Cut. Super. Mindblowing.

Bloody cast members of the excellent Shot In Bombay. I watched this one afternoon with some snacks and tucked into blankets. It was so much fun and I fell in love with many of the cast and crew in this documentary. I knew nothing about the history of the film they were making or the flamboyant star, who was often hours late for his scenes. Sunjay Dutt is a popular Indian movie star who was also charged with weapons violations and the documentary follows his legal case (spanning over 15 years, or more!) and the movie Shootout At Lokhandwala a crime action film directed by Apoorva Lakhia. Directed by Liz Mermin about the making of Shootout At Lokhandwala which is based upon the real-life gunbattle between gangsters and Mumbai Police. Mermin was asked to make the documentary because the Indian film industry has often been misrepresented by Western media...or at least many Indian film makers felt it has been in the past. I am definately going to check for more of Mermin's docs as she really did an awesome job on this one. For two hours, I was hooked.

Remember "shottas" is Jamaican term for ganstas? Well "goondas" is Indian term for gangstas.

I loved Apoorva Lakia as he was directing, he would often yell out when a scene was to his liking "Cut. Super. Mindblowing." It was great...I've walked around lately saying just those words...when I buy groceries etc. At one point he says "Cut. Blasting. It blasts the mind." He is a young hip seeming guy and I can't wait to see his newest movie Mission Istaanbul.

The doc engages many of the crew and some of the interviews are pretty cool. One actor says...

"This is Indian cinema.
You don't go for logical.
You go for emotions."

Beautiful!

I also enjoyed watching the actor, Vivek Oberoi, primp and talk about his character the gangster, Maya. He is super charismatic and he is going to be in Mission Istaanbul so I am looking forward to seeing more of his work. He's got a real vibe I like, and he's easy on the eyes!

Documentary directed by Liz Mermin about the making of Shootout At Lokhandwala which is based upon the real-life gunbattle between gangsters and Mumbai Police. Mermin was asked to make the documentary because the Indian film industry has often been misrepresented by Western media...or at least many Indian film makers felt it has been in the past.

I really like this clip because it captures in a minute or so exactly the technical things I enjoyed in this documentary. I liked some of the technical workings and I lied the two guys talking at the end on how to deliver lines. See, how they throw one character on the bookshelves, then go back, saw the shelves in the middle. Film him being thrown again. Really fun stuff!

Related Links:

Official site for Shootout At Lokhandwala.
Very good review and general background.