"Once you have the stars with you outside the country, the issue of them working in shifts for different films vanishes" - Raksha Mistry 
By Joginder Tuteja, June 8, 2007 - 11:01 IST
The Train releases today and like majority of films being churned out of Bollywood, even this dramatic thriller by Hasnain Hyderabadwala and Raksha Mistry has been shot abroad in a major way. Set in Bangkok, the film has 'The Train' itself being one of the major characters in the film apart from Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra and Sayali Bhagat.
In an exclusive conversation, Raksha Mistry talks to Joginder Tuteja about the reason behind choosing Bangkok as the location for the film, the hassles faced by the crew while shooting in the city and the intrinsic fun that the city brought with it throughout the shooting tenure.
As narrated by Raksha:
When it comes to shooting interiors, no wonder Mumbai is the best place to be in. But then it could well be the biggest nightmare when it comes to outdoors. Permissions that one needs from government officials, police etc. and procuring the right documents could well be a nightmare.
This is not all! If you have stars shooting in open, it becomes quite unmanageable especially when it comes to Indian crowds. Then if you try to create an outdoor set, it but naturally looks all so artificial. This is when one thinks about shooting in a foreign location.
Another advantage is that once you have the stars with you outside the country, the issue of them working in shifts for different films vanishes. Things like commitment, focus and productivity only follows! In nutshell, you get maximum work done in minimum time.
The issue of them working in shifts for different films vanishes
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Now coming to why we decided to shoot in Bangkok. As you know about the film's story, it is about a man [Emraan] who explores love outside home in a lonely land. He is in a city which is full of hustle-bustle, where people don't really have time for another while to add to the mayhem things are a little messy.
Moreover, the city that we were looking at had to have some bit of India in an Asian city. The story demanded that the protagonist gets attracted to Indian-ness in a woman which he finds in Geeta.
Bangkok seemed ideal because of reasons mentioned as above and also the cinematic appeal that it brings along with it. High rise buildings with trains running in the sky was an obvious attraction.
Also, to compliment that urbaneness of the entire situation, an Asian culture deep inside the city only helped the story move further. When it came to beaches, Pattaya won hands down. You have to admire it for its sheer cleanliness.
The city has that enigmatic quality about it to either accept or reject you; the decision is mainly yours on how you want the city to behave with you. Net net, it is nothing different from what probably Mumbai does to you.
I also have to mention that the liberal tourism policy further helps the cause. Most of the departments/people we met were quite open minded and gave us a helping hand throughout the film's shooting tenure.
I remember that we left for the shoot when the coup had just happened. No doubt we were doubtful about how would we be able to have the shoot. We got in touch with the local coordinator and we were assured that things would go as planned with all the necessary permissions though a few restrictions were certainly put. What we realized eventually was that the military had changed but the rules hadn't. It was business as usual eventually.
Beyond the shooting, it was also fun to be spending time outside the work. There is a night market out there which is just excellent when it comes to bargain shopping. Me and my crew simply went berserk out there as we hunted for some real good purses and bags! Can you imagine that I got something for 30-40 Baht for which the marked price was 400 Baht? There are some real exotic lamps and genuine Chinese stuff on which we freaked out as the market was open till as long as 4 AM in the morning!
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There are some real exotic lamps and genuine Chinese stuff on which we freaked out as the market was open till as long as 4 AM in the morning!
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Then there is this place called Siam square which is a youth market open till 9 PM. This is mainly a college hangout place. While we were there, a rock concert was in progress with some great audio and visuals in the middle of the street. It was a fantabulous show with some great music.
Coming back to the shooting of the film, we have shot more than 65% of the film outdoors with equal footage in both Bangkok and Pattaya. Remaining 35% of the shoot is indoors which we did in India. While the night shoot is in Bangkok, the day shoot is in Pattaya. Along with some walking shots, some portions of the songs too are in Pattaya. By the way, you have to see the way the city is lit; you won't see something like that in Mumbai.
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You have to see the way the city is lit; you won't see something like that in Mumbai
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Nevertheless, for some of the day shots in Bangkok, we needed a lot of traffic to compliment the mayhem in the life of the protagonist. There are also some great panoramic views of the city, something on the lines of Ek Ajnabee. Also, you would see 'The Train' always in the background. After all it plays a character in the film, isn't it?
In nutshell we shot for around 16-17 days in Bangkok and 10 days in Pattaya. Any hassles during the shoot? Well, traffic in Bangkok is unbearable. If there is a distance that you feel could be covered in 10 minutes, it would actually take you one hour. Due to this reason, at some places our decision to shoot outdoors backfired and we had to hurry up the shoot.
There is another exciting incident that I can narrate. We had to shoot some critical scenes in a train and to our horror we were told that we had to wrap that up in 3 hours flat. To add to it, all of that had to be done in a running train between 9 AM - 12 PM on a Sunday morning.
Now for shooting, we needed at least a 15 member crew and we were like a crazy bunch of people going haywire while running along with steady-cams and stuff. We had to shoot on a 15 minutes shuttle, something like between Andheri and Kandivali. Moreover, to maintain continuity, we had to ensure that it there was a shot being taken from left, while returning back on the same route; we place our camera on the right. Believe me, it was all so crazy but fun.
Nevertheless, to sum it up, it was all worth it in the end. It was quite memorable to say the least and in the end we all got what we had been aspiring for. It was quite satisfactory and we all had a sense of achievement once we wrapped up the shoot. Would I go again to the city for the shoot? Well, of course yes, why not? I have fallen in love with the place!
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All you wanted to know about The Train
