Email
Print
ShareMumbai: Paul Schrader had initially decided to keep lovemaking scenes to a 'bare minimum' in his forthcoming Bollywood-Hollywood collaboration, but not any more. It all changed when Paul finished his self-imposed assignment of seeing 110 Bollywood flicks which he is still carrying on his portable hard drive.
"Come on, I don't need to tone down the sex scenes at all. There is enough nudity and smooches on the Indian screen right now. If John Abraham can go nude (in New York) and Kareena Kapoor can do a sizzling smooch on screen (in Kambakht Ishq), I have nothing to worry about," says Paul who has touched down in Mumbai for the MAMI film festival that began yesterday.
He adds: "Get this straight -- I'm here to make a Bollywood movie, complete with the song-and-dance routine. There is also an element of momma worship here, which seems amazing to me. I have asked Mushtaq (Sheikh, his scriptwriter) not to tone down anything - though I might have an international cut."
Paul has been doing a secret reccee of the city for the past two years with Anubhav Sinha and says Mumbai isdefinitely a strange sight. "You see two tall multi-storeyed buildings and in-between you see a slum squeezed in. It's a romantic sight for a filmmaker, if you know what I mean."
Paul indicates that SRK has still not agreed to star in his film. "I guess you guys have been here long enough to know about the whims of SRK. He has still not said yes and the casting is still open. I'll be meeting other actors for my film too. I don't need to tell you who they are because there are hardly five names," he smiles.
Other than Kareena Kapoor and his old favourite, Aishwarya, Paul seems quite impressed with Priyanka Chopra. "Oh! She is really sexy and has got all the talent to make it internationally. I'd love to work with her some day. She is the next big thing in Indian cinema, I tell you!"
Paul wraps uo with an interesting anecdote. "Yesterday afternoon, I was passing by the Taj Mahal Palace hotel and I noticed Amitabh Bachchan shooting there. There were almost two thousand people surrounding him. I also joined in and waved at him, and he just looked at me. I don't think he recognised me. I drove away because I'm going to meet him now." Yes, Paul will be on stage when Big B receives an award for his "glorious 40 years in Indian cinema"at the MAMI inauguration.
