it’s been over two weeks since i left mumbai. i’ve kept busy. i continued my glorious summer by going on a road trip from philadelphia to chicago with a few friends – with many stops and adventures along the way… but i still think about India tirelessly. in my last couple days in bombay, there was a rush of excitement, and i desperately wanted to stay. vikash made the brave decision of staying an extra couple weeks, which made me infinitely jealous… but instead of just suffering with the mundane at home, i went on the road trip previously mentioned.
so, those last few days deserve to be talked about. i previously left off on a rainy monday in mumbai. tuesday was the same as shooting was canceled once again, so i went into the Paying Guests set with vikash and caroline, which was a lot of fun. on wednesday i went back to Sale Up to 40% to the new set at future studios. unfortunately, wednesday was also my last day on set because they were not shooting thursday and friday was a night shoot. i spent the day with my digital still camera snapping photographs for memories, collecting contact info and thanking the crew for their kindness, but it definitely wasn’t the only thing i did.
it was definitely one of the best days i had on set as i learned the basics of light metering from one of the camera assistants, and then was requested to go on a location scout with the production coordinator with my still camera. we went to two café coffee day locations around the city and took pictures of the location so the director of photography, mr. attar singh saini, could choose which one he wanted to use for the next scene of the film – to be shot the next monday. i learned a bit about producing from the production coordinator. he is responsible for making sure everything that is needed for a day’s shoot is there – from camera and lighting equipment to permission to shoot at locations.
so, i went out and took photographs and brought them back to mr. saini. and then he asked me which location i preferred. i gave him my recommendation, and he said “alright, then let’s do that one.” i was completely caught off guard and had no clue that my decision would be so critical – as the location would be used the next week for the film. amazing.
the day ended with some sweet goodbyes, lots of email addresses and a couple hugs. i gave mr. saini a syracuse hat and he wore it immediately – which put a smile on my face. it was sad to leave everyone on set that i had come to know for such a short period of time. there were definitely experiences on that set that i’ll hold with me, and things that i’ve learned that i know i’ll never forget. i miss everyone there dearly, and i hope to see them again one day – and perhaps work with them on a film of my own.
i don’t remember what happened on thursday, but on friday night we celebrated leah’s 21st birthday at a club entitled “poison.” it was a great time – as we were on the guest list and in vip. it was a proper end to our bollywood experience. and early on saturday, we finally met subhash ghai. then we were debriefed by WWI, and then had a huge, exciting PR session where newspapers came to interview and photograph us – the result of which you probably read in the previous post. afterwards a bunch of us went and got henna tattoos done. i had an intricate arabic design up my left arm, which was beautiful – but i don’t think i have any pictures of it, unfortunately. a final group dinner at emerald club and some long goodbyes and finally a 16 hour flight home to jfk.
and afterwards, all i wanted to do was be back in India.
