On Location

It has hardly been over a month since Sunhil Sippy first shot the opening scene for his film Snip, which stars Sophiya Haque, Nikhil Chin...

It has hardly been over a month since Sunhil Sippy first shot the opening scene for his film Snip, which stars Sophiya Haque, Nikhil Chinappa, Archana Puran Singh, Sorab Ardeshir and Saurabh Shukla. This black comedy, which has cost Rs one crore, has been shot all over Mumbai. One of the sites used has been Sunhil Sippy8217;s own Altamount Road house, which has been turned into the home of Sorab Ardeshir, who plays an out-of-work eccentric actor, Monty. Sophiya is Tara, the hairdresser, who comes to his house to give him a haircut. Sophiya and Sorab take their places and Sunhil shouts, quot;It8217;s a rehearsal, don8217;t take your performance to the limit.quot; And so the they start.

The rehearsal needs some work, so Sunhil lets them run through it again. And then, after a quick make up re-touch, the duo are ready for a take. But the production staff are making too much noise in the background, so Sunhil raises his voice: quot;Why is there so much noise?quot;

And just before they start, Sorab quickly tells Sunhil, quot;Just tellme if my accent slips.quot; Perfunctory, really, since Sorab is an experienced theatre actor, and his accent never slips throughout the performance. Finally, Sunhil looks content with the outcome, but then Sophiya forgets her line. So, it8217;s time for one more take, and finally everyone is happy with the scene.

In the middle of the living room is a large stuffed tiger which Sorab climbs on while asking Sophiya advice on how to cut his hair. And Sophiya has to try and cut his hair while Sorab is pretending to ride the stuffed tiger. The scene takes place at the beginning, just before Sophiya snips the ear off Sorab, after which, the plot unfolds.

Sunhil says he is not worried about the fact that he has cast two veejays in prominent roles in his debut movie. quot;They are talented, and I don8217;t care if people call it a veejay8217; film, because its target audience is in the 18-25 age group.quot;

Sunhil has written and directed the film, and though this is his debut, he has done some short films on AIDS awareness and alsodirects the Disney club for DD Metro. He informs that he has been etching out the characters of this film since the last three years.

Sorab was actually meant to play the fortune-teller in the play now enacted by Dilip Joshi, but Sorab liked the part of Monty so much that he asked to play the role. Sorab also features in two more films that will release this year 8212; Rockford and Such a Long Journey.

Story continues below this ad

For Sophiya, this film came at the perfect time 8212; just when she has finished with Channel V. And the film was just perfect for her as it has an European feel yet is set in Mumbai.

8211;Sujata Assomull