As if Friday wasn't enough excitement for a lifetime, we were asked to come back to shoot more dance scenes the following day. We exchanged more mobile numbers and were scheduled to be picked up at 7am.
On Saturday only Kirsten and I went back because Hilary said she had had her fill of shooting movies. I can't say I blame her for taking that perspective because we did wait around a lot and it was very hot, but Kirsten and I both felt a certain obligation. They were kind enough to basically re-write these scenes to include us so we weren't going to blow them off.
We get picked up and drive off to Kailasagiri, a gorgeous hilltop park overlooking the city and coast. Just the drive up the hill to the park was breathtaking. Once we arrived we saw the crew setting up the equipment, dancers getting into costumes and makeup, and the directors setting up the shots. Once again awkward was back. As if right on cue someone shows up with chairs while another crew member brings us breakfast.
Shortly after breakfast the madam choreographer came over and through very few words and some gestures we figured out that she needs to teach us some dance moves for the upcoming scene. It was an eight count of mimed bad violin playing, followed by the bollywood version of the funky chicken in double time, and topped off with an eight count of freestyle swimming strokes. Me being the all-around amazing individual that I am naturally picked up the steps the first go around.
The dancers were instructed on where to stand, boys on one side and girls on the other staggering the lines. By this time I'm thinking to myself, "Self, how the heck are we not going to ruin this shot?" All the girls were wearing matching yellow saris and the boys were wearing matching multi-colored outfits, but as Kirsten so kindly pointed out throughout the day, anything goes in Indian movies. But where would they put us? We would stick out like sore thumbs anywhere they put us with the dancers. They found a spot for us alright. In the front. Flanking the Akosh, the lead actor.
In general I don't like taking pictures of myself. That usually involves just one person behind the camera, who I actually know, and it takes no more than a minute. Now imagine me standing in the front of 20-30 dancers being asked to do perform the above mentioned choreography in front of a little over a hundred people while they film it. Now tell me that I'm supposed to do all next to the hero of the movie. Yeah. I was so nervous my hands were shaking. I really shouldn't have been though because the hero wasn't that great of a dancer. (That was kinda rude, but its true.)
After we get the shot the director's looking for we wait around because the crew needs to change lighting, positions, etc. In between shots me and Kirsten are just being goofballs and having a ton of fun. Throughout the entire time we're there people will come up to us and ask to take pictures of us and with us. Even older gentlemen who were friends of Director Saha wanted to take snaps with the Americans. Meanwhile the leading man is sitting off by himself with his umbrella man keeping him in the shade and his makeup artist dabbing the sweat from his brow. I'm not kidding, he literally dabbed the sweat off Akosh's face almost the entire time. It was ridiculous.
Next came some more dance moves. Eight counts of swinging arms low in front of the body in a criss-cross motion, four counts of elbows up, fists to the chest, lean forward on the right foot then back, last four counts same rocking motion but arms extended. Remember to think Bollywood. At the last second the director decided to have Kirsten and I switch spots by using the swinging arm eight count. So I'm shuffling in front of Akosh while Kirsten shuffles behind. What happened to being in the background like I asked?
Our next scene involved Akosh walking in the park and being swarmed by the dancers and us wanting him to sing for us. Cue the boys...run from the left, bug him to sing...cue the girls...run from the right, bug him to sing...cue the American groupies...run from both sides, bug him to sing. Sudaka remembered that Kirsten had a camera, she's a photography major, so he told her to get it and act like she was taking pictures of him as she ran up.
Fawning over a guy has never really been my forte. A trait I am quite proud of. So doing this scene grated against the tiny feminist in me. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was just acting. I wasn't really the star-struck, googly-eyed girl I was portraying. But wait it gets better.
The next scene the guy dancers are behind us and Akosh is a couple steps ahead and me and Kirsten just have to follow him for a few steps. Then he turns around and sings straight to us, spins back around, grabs our hands, and we do this cheesy raised hands thing. Of course the entire time Kirsten and I have to look all googoo gaagaa and "Oh my! He's holding my hand!" (If you know me in the slightest, you'd be cracking up right about now) But wait it gets better still.
From this scene we shot, a continuation of the cheesy raised hands. Akosh spins us around to face him and starts singing to us. Then we have to bob our heads from side to side and snap our fingers. But of course that's not all. Akosh then has to do this half noogie half pat on the head thing. As belittling as it was, it was too funny to really be any sort of upset. At this point the camera is literally right behind me and Kirsten shooting in the back of our heads. Then the camera swings around to shoot from behind Akosh which meant it was right in our faces. Hello world! True to form, I wasn't wearing any makeup. Au naturale.
Our final scene involves Akosh sitting on a bench trying to enjoy the park while me and Kirsten rush him for his autograph. Can you say gag me? We were instructed to rush up, hold out our notebooks and pens, get his autograph, say thankful, look more star struck and in awe, and freeze. It was so hard not to laugh in his face. His "autograph" in my notebook is just some swirly scribbles, but I will cherish forever...yeah right.
As awkward and out of my element it all was, it really was so much fun. This was a great experience that I would never have had in the States. Out of all of this though, my absolute favorite part was after we shot the autograph scene. A bunch of school kids just arrived in Kailasagiri on an excursion (field trip). We were sitting on a bench not too far from the "hero", Akosh. He was obviously someone "important" because his umbrella man and sweat dabber were there taking care of him, but who did the all the middle school kids crowd around? The Americans of course.
Everyone wanted to take pictures with us and I don't mean just one picture either. They wanted multiple pictures. One with just Kirsten and all the girls, one with just me and all the girls, one with me and Kirsten and all the girls, one with just me and Kirsten, and on and on. Finally we had to flee for our lives because their administrator came over and got into the picture chaos. He started taking pictures of us and his students. He looked like he was a minute away from arranging us shortest to tallest.
After shooting our last scene, we were ready to go home and get out of the blazing Indian sun. We said thank you to the appropriate people and caught a rickshaw down to our humble abode, making it back just in time for lunch. It was a weird feeling to be center of attention on a movie set to sitting in my living room having lunch with the rest of the program students just as usual. It was a very surreal few days.
That, my dear fans, is how I became famous. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to thank all you little people when I accept my award for best random, irrelevant character in the history of movies.
On Saturday only Kirsten and I went back because Hilary said she had had her fill of shooting movies. I can't say I blame her for taking that perspective because we did wait around a lot and it was very hot, but Kirsten and I both felt a certain obligation. They were kind enough to basically re-write these scenes to include us so we weren't going to blow them off.
We get picked up and drive off to Kailasagiri, a gorgeous hilltop park overlooking the city and coast. Just the drive up the hill to the park was breathtaking. Once we arrived we saw the crew setting up the equipment, dancers getting into costumes and makeup, and the directors setting up the shots. Once again awkward was back. As if right on cue someone shows up with chairs while another crew member brings us breakfast.
Shortly after breakfast the madam choreographer came over and through very few words and some gestures we figured out that she needs to teach us some dance moves for the upcoming scene. It was an eight count of mimed bad violin playing, followed by the bollywood version of the funky chicken in double time, and topped off with an eight count of freestyle swimming strokes. Me being the all-around amazing individual that I am naturally picked up the steps the first go around.
The dancers were instructed on where to stand, boys on one side and girls on the other staggering the lines. By this time I'm thinking to myself, "Self, how the heck are we not going to ruin this shot?" All the girls were wearing matching yellow saris and the boys were wearing matching multi-colored outfits, but as Kirsten so kindly pointed out throughout the day, anything goes in Indian movies. But where would they put us? We would stick out like sore thumbs anywhere they put us with the dancers. They found a spot for us alright. In the front. Flanking the Akosh, the lead actor.
In general I don't like taking pictures of myself. That usually involves just one person behind the camera, who I actually know, and it takes no more than a minute. Now imagine me standing in the front of 20-30 dancers being asked to do perform the above mentioned choreography in front of a little over a hundred people while they film it. Now tell me that I'm supposed to do all next to the hero of the movie. Yeah. I was so nervous my hands were shaking. I really shouldn't have been though because the hero wasn't that great of a dancer. (That was kinda rude, but its true.)
After we get the shot the director's looking for we wait around because the crew needs to change lighting, positions, etc. In between shots me and Kirsten are just being goofballs and having a ton of fun. Throughout the entire time we're there people will come up to us and ask to take pictures of us and with us. Even older gentlemen who were friends of Director Saha wanted to take snaps with the Americans. Meanwhile the leading man is sitting off by himself with his umbrella man keeping him in the shade and his makeup artist dabbing the sweat from his brow. I'm not kidding, he literally dabbed the sweat off Akosh's face almost the entire time. It was ridiculous.
Next came some more dance moves. Eight counts of swinging arms low in front of the body in a criss-cross motion, four counts of elbows up, fists to the chest, lean forward on the right foot then back, last four counts same rocking motion but arms extended. Remember to think Bollywood. At the last second the director decided to have Kirsten and I switch spots by using the swinging arm eight count. So I'm shuffling in front of Akosh while Kirsten shuffles behind. What happened to being in the background like I asked?
Our next scene involved Akosh walking in the park and being swarmed by the dancers and us wanting him to sing for us. Cue the boys...run from the left, bug him to sing...cue the girls...run from the right, bug him to sing...cue the American groupies...run from both sides, bug him to sing. Sudaka remembered that Kirsten had a camera, she's a photography major, so he told her to get it and act like she was taking pictures of him as she ran up.
Fawning over a guy has never really been my forte. A trait I am quite proud of. So doing this scene grated against the tiny feminist in me. I just had to keep reminding myself that I was just acting. I wasn't really the star-struck, googly-eyed girl I was portraying. But wait it gets better.
The next scene the guy dancers are behind us and Akosh is a couple steps ahead and me and Kirsten just have to follow him for a few steps. Then he turns around and sings straight to us, spins back around, grabs our hands, and we do this cheesy raised hands thing. Of course the entire time Kirsten and I have to look all googoo gaagaa and "Oh my! He's holding my hand!" (If you know me in the slightest, you'd be cracking up right about now) But wait it gets better still.
From this scene we shot, a continuation of the cheesy raised hands. Akosh spins us around to face him and starts singing to us. Then we have to bob our heads from side to side and snap our fingers. But of course that's not all. Akosh then has to do this half noogie half pat on the head thing. As belittling as it was, it was too funny to really be any sort of upset. At this point the camera is literally right behind me and Kirsten shooting in the back of our heads. Then the camera swings around to shoot from behind Akosh which meant it was right in our faces. Hello world! True to form, I wasn't wearing any makeup. Au naturale.
Our final scene involves Akosh sitting on a bench trying to enjoy the park while me and Kirsten rush him for his autograph. Can you say gag me? We were instructed to rush up, hold out our notebooks and pens, get his autograph, say thankful, look more star struck and in awe, and freeze. It was so hard not to laugh in his face. His "autograph" in my notebook is just some swirly scribbles, but I will cherish forever...yeah right.
As awkward and out of my element it all was, it really was so much fun. This was a great experience that I would never have had in the States. Out of all of this though, my absolute favorite part was after we shot the autograph scene. A bunch of school kids just arrived in Kailasagiri on an excursion (field trip). We were sitting on a bench not too far from the "hero", Akosh. He was obviously someone "important" because his umbrella man and sweat dabber were there taking care of him, but who did the all the middle school kids crowd around? The Americans of course.
Everyone wanted to take pictures with us and I don't mean just one picture either. They wanted multiple pictures. One with just Kirsten and all the girls, one with just me and all the girls, one with me and Kirsten and all the girls, one with just me and Kirsten, and on and on. Finally we had to flee for our lives because their administrator came over and got into the picture chaos. He started taking pictures of us and his students. He looked like he was a minute away from arranging us shortest to tallest.
After shooting our last scene, we were ready to go home and get out of the blazing Indian sun. We said thank you to the appropriate people and caught a rickshaw down to our humble abode, making it back just in time for lunch. It was a weird feeling to be center of attention on a movie set to sitting in my living room having lunch with the rest of the program students just as usual. It was a very surreal few days.
That, my dear fans, is how I became famous. Don't worry though, I'll be sure to thank all you little people when I accept my award for best random, irrelevant character in the history of movies.
You movie star you! I can see it now--you're the next Jalo. You can act, dance, now if you'll just start singing I think your career will really take off. If you come home with an umbrella man and a sweat dabber, I'll be so jealous.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I was LOLing so hard imagining you being all googly eyed over him--then busting that into Bollywood dancing. Haha--we better get a copy of the movie for our posterity to enjoy for generations!!!
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable. I am just grinning and cracking up. You win the award for gutsiest person of the week, for sure.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh what a cool couple of posts! I totally want to see that movie. Good thing we practiced with Dance Revolution on the Wii to get you ready for this! :) Crazy how everyone treats you like celebrities for being American! Well, I guess you really were celebrities in this case though.
ReplyDeleteLove it! haha, you're a natural!
ReplyDelete