At the beginning of out trip we helped out as extras in the making of a Bollywood movie!

The fruits of our labour have finally manifested themselves (haven’t seen it yet to know if we made the cut!)

http://www.theotherendofthelinemovie.com/

 When we were asked to star in a Bollywood production on the streets of Mumbai, we all thought it was due to the attractive ladies at our side (Kahlia and Sarah). We were wrong… it turns out I’m kind of a big deal… in India J.  Really, if you’re western and visible anywhere in Mumbai you’ll get asked to be an extra in whatever film is currently being shot. You get a little bit of money and a great, although long, experience.

We arrived on set with a hundred or so adorning fans trying to get a glimpse of the stars. I’m pretty sure there were a couple with my photo to sign, but no time we were due on set. My first role was as a hotel employee named Robin Mal (later changed to Dominique, one name is way more mysterious… think Prince, Madonna, Cher… I wish I could think of more mono-named men) who was walking around greeting people. That’s right people, lines! I struggled for a while with my motivation for the part but in the end I’m sure I nailed it.

My next role was as a marketing exec for a company called Stimulus. I was in frame with all the big stars (Jesse Metcalfe, Larry Miller, some other guy that looked like the Osborne kid). My starting mark was even in the room with them so between takes we shot the breeze and swapped stories of stardom. The kudos for this scene goes to another extra, a French guy they gave a line. He was very nervous as his pronunciation of the English line wasn’t perfect. The line was to Jesse Metcalf during a dialogue, so they couldn’t cut it out. The production crew didn’t seem to notice his accent.

So brunette doesn’t cut it in Bollywood; the girls weren’t a hit with the Indians. That was fine for them as they took to backseat directing more than acting anyway. Kahlia did get chatted up by Jesse Metcalf. He even suggested to the director he should do a double take of her as he pass by her in the shot, it didn’t fly.

On a more serious note; being part of making a movie was really interesting, definitely a great experience.  They only managed about 5 scenes in the day (most were mere seconds) and one scene took 24 takes.

 Met at our guesthouse by a guy from “Casting Planet” at 7:30am and began making our way to the set of a movie now called The Other End of the Line with Larry Miller (remember the guy that got raped by the hamster in Dr Doolittle 2?) and Jessie Metcalf (the gardener in Desperate Housewives).  The female lead was an Indian actress famous in Tollywood making her break in Bollywood.  It turns out Adam is kind of a big deal as he made his way into everything they shot for the day.  Reagan was also very popular with the casting people…  They must have hated Sarah and I though, because even though they promised us all costumes, hair, and make-up we got none of these.  In fact, I think Sarah were the only 2 of 40 odd extras that didn’t get a clothing change…  And it is not that easy to use 2 girls wearing distinctively backpacking clothes in a movie set in a 5 star Californian hotel and corporate office.  At least Adam and Reagan got their breaks.  We got fed for the day, and paid 400Rs ($12) at the end of the 14 hour shoot.  We met a lot of fun people though, and stayed out a little while with some of them, but still didn’t make it out in the clubs of Mumbai.