In 2010,Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director,for the Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker,which won that years Oscar for Best Picture. The 60-year-old director was in the heart of Chandigarh today,shooting for her next the story of the hunting down of Osama bin Laden by the US Navy Seals,a film for now titled Zero Dark Thirty or ZD30. With US-Pakistan relations severely strained,Bigelow could not shoot in Pakistan,where the infamous Abbottabad compound was razed over the weekend. She appeared today at the Sector 15 market,which her crew dressed up temporarily as a location in Lahore. So the boards of several shops turned to Urdu,autorickshaws with Lahore numberplates whizzed past,and burqa-clad women and men in shalwar-kameez,chappals and skullcaps actors from Chandigarh and Patiala ambled up and down the street. Bigelow emerged from an Internet cafe for a quick meeting on the spot with her crew. Her tall,lean frame moved with a speed and purpose that belied her years; she worked effectively and efficiently,listening,consulting,giving orders and framing shots and compositions. Across the street stood a bus with the quintessentially Pakistani decorations,bright colours and motifs,jhoomers and lights. The paint job has been done in Delhi, said a member of the production team. Suddenly aware of the presence of reporters,members of the costume department hastily threw a plastic sheet on the clothes rack. The shops,hired for the days shoot,wore a new,worn-out look. Ramgarhia Hardware Store had become Shahzad Hardware and Paint Store,and the Internet cafe was Kotli Call Centre. This one reads ISD and PCO booth,Internet. Khalid Javed Call Centre, said Praneet Bajwa,a shopper,pointing to the board written in Urdu. That one,she continued,is Regal Centre,this one is Shahi Yunani Dhawa Khana,that one reads Ayman Sundar Daadaan Saaz. Outside the shops stood rehriwallahs and hawkers in the typical clothes of the Pakistani Punjab,their wares fresh vegetables,red chillies,marigolds displayed in handwoven baskets. Several signs saying India Take One Productions,with the Los Angeles and Delhi-based companys Taj Mahal silhouette motif,lined the street. In Chandigarh,Darshan Aulakh Productions and a team from Mumbai are helping Bigelow. The film,whose final title is yet to be announced,is scheduled for release at the end of this year. Bigelow is expected to shoot in Chandigarh for around another week.
