Mumbai Noir

The plot revolves around a former US ranger,Curtis Hawkley,who returns to Mumbai after his father-in-law’s youngest daughter is kidnapped by an underworld mobster. To save the girl,he takes help from an old friend,Raj Rangan,an ex-Indian Special Forces commando. “It’s a variation of the classic Hollywood “fish-out-of-water” storyline. The interesting point in this case is that the water (India) is more important than the fish. The story could have been set elsewhere although I don’t know if it would have held as much fascination for me,” Schrader said over e-mail.

Schrader’s journey to Bollywood began unknowingly,in July last year at the Osian’s film festival in Delhi. Osian’s had just acquired a collection of vintage Hollywood lobby-cards left by the late Leonard Schrader,Paul’s elder brother. “Someone suggested Paul develop a script for Bollywood but he did not particularly like the idea,” said Weisman over e-mail. “But after returning to New York,he began researching on Indian film-making traditions and came up with an idea of cross-cultural entertainment,an international thriller with a Bollywood base,” he said. Weisman and Schrader returned to India in October last year,where they met Sinha and Sheikh to give shape to the script.

How does a man who has scripted iconic (and brooding) American films like Raging Bull and Taxi Driver fit in the fantasy world of Bollywood? “Well,I’ve been told Bollywood is changing. Movies no longer need to be two and a half hours long with intermission,they don’t have to have song and dance. But in fact I like the notion of song and dance. I think it’s a wonderful tradition,one the US sadly lost during the 60s. In this film,I would actually use musical production numbers… The challenge is in merging the two traditions,” said Schrader.

That’s not the only masala trope you can expect to find in the film. “At the heart of Xtrme City,” said Weisman,“is farz — the impact of giving one’s word,the burden of obligations from the past,deep emotional debts that must be resolved. The theme of farz,so fundamental to Hindi cinema, works for the Xtrme City storyline in a way that audiences everywhere can readily embrace.”

The Xtrme City team insists their interest in another India story has nothing to do with Slumdog Millionaire. “Xtrme City was born of our Delhi trip in July’08,four months before Slumdog premiered in the US. The whole Slumdog phenomenon coincided with much of the stark contrast and chaos surrounding the emergence of “India Rising”, a zeitgeist perception that had all of a sudden burst upon the global pop-culture consciousness last year,” said Weisman.
Ninety per cent of the film will be shot in Mumbai with a few scenes shot in Dubai and New York. Schrader and Weisman will be in Mumbai this October to finalise the cast. “We will cast an American and an Indian in lead roles and are looking at everybody. We are open to all ideas,” said Weisman.

Bollywood connection
Anurag Kashyap’s period drama Bombay Velvet will be produced by Danny Boyle. It will go on floors next year.
Mira Nair’s Amelia stars Hillary Swank,who plays legendary aviator Amelia Earhart. The film is in the final stages of post-production.
Nair has also finished directing one of the 12 short films called Kosher Vegetarian starring Irrfan Khan and Natalie Portman. It is part of an anthology of shorts titled New York,I Love You.
The Waiting City has been written and directed by Sydney-based Claire McCarthy. It is set in Kolkata and is based on the struggle faced by an Australian couple for the adoption of a baby girl. It was screened at the 34th Toronto Film Festival.
Cooking With Stella,directed by photojournalist Dilip Mehta along with sister Deepa Mehta,is based on the life of diplomats and their working relationship with their domestic staff. It stars Lisa Ray and was also screened at the Toronto Film Festival.
Ryan Murphy’s Eat,Pray,Love based on the life of Elizabeth Gilbert’s 2006 travelogue was shot in India recently with Julia Roberts.