Anyone been in a Bollywood movie?

I was reading a few travelblogs yesterday, and found this one where the writers had been invited to be extras in a film called Kal Ho Naa Ho (which I'll have to check out later). They spent a day on set and got paid Rs500 for their efforts!

Sounds like a fun experience, and something that would definitely be memorable.

Does anyone have any tips how I might get in on an opportunity like this? I'll be in Mumbai for several days late September, again mid October, and early December.

Hi timmy,

Stay in Colaba and ask around; you've got a good chance of landing something.

Six weeks ago the guys at my hotel (Hotel Sealord, Arthur Bunder Road, opp Radio Club, Colaba) were actively recruiting for extras. Ask as many people as you can and they'll eventually point you to a film extra scout.

Also hang around Leopolds on the Colaba Causeway. I was approached there a couple of years ago. The street level recruiter was looking for people for only one night in a music video, but once I got on to the set I found the producer and asked her if there was any more work going in film. She got me into a movie her husband (also a producer) was doing in Pune, a few hours from Mumbai. I spent over a week on it. There were a half a dozen other western extras, some of whom had speaking roles (a few one liners) and got paid @1,300 Rs, while non-speakers got about @800 Rs. (Make sure you get paid cash at the end of each day.) There were also an English theatre actor flown in for more serious character role.

It was an interesting experience - there was plenty of movie mania; the star, Ajay Devgan, elicted wild cheering everytime he came in sight of the thousand or so people who surrounded the set, and one day they broke through the cordons and it turned into a full riot. The movie was 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh'.

It can be long days with early starts in hot costumes with a lot of waiting around which does get a little boring, but there'll always be a few interesting moments which make it worthwhile. I posted an article on my experience at Bootsnall - Bollywood Article

Good luck!

LOL that's hilarious, sounds fantastic. Do you mean the Fiji Indian shop next to Ladda's takeaway, or the one (that's recently closed) on the corner of Dickson St? I live five mins walk from there.

There are a few around these days, the one I refered to is Movie Bazzar at 577A King Street, Newtown, on the corner with Elizabeth Street. It's the usual half spice and food shop / half DVD and video store. They're very friendly and will recommend good movies.

I tend to bookend my trips with a Bollywood binge to get me in the mood and help with the come-down. It's very amusing to come back home and remember some of the places and people you've seen by watching them in a movie!

Yes, Movie Bazaar is the second one I mentioned - cnr King & Dickson St... and yes, unfortunately, it closed down about a month ago.

As I said I've been reading blogs and surfing photo sites like trekearth to get me in the mood for my trip. I dropped a line to the couple who wrote the blog about their Bollywood experience, and they wrote back today to let me know they stayed at the Hotel Sea Lord, and that's where the opportunity arose, so I'll go and check it out.

Hahaha I was in Bombay last month. Indeed whilst hanging around leopolds a chap approached me and asked me to be an extra the on a shoot the following day.

I went along, it was great fun. They were filming 'Drona' - apparently it's the Indian Harry potter. I think it's out sometime next year, and from they were telling me it's gonna be big, the budget being 'much bigger than Chak De India' or something.

It was a ridiculously hot day in Bombay, and the scene we were filming was set in a Czechslovakian winter haha! Needless to say my costume that I was instructed to wear all day was more suited to the Czech weather.

It starred Abhishek Bachchan, his dad is the big daddy of Bollywood. He wasn't a pleasant guy, massive ego.

Drona sure if a big Budget movie...