Mumbai on his radar

Paul Schrader is not new to Mumbai or Bollywood

Paul Schrader is not new to Mumbai or Bollywood. The man who has written Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ and directed films like Blue Collar, A Life in Four Chapters, Party Hearst, and many others, has also watched D-Company and Sarkar Raj. Kagaz Ke Phool and Parinda on his list of most favourite films while the songs of Jodha Akbar and Jab We Met are always on his playlist.

In Mumbai to judge the first-time work of international filmmakers at the 11th Mumbai Film Festival, Schrader answers some questions:u00a0u00a0u00a0

Has Slumdog Millionaire's win changed global perceptions about Bollywood?
Slumdog Millionaire has certainly made people aware of the money you can make with Mumbai.

Actually the film feels more like a British film and not a Bollywood film. As a phenomenon it has had a big impact globally. But truly, the NRI market is so huge that Bollywood doesn't need a Slumdog to make an impression. Even Ghajini made equal amount of money out of India.

'Mumbai is an extreme city'

What is it that attracts you to the genre of thrillers and crime?
Movies are always about extremes. In films, be it sex, poverty, violence or even love, everything needs to be depicted in the extreme. And so there will be films like City of God made and liked. This is what movies do. Crime is dangerous; the behaviour of the police as well as the criminal is exaggerated. People like to see this and I like to make what people will enjoy watching.

You are co-writer on Xtreme City, a film on criminal world in Mumbai. How did that happen?
It was around a year-and-a-half back when I was approached by Anubhav Sinha to do something with Bollywood. I didn't think much of it then and returned to New York. But the seed was planted and when I came back six months later, Anubhav introduced me to Mustaq Sheikh. I was presented with the opportunity to study Hindi films and I took it up. Mustaq and I got talking and decided to co-write the script for Xtreme City.

What is it about?
It is neither a Satya, Company, D, Sarkar or Sarkar Raj. Xtreme City is a story of two men an American and an Indian who are in the UN force. The American guy saves the life of the Indian and both part ways the American becomes a cop, while the Indian gets involved in Mumbai's underworld. Years later, the American comes looking for the Indian for help.

There's talk that Shah Rukh Khan is going to star in it...
As of now I don't know. We are looking for a person in the age group of 35-40 years and he's the best in that slot. But there are so many actors you admire and want to work with. But if they don't suit the character, there's no point in casting them; and even if you do, you are not doing any favour to the actor. But there are terrific and beautiful women like Aishwarya and Kareena with whom I may or may not work.

How will you describe Mumbai?
Last when I was here, Anubhav, Maqbool Khan and Nandini Srikant took me around the city on a kind-of recce, I've seen almost everything from Colaba to Goregaon. It is an extreme city. There is an overload of sensations intellectual, auditory, visuals and smells. It is overwhelming the first time. I actually got dizzy because I couldn't hold so many contradictions together in my head. Even Delhi for that matter; I saw a camel loaded with IBM computers walking in the traffic from my hotel window u2014 I had to go and lie down for bit!