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I have got a bit behind on the blog, but I will try to fill you in on what we've been up to since the last entry. We're actually in Sydney at the moment, but the travel blog's still in India! Anyway..
Mumbai 23rd - 24th March
We arrived in Mumbai on an overnight train from Goa. Previously we had always travelled in the AC2 class, which meant we had air con, blankets and pillows and usually shared the carriage with several other westerners. This time we were two classes lower on the sleeper class - where the Indians travel. When we first got on it didn't look too different to AC2, except that there were three bunk beds on top of each other rather than two, there were bars on the windows and there was no bedding. Then the train started and pungent waves of urine were swept out of the squat toilets and down across the carriage floor. It was a long journey.
It must have been around 5am when we arrived in the city and we were very pleasantly surprised by what we could see out of the taxi window. Mumbai just didn't compare to the rest of India. It reminded me a lot of London - not just the black cabs - but the streets also looked similar. It seemed that Mumbai was decades ahead the rest of India - the streets were clean and there were proper shops rather than shacks. It was a lot like any other western city - which, at the time, we were very pleased to see!
We had booked a night at the Red Salvation Army hostel. The accommodation in Mumbai was expensive and this was the cheapest place, despite still costing us around 8 pounds each a night. It was pretty grim, but we were glad to finally get to bed. Unfortunately at around 10am, we were woken by someone banging on our door telling us that we had to check out (when we'd only arrived at 6am!) Apparently, they hadn't been letting us check in early, they were charging us for a full night's accommodation for the four hours we had been there! We were so angry that they hadn't told us this was the case as we were checking in. After a month of people trying to get money of us, we were much more willing to make a fuss when we felt people were trying to wrong us! In England I would never have dreamed of complaining if something was wrong but we ended up slamming our old key down on the desk, paying (angrily) for another night's stay and storming off saying "This is a scam!"
That day we had only walked down one street when we were approached by a scout who was looking for westerners to appear as extras in a Bollywood movie. The filming was due to take place the next day - the same day as our flight to Singapore. We pointed this out to them and they promised that we would be finished in time so, in a rather spontaneous move, we decided to take them up on the offer. They told us that we would be picked up from outside McDonalds at 7am the next day. For the rest of the afternoon we had a look round Mumbai and went on a boat trip around the harbour. We marveled at the fact there were real cafes and the fact there were no cows or other animals in the roads.
At 6.30am the next day, we headed with our huge backpacks to McDonalds where a group of fellow westerners were waiting. The bus journey to the studios took around two hours and on the way there we drove past the Mumbai slums. The disparity between the rich and the poor is remarkable in the city. I think it was both the poshest and the most impoverished place we saw.
When we arrived at the studio we could see an aeroplane parked in a carpark. It transpired that we would be playing the role of passengers on a flight. We were led to a room to have lunch before being told to go and get our costumes. Much to our dismay, the scene we were filming was set in the winter which meant we had to wear jumpers, scarves and (luckily not me) thick winter coats - despite the fact that the temperature was in the 30s! The flight passengers were supposed to be travelling from New York to Mumbai, although by the looks of the costumes we were flying straight out of the 1970s. Jane looked remarkably like a German exchange student dressed as she was in brown corderoy trousers and a pale pink polo neck. After handing back a size 6 skirt which they had asked me to put on, they relented and said I could wear my own trousers along with a floaty cream shirt and a repulsive orange woolen shrug. In addition to this I had to squeeze into a pair of tan wedges and hold a large brown handbag, which left me looking like I'd stumbled into a charity shop during a powercut and put on the first things I could get my hands on. Anyway, this was clearly the look they were going for and before long a rather motley bunch of passengers were 'boarding' a pretend plane parked in the carpark of an empty water fun park. It was a peculiar moment.
As it turned out, Jane and I were seated in some very fortunate seats. A lot of the extras may only have got in the wide lens shots but Jane was seated directly behind the main actress (Minissha Lamba) and I was across the aisle from the actor. The film crew set up their camera, lights and lighting boards a couple of rows ahead of us. There was even a man with a clapperboard who came on before each take! First of all we filmed the actor and actress getting on the plane and finding their seats. In this scene, you may actually be able to see the backs of our heads! I remember thinking that it wouldn't look very realistic - a whole planeful of passengers sitting in silence, motionless, whilst they boarded. Surely we should have been taking off the winter coats and putting luggage in the overhead lockers! As it happened, Jane had to sit in her coat for the whole 3 hours we were filming. The next scene was of the actress putting her bag away and turning off her mobile (pivotal points in the film, I'm sure!) As Jane was directly behind her, the director actually asked her to pretend she was talking to the man beside her about a magazine they were looking at - so hopefully she'll be on film doing some 'rhubarbing'!
The final scene was filmed right next to me. This was when it finally became clear what kind of film we were shooting. The actor had to look really nervous, say prayers under his breath and then slip a detonator out of his pocket. All the time my orange woolen arm is probably playing a starring role on the armrest across the aisle whilst I'm striking a natural pose - intently staring at the plane wall in the opposite direction, trying not to look at the camera.
My favourite bit was when an extra sat beside the actor struck up a conversation with him - something to do with how it was a bit scary that he was supposed to be blowing up the plane. He said that he wasn't afraid of death because he believed in reincarnation. The extra then lost interest after this, but I continued to listen to him as he said, seemingly to himself: "Of course I only want to come back as a human - not an animal. But if I did come back as an animal, I'd want to be a snake, because they're my favourite animal." So now we now what goes on in the minds of Bollywood actors.
All in all, it was interesting to see how a Bollywood film was filmed and it's a cool thing to say we've been extras. If we're lucky we may have made it onto the screen - at least the backs of our heads. The film's already on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185442/, although it looks like they haven't confirmed the name yet. Looks like we'll just have to wait and see!
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