"I wasn't invited to the Golden Globes" - Loveleen Tandon 
By Subhash K. Jha, January 21, 2009 - 11:16 IST
Shocking as it may sound, Loveleen Tandon, the co-director for Slumdog Millionaire was not invited to be part of the triumphant Slumdog team at the Golden Globe ceremonies.
"No, I wasn't invited," the softspoken co-director confesses reluctantly. "But please don't create a controversy over it. I'm very happy for the way the film is moving forward. And I've been with the project to many festivals. I can never feel isolated from it."
She pauses for thought. And then asserts, "I've been part of the film throughout. I've been addressing students at universities. But now when the dubbing was in progress I felt I should be in Mumbai."
But there're lots of raised eyebrows as to why the film's co-director should be missing from such an important step-forward in the project's destiny. "That only the producers can answer. The director Danny Boyle has no hand in who is called. And if I may say so, I'm not new to this kind of international events," says Loveleen who has also served as a casting director for Mira Nair and Steven Spielberg's films.
Recalls Loveleen, "In Spielberg's The Terminal, they needed an Indian actor for a role. The character's name was Gupta. We were first looking at someone in the age group of 45-plus. I thought of Tinu Anand and Anupam Kher. Then they made him into an 86-year old, and that became really difficult. Where does one find an English-speaking 86-year old Indian actor? In our country we don't have that many actors active at that age."
Loveleen's woes didn't end there. "It was a pivotal role. That of Tom Hanks' soul mate. We finally got an actor named Kumal Pallana who lived in California and had done some acting. When I contacted him I warned him his character had lengthy dialogues. He said he could do it. But when he started shooting we realized he couldn't remember his lines. In comparison, dealing with the children in Slumdog Millionaire was child's play."
Says Loveleen, "I've had the time of my life shooting for Slumdog. No one can take that away from me."
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