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| (From top) Raima Sen, Sanjay Dutt and Vidya
Balan during a shot for Parineeta in front of the Victoria Memorial anddirector
Pradeep Sarkar |
If you thought that the Parineeta parade in
Calcutta was all over and the next thing on the Vidhu Vinod Chopra production
would be on the big screen, well, you?ve got it wrong. Director Pradeep Sarkar
will be back on Wednesday to can some more snatches of Calcutta for the final
touches to the celluloid adaptation of the Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay classic,
starring Saif Ali Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Vidya Balan and Raima Sen.
?A couple of ambience shots of the city streets was
left to be taken and I have been pushing the dates back and back,? says Sarkar
from Mumbai.
?But with the film releasing on May 20, I had to come
and get it over and done with. We were even contemplating capturing those particular
shots by building sets in Mumbai but then decided against it because you can never
get the real Calcutta anywhere else.?
So Sarkar and his team, headed by cinematographer
Natarajan, will be shooting night-time Park Street on Thursday and Friday before
returning to Mumbai to add the images to the ?almost ready? film. ?Since Parineeta
the film is set in the 1960s and not in the 1920s and 30s as in the novel, we
have to make the city streets look like that at night time. Jombe mone hoy?,?
adds Sarkar.
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| Saif Ali Khan as Shekhar on the sets of Parineeta |
But Parineeta?s not the only reason that will
bring Sarkar back to the city. He also plans to shoot a 60-second commercial on
behalf of his production company, Apocalypso Film Works, for the government of
India. ?The ministry of tourism of the government of India has launched Atithi
Deva Bhava, a social awareness campaign to create awareness among stakeholders
of the tourism industry,? says Sarkar. ?They plan to train people like taxi drivers
and tour guides to improve their behaviour and conduct to attract more tourists
to the country. So they have got us to shoot two commercials for this new project
? one in Mumbai and the other in Calcutta.?
Sarkar, who gave the city a taste of real Bollywood
by getting the Saifs and Sanjus parked here for more than a month, won?t have
any stars coming with him this time. ?No, I don?t need any of the stars for the
couple of Parineeta shots left to be taken. As for the commercial, well,
it is about the common man and I plan to have only ordinary people in the ad.
While in Mumbai, I will shoot at the Gateway of India, in Calcutta it will be
the Victoria Memorial,? says Sarkar.
As for the Parineeta promos, keep your eyes
glued to the small screen. ?The teasers may come any time. Keep watching,? smiles
Sarkar.
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