society & the arts CINEMA

Mirage a Trois

An English-French film directed by Bharat Bala, inventor of pop patriotism, hopes to cash in on the current international craze for anything Indian and become the buzz at Cannes next year.

By Shilpa Rohatgi in Jaisalmer                                                                                    

As some alabaster-skinned tourists amble their way through the serpentine bylanes of the splendorous Jaisalmer Fort, they run into an anomaly: an autorickshaw, unlike any they have ever seen before. Chatting animatedly, the group soon discovers that it belongs to a film crew shooting nearby. For a while, the commanding yellow structure fades into nothingness as they zoom in on the enormous white contraption. Their local guide Hanumat Sinh, however, remains nonchalant: "We are used to seeing such props and shootings here. What's special about this one?"

Plenty, if you ask Bharat Bala, who is redefining ambitious with his first feature film, the $5 million (Rs 23 crore) bilingual (English and French) Hari Om. "Many films, Indian and international, have been shot in Jaisalmer," concedes the producer-director, who has made a habit of stoking nationalist sentiments with video films like Vande Mataram, Jana Gana Mana and Jaya He. "But Hari Om is not a typical film. It captures the positive image of India-its pride, romance, people and places," says Bala. Adds Kanika Myer, his wife and associate director-editor of Hari Om: "It is not a documentary film but it is very real."

The film is being made with an eye on the international market. Bala hopes to premiere the film at Cannes next year, then move it to European screens before shipping it back to India. Nothing is being left to chance. Long-time collaborator A.R. Rahman is doing the background score, which will also include some songs; the music company, Tips Industries, is co-producer, and executive producer Sushil Tyagi will release the film in the US through his Tricolour Productions.

Hari Om is a travelling story of three characters. Vijay Raaz, the Dubeyji of Monsoon Wedding, plays the eponymous autorickshaw driver; Jean-Marie Lamour, last seen being murdered by Ludivine Savignier in Francois Ozon's quirky Swimming Pool, plays an arrogant Frenchman Benoit Belarose; and Oxford graduate Camille Natta plays the role of Isabelle Deschamps, Benoit's girlfriend.

For Raaz, who has just completed Oscar-winner Roger Christian's American Daylight, the shoot was a breeze. "Never once did I feel that I was working. Since the film is about a journey, we too were constantly travelling (every shot was taken in a new location, informs Bala)."

It was his quest for perfection that drove Bala to undertake four trips to Paris and two to London in search of the right actors to play the lovers' roles. "Apart from fluency in English, we were also looking for something of the character within the actor to add value to the film," says Bala, who almost didn't find his Benoit and Isabelle, until just five days before the film went on the floors in Jaipur on October 5.

"I normally like to work on my roles but this one was shot back to front," says Natta. "The journey is very personal-like the character I had never been to India; she has a strong desire for freedom, so do I."

If Natta finds similarities, Lamour is pensive, having made a startling personal discovery. "Our world is materialistic but India is not so," Lamour reflects philosophically. "Our major problem is loneliness but here even the poor are always laughing."

But despite the laughter and the spirituality, accidents are inevitable, even in India. On the penultimate day of the 42-day start-to-finish schedule, Natta bruises her neck. Enter Francesca, a duplicate picked off the Jaisalmer Fort. "I was loitering around when they felt I resembled the heroine. I was on," says the girl from Milan. After a day's rest-and some valuable time stolen with her director-boyfriend-Natta is back on the sets the next day with a neck brace. All's well.

"It's been tough even for those of us used to mega productions, as here we were dealing with creating characters, bringing out sensitivity and always keeping in mind that the film has to work for a far larger audience," smiles Myer, who is carting her editing table along to each location. "I wanted to support Bala in his first film and each evening I try to put things together. I can't wait to throw it all together when we return," Myer says. Using a fleet of 24 vehicles, the Hari Om army charted its 1,000-km-long cinematic journey from Jaipur, the Shekhawati region, Bikaner and finally, to Jaisalmer. Along with a 250-strong supporting cast, the unit had almost 125 people, including an English recordist for the sync sound and an English director of photography. "The whole experience has been wonderful. Eating bajra rotlas from Banjaras at 1 a.m. on a chilly morning in the remote dunes is truly memorable," Myer reminisces.

Wonderful memories of the shooting schedule are not all that the protagonists share. Each of them also laud Bala's ability to "be in the moment". "What I love about shootings are the little surprises-things not scripted but improvised," says Natta. "When they happen, the other actor has to react, of course, but even the director has to retain the scene." But don't try to confine Hari Om to any specific genre, for Bala himself believes that there is only one kind of cinema: "Either it's a great film which people love or it just doesn't work," he says. As for Hari Om, suffice it to say that the maker is certain that it has come straight from the heart. Myer is convinced that with things going India's way, "now" is the best time to release the film. "The reactions to anything from India are huge. In that sense, yes, this is the right time to make this film, which is simple and sometimes corny," Myer says. "We have used no crutches and believe that many different kinds of people will see it." Perhaps Hanumat Sinh will be forced to rue his insouciance once Hari Om releases.