Zachary Coffin

Zachary Coffin wasn?t a known name in India before December 2004. But maybe not anymore. He is an American, but for a while now he has been living an Indian dream. On the 20th anniversary commemoration of the Bhopal gas tragedy on December 2, he announced that he would produce Windfall, an international film which would have the 1984 Union Carbide disaster as its backdrop. The film will have Aishwarya Rai as the main lead and she would also executive produce the film.

?Zach? is the CEO of Zachary Coffin Productions and general partner of Coffin Capital. He has produced a radio show, Gandhi in the Park, in New York for three years. The film was announced in Bhopal (just outside the infamous factory), but Zach was also present at IFFI in Goa publicising the launch.

Says Zach: ?I was brought up in San Diego. I have inherited both sides ? art and business ? from my parents. I have a master?s degree in film production and have done media and entertainment for seven years. After that I was involved in corporate governance for eight years and have worked in 30 different countries. But the decision to make this movie only happened six months back at the Indian film festival in LA.?

His kind of film is ?inspirational?, which is why he says he cannot ignore Bhopal. Zach has written the basic storyline of the film himself. But he would like to hire a writer to work on a detailed screenplay. Windfall is about Jasmine Singh (to be played by Ash) who is orphaned by the December 2, 1984 disaster and who has been put up for adoption and raised in Beverly Hills. How she goes to India to find what actually happened to her father, a worker at the factory that fateful night, forms the crux. The film is partly based on the non-fiction book, The Bhopal tragedy ? What really happened and what it means to American workers and communities at risk, by Ward Morehouse and Arun Subramanium.

?I would love to have John Briley (of Gandhi fame) writing the screenplay. I have a great Indian writer in mind, too. But I would love to have someone who would adapt the book properly,? says Zach. He did not have Aishwarya in mind immediately but then as he developed the story he realised that the central character should be a girl born in Bhopal, but raised in Beverly Hills because, as he puts it, ?a Hindi speaking girl would not be particularly accessible to a housewife in Houston. And Ash just fitted into the role correctly.?

As far as the rest of the cast is concerned there are a dozen substantial parts. There are historical figures, too. Half of the actors will be from the US and half will be Indian. When asked about the director he said, ?I have a special leaning towards Robert Redford. He will also be a particularly good director for Aishwarya. Because at one point of time Robert Redford was thought of as the pretty boy, recognised more for his looks than his acting skills. That way he would be able to understand a woman, believed to be the most beautiful in the world, better.?

Zach has a couple of cinematic inspirations. ?I like Silkwood, The Verdict, Erin Brockovich. In India it would be Pyaasa, where one guy puts up his fight against the rest of the world. It would, however, be made on a grand scale like Titanic,? he says candidly. But when would he start shooting for the film? ?The pre-production stage will go on till May-June. In June things take a turn. In October we start shooting. Two thirds of the shooting will be done in America and one third in India. Makes it a total of 75 days shoot. And by the end of November-December we will be here in India. And after that post-production will go on and I hope to release the film by May 2006.?

When asked about the budget he said, ?It?s a bad omen to talk about it actually. But in Indian rupees, it would be about Rs 150 crore. If converted to dollars it will be a little more than Rs 30 million.? It would be an out and out international film like Gandhi. He asks, ?Was Gandhi an Indian film, a Hollywood film or a British film? It had Pt Ravi Shankar?s music, had screenplay by John Briley, an American. No one thought that an American would write the screenplay for Gandhi. The film could connect on a global level.?

Talk about his fascination for India and he gushes, ?I guess I was an Indian before I was born. In the first three decades of my life I could not be directly associated with India, but now that I am here, this won?t be my last film in India.? Will he be looking for studio support? And the answer is, ?It can be helpful in a couple of ways especially from a business point of view. But then I can?t see it controlled by a committee of executives in Hollywood or anywhere. Because that way I can?t guarantee back to the victims in Bhopal, that truth will prevail. As of now it?s an independent film. I would like to do what Mel Gibson did with the The Passion of the Christ. First make the movie and then work with a renowned Hollywood company for distribution.??

To date the only feature film (there have been a couple of documentaries though) on the tragedy is Bhopal Express, directed by Mahesh Mathai. Zack met him and the screenplay writer Piyush Pandey to seek their blessings. ?I last went to Bhopal to make the public announcement outside the factory on December 2. More than either Hollywood or Bombay it seemed to be the right place and also the right time,? says Zach. Before this he had been to Bhopal a couple of times.

?It?s a story whose time has come. Especially for the Indian audience. When you think of Bhopal it is mostly about that night. But with no disrespect to that night, I have to say that it has affected other areas, too. People don?t usually understand or see that, like how it happened before, during and after. Maybe an insider in the company saw it coming but couldn?t prevent it. That could be a story in itself. It?s not only about the tragedy but it is also one of the milestone events in the history of globalisation where a company could actually get away with murder. The victims still continue to keep up hope after 20 years. So it?s that kind of injustice. If the movie helps in rectifying a little bit of that, then I am happy.?