Living the High Life.

Yesterday we met the producer of Tanu weds Manu, Sailesh Singh.

I learnt a lot about Bollywood and how it functions. The most shocking part is that Sailesh told me that writers are not respected in Bollywood, not as respected as in Hollywood (not that they are respected much there either)! He told us that often films are bought and sold off the stars that are within the film.

The gang with Sailesh.

He told us that financiers will not read the script but will get a pitch, hear the stars attached and then approve or disapprove of the film.

The most exciting thing that came out of the interview is that Sailesh said he would like us all to pitch ideas of how to market his newest film. So, it’s now being organised for us to come back to his office to see his newest film which is still in post: Sixteen. Then he would like to hear our ideas about how to market the film!!! So exciting!

After the meeting, we headed to Juhu beach again. When we were coming in we saw a restaurant called Bora Bora which looked really fancy. We decided to go there for dinner. It was so beautiful as it overlooked the beach. It also meant as I was able to get MEAT! Since all food is included in this program it is strictly vegetarian.

Bora Bora the ‘poshie’ restaurant where we had some dinner.

Tried the mouth freshener Paan today. Looks delicious does it not?

It was not. It tasted like I was eating toothpaste with a listerine sauce.

Juhu Beach.

Juhu Beach.

Goodbye Australia!

So the adventure begins. I am going to Bollywood in Mumbai to do an a program funded through the UTS  BUiLD (Beyond UTS International Leadership Development) society. It was the most wondrous thing to happen, since returning from New York six months ago I have been a) very broke and b) desperate to travel again and experience new things.

For the past few months I have been talking about going to Bollywood NON-STOP. I think, to the point that people might have wanted to slap me. India has been a kind of light at the end of the ‘normal life’ tunnel, because what is ordinary about Bollywood? Nothing. How can sparkly, dancing lovers singing and dancing to each other be boring? It’s Home and Away on acid.

So it was this morning that I awoke to pack and waited for my taxi to the airport. Since everyone in my family was either working/living elsewhere/in New York, I was confronted by the strange position of having to kind of say goodbye to myself. It’s a kind of weird climax because you’re just like ‘Oh wow!! Here’s my taxi! Ok, oh look at me go! Bye! Going now!’. You kind of have to amp yourself up and you just walk around feeling like a super excited loner. It also makes it very awkward getting the classic ‘going away photo’.

Stocking up on Western food. Salmon, capers and cream cheese. Pure deliciousness.

In the taxi, I had thrown together my last piece of Western food: capers, salmon, cream cheese on toast, pure deliciousness.  I had to stock up because I’m not good with spicy food, my body can’t deal with it. It’s not that I don’t like Indian food and all other food that tends to be spicy (I love it) it’s just that it destroys me.

This was a realization that came to me when I was in Mexico last year. We were having our classic ‘Spring Break in Cancun’ moment. We were only exchange students in American once, amerigh? Think burritos on tap, nachos raining from the sky and enough casadias to make a hat out of. I tried, by jove I tried, but the spices took a toll on me. On the last day in Cancun we went on a 70USD all-inclusive food and alcohol yacht day and I couldn’t stomach anything. Bless the Mexican crewmen who swept around the deck offering me tequila sunrises hoping that I’d party like a Girl Gone Wild. I wasn’t going to be a Girl Gone Wild, I could at best muster myself to be a Girl Gone Mildly Enthusiastic (a title that I doubt would fare as well in sales).

So it was with a feeling of justification that I indulged a Gloria Jeans Chiller Shake because, lets be honest, the calories were probably going to lost along the way. I got a new camera. I tried to log on the ‘FREE WIFI!!!’ to no avail and said a solemn final goodbye to myself, told myself to look after my stuff, not to get in cabs with strange men and to never take the starting price.

I didn’t tell myself to not look like a tourist because, come on, I was about to be a Blonde in Bollywood.