a school at Mahakali Caves, Andheri, that shooting is in progress.

We come upon the actual work area though, and the fake reality of Bollwood reasserts itself and you find Karisma Kapoor and Salman Khan there, pancake on their faces, while around them the busy set ebbed and swelled.

In the film, the school is only for the rich, or that's the impression you get from some of what look like moms. Apparently they are the real things. Most are clad in modern, rather trendy clothes and are expected do some mundane things, like feeding their little ones during recess, chatting to other moms etc.

Today, they have to help 'direct' the kids, under supervision from David Dhawan's assistants. They bark orders to the moms, "Tell them to drop the football and run to the school when the bell rings" and, oddest of all, "Tell them to talk to each other". The moms translate the orders quickly into the appropriate language for the children, though the smarter ones catch on immediately.

The camera is strategically placed to cover the whole school ground. The shot is taken is being taken ostensibly during the recess, when the moms come to meet the kids. The take is ready and the camera moves in from a general view of the ground to a concrete bench where is seated Karisma, in a pink sari that appears to be made of something like chiffon, and a pink blouse with blue embroidery. She's feeding a little boy.

Salman Khan. Click for bigger pic!

We don't know the relationship, neither has anyone time to explain anything to us. Of course, we'd been warned that the director, otherwise quite a genial type, would have no time for us since he'd just got some bulk dates from the stars together and wanted to finish the film fast for a February release.

So, left to our own devices, we go roaming around. The shot is ready again.

There are children playing various games and, as the bell rings, start running towards the school, but some kids miss the cue. Cut and all that. After three takes the shot is okayed.

This is the chance for the children to surround Karisma, trying to get photographs taken with her, and getting her to sign autographs. Karishma is pretty patient, and refuses to disappoint her young fans. She does everything they say and then make back for her van.

"Karisma, Karisma," two little girls around four years of age squeal plaintively after her. They don't want to let her go and we wonder if she'll let them into her van. Lolo turns around and, finding them hard to resist, smiles, and invites them in. After a while, she pops out again, this time clad in casuals. The girls follow, and this time go away happily. And before we can talk to the nice lady, she's off.

So we go turn back to the sets where another shot is being readied. This time, one of the heroes of the film, Salman (for your info, the other one's Anil Kapoor) is dropping the children (relation again unknown to us) to school.

David Dhawan

The lights are set up and the cameras repositioned, the sound recordists all ready, and the director yells, "Action." The hunk runs towards the school, a child in each arm. He drops them, turns back apparently realising he has forgotten something. The children are looking very annoyed. He has apparently forgotten to kiss them good bye. He does the needful and the duo head off happily. Three takes again, and David hollers, "Cut." We look him up and down. He wears a pale yellow shirt and cream trousers; around his neck is wrapped a towel for him to wipe the sweat off in the Bombay heat.

He decides to change the location and instructs his unit accordingly. Surprisingly, he doesn't look as fat and dishevelled as he does in his pics. He looks quite smart --yeah, sure, a little hefty.

He certainly is a fast director and, after so many films, he has a good rapport with his artists and seems to know his job well. Though he feels a little upset that he can't give us time, the minute he turns, he's forgotten us.

He goes away and Salman steps in on cue, a lot of children hanging around him. As with Karisma, photographs are clicked by fond mamas and others, and autographs duly scribbled out. One child standing behind us doesn't think Salman's anything hot, but his mother eggs him on to go and get the hero's autograph. The child is not for it and asks his mother why he had to take the actor's autograph.

Since such things don't happen often, not with Salman Khan, we eagerly await mom's reply. But since she can't tell him about her fantasies, perhaps, she just sidesteps the question, offering a chocolate if he gets the signature she can't, impeded as she is by coyness. But the chocolate is good enough reason for the boy, who dives into the crowd.

Anil Kapoor. Click for bigger pic!

Meanwhile, Salman is being nice to the kids, having curtailed his rich and colourful vocabulary though, certainly, it must have been a strain. And though he is not our personal favourite, we having seen his tantrums, we note with admiration that he is on his best behaviour, being soft and loving with the children. Finally, he heads for his make-up van, having changed people's opinion of him a bit.

Someone tells us the scene coming up is being shot at the gate of the school, on the road that Salman brought the children to the school earlier.

This scene will come later in the film some time, and is being shot now to avoid the cost of again hiring the premises. Just good management.

After this shot, they are going to shift to another school in the same area. And they are already cutting things a bit fine, they say. A few scenes have to be shot there before they can finally call it a day. Going by the hurry we note, we know we aren't likely to find anyone free for a comfortable chat for some time.

All we could get out of the director about the film is, "This will be my last No 1 film!"

Man, is the schedule getting to David. So instead of getting in his hair again, we quietly hoof it.