Danny buoyed *-A* <http://www.screenindia.com/news/danny-buoyed/425170/#> *+A<http://www.screenindia.com/news/danny-buoyed/425170/#> * Font screenindia <http://www.screenindia.com/columnist/screenindia/> Posted: Feb 20, 2009 at 1706 hrs IST Print <http://www.screenindia.com/story.php?id=425170&pg=-1>Email<http://www.screenindia.com/static/story-email/> Newsletter <javascript:void(0)>Post Comments<http://www.screenindia.com/news/danny-buoyed/425170/#postcomm> RSS <http://www.expressindia.com/fesyndication/screen.xml>
Director Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is among awards these days with it bagging 10 Oscar nominations and seven BAFTA awards. In a freewheeling interview, the director talks about his filming days. *What was your first impression of Mumbai?* I hope it comes across in the film, but I enjoyed being there so much. It's a gift for a filmmaker. It's an extraordinary place because it has this intensity of experience. The only other place I can compare it to is New York in the 80's. It has this sense of electricity. If you're bored in Mumbai, you're insane, there's something seriously wrong with you. The place is just alive. *Was there a culture shock? * There's a great book called Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. He was born and brought up in Bombay until he was six, then left there to live in New York. He was educated at the New York University, then returned to Mumbai when he was 30 with his family. It gives you a wonderful perspective on the city and that was sort of our bible on the film because its got everything in it. *How was the experience shooting in the slums?* Great, I loved it. The slums were a wonderful place to shoot in, there's so much life there. For a director to be offered that intensity of experience is amazing and the people were incredibly welcoming. I think we went in with the right attitude. They could tell that we weren't going to make a disrespectful film but were going to make a genuine film that didn't hide anything but also celebrated the country and the spirit of the city. They were hugely helpful because we were there for ages and film crews can be disruptive. It's your responsibility to go in there and not be judgmental to include everything and let people see it for themselves. *How big was the crew?* I only took about 10 crew members with me to India. When I made The Beach in 2000 in Thailand, I was working with a big crew and I found it's like leading an invading army. You can't hide your identity. ForSlumdog Millionaire, I wanted to go in from the inside because we wanted to tell the story from the characters' point of view. *Was it a challenge to direct in Hindi?* I picked up a bit. I had this woman with me every day and she would help me out with the translation but most people speak a bit of English so you get by. It's not always about language. Sometimes people read you. They make their mind up about you. They think, 'Did he come here to make fun of us or is he coming here to make a proper film and to represent us properly?' I think they could read that I really loved being there. Not all of my crew enjoyed it, but that's part of life. It's just that they don't have this great infrastructure to deal with it. That's not their fault. *How was it working with the Indian crew?* They were excellent. The people are very skilled. I'd work with a lot of those people anywhere, anytime, especially with A.R. Rahman. I'd love to do a completely Western film and see how he uses his skills on that because he's fantastic. *Did you enjoy working with Rahman?* He is so famous. If you can imagine John Williams and Michael Jackson combined, you'd have an idea of how talented and famous he is. It's unsafe for him to walk the streets because he gets mobbed. He's just extraordinary. We sent him the film and he sent back this message saying he loved it. We got together in London and I encouraged him to [use] what's happening in India at the moment. You have this extraordinary fusion of traditional scoring, what he'd normally do, and rap and hip-hop influences coming from America. It's crazy. There was one thing he did that I couldn't believe. Originally we rehearsed the dance at the end to a different song. When he saw the film he said he'd like to replace that with another song. He went away and wrote this beautiful song Jai Ho which incidentally has been nominated for best lyrics at the Oscars To me the song is a medley of different influences. I'm always in awe of musicians because I can't do it. *Who Wants to be a Millionaire has become a worldwide hit. Does the show have special significance in India? * The concept of instant riches is clearly something that's cherished there. The show is shaped in the same way as other versions around the World. The biggest difference is the celebration after someone wins. When somebody wins the top prize in India, it's insane. The other difference is that it was presented by Amitabh Bachchan, the biggest star in India. His appeal to the audience was huge. The only equivalent I can think of is if Barack Obama were to present Who Wants to be a Millionaire in America. http://www.screenindia.com/news/danny-buoyed/425170/ -- regards, Vithur
