Hope Floats

Filmmaker Kunal Deshmukh,27,vividly recalls the horrific eight hours when he was marooned on flooded Mumbai streets during the 2005 July downpour that paralysed the city. The reaction might be a tad late,however,Deshmukh is ready with Tum Mile,set around those crazy few days. “I was in Worli shooting for Kalyug when we had to pack up because of the rain. I was forced to ditch my car and it took me seven hours to reach home,” recalls Deshmukh,also the director of Jannat,a Bhatt film that was reasonably successful in 2008.

Tum Mile releases in July starring Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan. Deshmukh says prior movie commitments and busy schedules were constantly delaying his project. “I began scripting for Tum Mile in November 2005,the same time I was writing for Jannat. When I proposed the idea to Vishesh films they were skeptical as it required a lot of money and technical skill,” he explains. The floods,says Deshmukh,forced him to see things from a whole new perspective. “Emraan is a struggling painter while Soha Ali Khan is a magazine editor. They meet while marooned during the floods,” says Deshmukh,refusing to divulge anymore details,but telling us his film combines romantic drama and personal tragedy.

With a set the size of four city blocks and a 30-day shoot in an enclosure filled with water,the task of portraying the chaos of incessant rain was challenging. The sets were made to resemble places like Goregaon,Film City and the Airport,the worst flood affected areas of Mumbai. “It is tough to have computer generated water so we relied on actual water. The water remained dirty despite all the filtration systems in place,” he adds,crossing his fingers for another blockbuster release in July.