Shayan Munshi and Bikram Ghosh with others on the sets of The Bong Connection in Santiniketan on Thursday; (below) Raima Sen shooting near Prantik railway station. Pictures by Aranya Sen

Location: Shonajhuri forests

Time: 8.49 am

Storyboard: After a series of intimate t?te-?-t?tes in Calcutta, Sheela (Raima Sen) has brought US-based Andy (Shayan Munshi) to Santiniketan. Although Sheela loves Apu (Parambrata Chatterjee) ? who is away in the US ? she starts developing feelings for Andy. Her moves to Pagla haoar badol diney in the land of Tagore mirror a soul breaking free.

Lights, camera, action: An upset stomach has been bothering director Anjan Dutt but once on the familiar turf of Santiniketan, the man seems to have found his feet ? and flair ? again. ?I want that wild feel in the gestures,? he tells choreographer Swarupa Ghosh, who has come down from Delhi for this song sequence.

Pagla haoar is played back for the first time and it?s evident why Dutt and son Neel ? music director for the movie ? are so excited about the track. Sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Nachiketa, the song starts off with an infectious Ooh la la refrain and the interludes have everything from Baul strains to mouth percussion (by Bikram Ghosh) making it one no-holds-barred musical medley.

Freeze frame: Raima looks stunning in an olive green salwar kurta even though she keeps complaining about her eye balls. ?They keep going all round the place,? she announces. She is a big hit among the small kids who are used in a couple of shots.

But a foreigner, who stays in Santiniketan and just stumbles upon the shooting, can?t quite recognise Suchitra Sen?s granddaughter. ?Last year, Koel Mullick was here to shoot Shubhadrishti,? he points out. ?But what is this Bong Connection? I have to watch out for this one.?

Location: The sandy stretch near Aamar Kutir

Time: 3.17 pm

Storyboard: As Andy and Sheela break into Pagla haoar badal diney?, they are joined by Bikram Ghosh (as himself) who is in Tagoreland for a concert in the evening. With Andy playing a struggling musician trying to find his voice, he wants to jam with Bikram and his foreigner friends. So the five of them along with a couple of Bauls go into a musical huddle with the setting sun as the backdrop.

Lights, camera, action: After a bad bout of sinus, Bikram?s come to Santiniketan with three of his foreign students. ?I identify so much with this film that I really wanted to be part of Bong Connection and this is a kind of valediction of my commitment to the project,? he says. Bikram has played everything from darbouka to tambourine to talking drums for the song and it was easy for him to mock-play to his own beats. Shayan joined him with the guitar ? played by Amyt Dutta on the soundtrack ? and soon there was a smallish crowd cheering the team on. Cinematographer Indranil Mukherjee went fully hand-held for the sequence trying to keep up the pace with his swish pans.

Freeze frame: Shayan?s turning into a guitar pro thanks to the many scenes in Bong Connection that has him strumming away at the strings. If he was a tad scratchy during the Majhi re song sequence in Someplace Else, he was a veteran by the time he was strumming with Bikram in Santiniketan. Although Neel was present to make sure that Shayan?s fingers did not go haywire, the model-turned-actor buoyed by the presence of wife Peeya was simply ?spot on?.

Location: Prantik railway station

Time: 4.35 pm

Storyboard: Andy and Sheela are walking amidst meandering cows when they spot Bikram and his friends coming in. Sheela introduces Bikram to Andy, who gets all excited about jamming with the ?famous musician?.

Lights, camera, action: Managing cows is worse than handling the biggest of stars and The Bong Connection production team will vouch for that. Having had a tough time in making the herd walk in and out of the frame the way he envisioned, Dutt finally manages to get his shot in the magic light (godhuli bela) they so badly wanted. Even if that came after a couple of frantic shouts like ?Goru edike esho, edike!?

Freeze frame: Raima looks enchanting in the yellow dress she wears for this short sequence and together with Shayan, the pair looks stunning in the golden yellow sunlight. She has been taking a lot of marriage tips from Shayan, who got married to Peeya just a month back! While Raima is up for it, she rues the fact that she is yet to find her match. ?I will have six kids and if they irritate me, I am going to send all of them to you,? Raima laughs at Peeya, a half-Bengali herself. It doesn?t seem to take much time for two Bongs to connect. Does it?