Shot in Bombay (2008)

Director:

Liz Mermin

Release Date:

18 January 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

Whoever said making films was easy never worked in Bollywood.

Plot:

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

India

Company:

Little Bird

A bonfire of the vanities

"Making of" documentaries are ten-a-penny in the age of DVDs, and usually amount to little more than promotional puff-pieces thrown in as extras. 'Shot in Bombay', however, is rather different, an account of the making of a Bollywood movie eventually savaged by the critics (although still a popular success). The filming we see is a difficult process as well, because the film's star is often absent in court, where an extremely long running case alleging illegal possession of weapons is struggling to reach it's conclusion. There are echoes of 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' in this: the star is plainly guilty, but has money to spend in his defence; on the other hand, he also makes a sacrificial victim. And there's also irony, as the film he is currently shooting is a glorification of the assassination of gangsters by the police, but it was a gangster group who supposedly supplied the star with his gun. The other film that comes to mind is 'Lost in La Mancha', a heartbreaking account of a failed attempt by Terry Gilliam to make a movie about Don Quixote. That film was more engaging, partly because of its unfortunate ending (Gilliam's film was never finished) but also because Gilliam is such an appealing individual (in general, I don't like his films very much, but it was easy to sympathise with his struggle to make one). By contrast, the Bollywood industry we see here is quite ugly and venal, however many problems the film makers have, you never fear that the consequence is lost art. Still, 'Shot in Bombay' remains an interesting film, let down only by the heartlessness of its protagonists.