Kalyan Ray, Prosenjit, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Ranjan Palit in front of the Golden Gate bridge

Aniruddha (Tony) Roy Chowdhury brought me over to San Francisco so that I could lose my sanity. I am to play the role of a man who has lost his moorings on reality. Aparajita Tumi is being shot entirely on location here in the Bay Area. Prosenjit Chatterjee, a character lost in thought, walks the deserted pathway at the edge of the Pacific palisade along which grows a scatter of wild flowers. Behind him looms the span of the iconic Golden Gate bridge, its tips lost in the lowering sea mist. The shot is done.

Ranjan Palit (of 7 Khoon Maaf) cradles the camera like a child. We gather around Tony and Ranjan, looking at the shot replay. We munch on spicy aloo-tikki sandwiches, between sips of hot coffee which have appeared, as if on cue. The seagulls squawk and glide overhead, as we reassemble for the next shot.

Our shoot takes us into the heart of San Francisco with its steep and winding streets, its pubs and tree-lined lanes, its shining towers and quaint Victorian houses, and equally dramatic changes of its micro-climate — from ocean-swept fog to the pure honey of California sunshine.

Each film unit is a family on the move. I have come to realise this over the years. I have seen Reena (Aparna Sen) shoot Yuganta, Mr & Mrs Iyer, or The Japanese Wife. So is it here with Tony’s Aparajita Tumi in California.

We had flown in from different parts of India, and our family includes the cameras — as carefully tended by its babysitter as a pampered child. So it is with the humans in this family.

Subhash, the make-up artiste, takes care of Prosenjit’s every need, sometimes anticipating them. He unselfishly helps out others in quiet ways; every film family has such kind members. Ronnie Lahiri is the producer — and he is a direct descendant of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay! Pagarav (yes, that’s his name) Patel is the executive producer, but is generally known as Pagla Puggy.

Indrani Mukherjee, the production designer, keeps an eye over everything: the shooting schedule, logistics, and other mysterious things — and succeeds completely — except being able to control her husband Tony’s diet. Tony and I love food that does not love our so-called waists. Well, that’s a joint confession.

Neha Rungta, the associate director is wispy thin and overworks everyday. She eats a bit of veg food on some days, and feels slightly dizzy on others.

Kamalinee Mukherjee and Padmapriya in Aparajita Tumi

Prosenjit, whom we both call Bumba, is a quiet dynamo, dapper and disciplined. I’ve seen him eating a fifth part of a fresh-cut apple and half a small cup of fat-free yogurt. That is on days when he is over-eating! In the frenetic pace of a day’s shoot with its different locations, costumes, dialogues, Bumba is always calm and unfailingly courteous. He quietly absorbs the ambience of the city or the hillside, or wherever else the film has taken us.

Bumba is observant of the comfort level of his fellow actors and actresses; he loves a good adda session between locations — and sometimes between shots — which puts newcomers at ease. We have developed a quiet friendship.

And speaking of food I must mention the mysterious Sardarji who provides some of the food. He is elusive — I’ve never seen him! — and always late. But I think it is a strategy. By the time he finally arrives, the crew will ravenously eat everything before we can even figure out if the food is good. Sardarji is like rain at the end of the Indian summer. We are just glad when either of them arrive.

By the time I arrived, it was the last shooting day for Kamalinee Mukherjee (one of the two lead actresses). The bubbly Kamalinee left (she had a number of Kannada or Telugu-speaking fans here), but Padmapriya (the aparajita of the film) is here till the end of the shoot. She is a lovely whirlwind, everybody’s friend, with a gleaming smile. She hugs everybody, including trees and dogs. But she is all seriousness when it comes to her craft. Her face is mobile, with emotions fleeting over them, and she is amazing to work with. I know. I shot an emotional scene with her, and her handling of the complex mix of emotions was, to use Tony’s favourite word, “awesome”. The shot over, she romped off, the irrepressible child again!

We have met some terrific human beings here in California; people who have opened their hearts and homes to us. (Let me add here that most people have no idea when they open their homes to film-makers what they are letting themselves in for!) But Diptish and Sushmita Datta, and Rana and Nandini Bose were simply —- and I agree whole-heartedly with Tony — AWESOME. I cannot think of more generous-hearted people.

During the shoot Sushma and Shamita were indispensable in decorating the sets. And Surojit Sengupta, a California film buff, provided us with good cheer.

And Ranjan — what can I say about our Ranjan Palit whom I knew as a small boy on Lansdowne Road! I am no film professional, but I have observed and heard everyone speaking with awe how fast and sure-footed a cinematographer he is — and how incredibly and innovatively good! I can tell you of the shots I’ve myself seen on the monitor. I loved the brooding atmospheric observant camera eye. He makes it all seem so easy! His temperament sets the tone for us all.

Sardarji has not come yet with the food. They say he is having car trouble. When he comes, he will either be given a medal or be lynched.

I’ll write more later in my San Francisco journal, shall I?