Mumbai Bollywood Diary
Hi Folks,
Although born and brought up in Mumbai, I left the city in 1991, never to return until Dec 29th -31 2006 and Jan 7-10 2007, i.e. in the last few days. When I left, I had nothing to do with films (despite genetically being linked to it) and when I return after 15 (almost 16 years), it was ONLY to do with films and BOLLYWOOD!!
To say I have been overwhelmed with the amazing response that I have gotten, is an understatement. I am not at liberty to discuss names, etc, since there are some negotiations under way, which may or may not materialize, but below is my outsiders summary of “doing business in Bollywood.”
(a) In case you don’t know a soul, show up at the J.W. Marriott…….Bollywood will be all over you. As I walked in, AB and his grandkids and Bodyguards walked out and that was just the beginning. Pretty much the entire hotel reeked of “Bollywoodism”
(b) To “feel” films, the best place to see them is Cinemax/Infinity. This place reeks of budding talent, ala Sundance, if you will. Plus the food is awesome. Have to admit though that sms’s being sent on cellphones, whose neon lights are on and people serving food while the movie is playing, is actually very irritating!!! but other than that a perfect experience
(c) Rule of telephonic conversation—–I came from an environment where if someone called me, I would respond “Vivek….” (identifying me to the caller)……….In Bollyland, that is a sigh of an insult, you are supposed to save the person’s number in your cell phone, so that when he/she calls and their name flashes, you being conversation right away…something I learned the hard way !!!!
(d) This is the land of SMS. I came from the Silicon Valley and had sent a sum total of 3 SMS’s over the last 2 years, here in Bollywood, it seemed to me that without the SMS there was no mode of communication possible. Contract negotiations, film discussions, even taking interviews, the SMS is the way to go. I am still punching in my first word and my more prolific neighbors have already completed a three act structure script and SMS’d it.
(e) Everybody whom you want a favor from is “Jee” kf “Ji” it is not dependent on age and experience, it is solely dependent on “you can do more for me, than I can do for you.”
(f) Being different is in, Nagesh Kukunoor is in, Subhash Ghai is not, it is the land where AB and AB jr can walk barefoot from their bunglow in Juhu to Siddhi Vinayak in Mahim at 1:30 in the morning and not get mobbed. They would definitely get mobbed and chased in Silicon Valley and NY, who said that you have to go to foreign lands to get “de recognized,” au contraire, in Mumbai, you are “ok” in the NRI lands you are “god or goddess”
(g) Theater is in and thank god for that. Prthvi is in and how. Barista in Prithvi is out, Cafe Coffee Day in Prithvi is definitely in.
Mumbai here I come, Bollywood here I come. TIme to take some RISK !!!
To all those who have reached out to me in Mumbai and big thank you!!! I am overwhelmed
Sincerely,
Vivek “what the hell am I doing in the Bay Area/LA Area/NY Area, jab sab ACSUN idhar hain boss” Kumar
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Vivek’s living the high life.
Regarding the telephone thing, what if it’s the first time you’ve recieved their call .. hmm that could all get confusing :|
waiting to hear some good news upon your return vivek”ji”
)
and regarding
Hey Longtime Vivek. Nice post a bit nostalgic. The SMS thingy…yaar…India is a land of sms…the last time when i was in india in 2003…damn even my 8 yr old niece would type in at 6000 words /sec. Another one is the funda of “missed call” I often people tell me i will give you a missed call..i was like huh?lol…good old memories
vivekji / omji,
is there a concept of a ‘missed sms’ on the same lines of a missed call…???
All I can say is.. You are not alone.
There are a lot of ppl like you and me in Bay Area/LA Area/NY Area doin something which they never wanted to do…Making films is my only dream but I am sitting in front of a computer, checking out PFC all day long and wondering….why cant I do those things???
The question is..who takes the risk and goes back for something which can give life to a life. :-?
Love your post vivek.. great tips for newcomers
anyway, have fun, good luck and keep us updated on your progress