Johny Cairo

liverpool les

Hi Barb i arrived there in november 74 but was living on Colva beach, i had a bad moterbike accident 10 Dec 74 (just before the ferry crossing at betilim) so don't remember much about the first few months I was out there, was in anjuna a bit at John's and Baga at Don Carlos's, then left in the March to go off with leon who had big yellow Bedford coach parked in Baga, we didnt get back to Goa till sep75

NeeliAankhen

This is on a tangent, I see that people are finding people from their past here and talking about all kinds of things, including some pretty heavy stuff as well as some happy reminiscence --

but my question is this -- were any of you ever extras in any Hindi movies made in the 70s?

I know that the movies used some foreigners who were in India as foreign background people - especially in Hare Rama Hare Krishna, but elsewhere too -- and I've always hoped to come into contact with somebody who'd done it back then. I'd love to hear memories/stories.

Barb Israel

Hi NeeliAankhen -- I (along w/my sister and a friend), was
an extra in a movie in Bombay in 1974 -- I don't really
remember much about it -- I know we were just waking up in
the Rex Hotel one morning when there was knock on the door -- I opened it and there was some (American or British?) guy
standing there & he asked if we wanted to spend the day as
extras in a movie (for I can't remember how many rupees) --
We said OK, and then we, (along with some other 'westerners')
and that guy, took a train out to some suburb, (I can't remember
the name of it, I think it began with a "J"? -- where we all took part in some "disco dancing" scene in (the living room) of some modern-looking (empty) house? -- We kept having to dance over & over again, take after take, to music that was coming out of a little radio that the director was holding up to his ear. In between takes, someone would go over to the big (male) STAR and hold a mirror up to him, where he would check his face and hair, and then someone else would use a BIG powder puff on his face!! -- I don't know,...call me 'nutty'....but I found that SO HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!, I almost peed!! -- Anyways this went on
for HOURS! -- and then, when they broke for lunch, they told us that we'd have to wait for an hour or so, while the director
and crew had THEIR lunch, (which was brought in for them) --
Nothing for US though -- We all just sat around there in
the 'backyard'? of this house, in the sun, waiting....at which
point, (after about 15 minutes)...I remember telling my sister & friend that I was going BACK to the Rex! -- That if they couldn't see their way to provide any lunch for us, I wasn't going to 'bake in the sun' for an hour, waiting for them to finish theirs, (for what?...5 or 6 bucks in rupees?)......
I don't THINK so!....Anyways, after my sister & friend argued
with me at first, ("We can't LEAVE!..we can't leave!")...off I
went, and they soon followed....I hope that didn't 'compromise'
the 'masterpiece' too much!!, (you know, that 'gaping hole' in
the NEXT scene)...but Hey, it was a "disco dancing CROWD scene", how noticable would it have been??....So, those are my memories of THAT! -- I don't remember the NAME of it, or the 'star',
but who knows, maybe it was the one you mentioned, "Hare Rama/
Hare Krishna"??....I don't know......But maybe I'll try and
rent that sometime, just to check out, (see if it looks
familiar).
Barb I.
New York City/Apr.3rd, 2008

liverpool les

Yeah it was in 78/79 about 8 of us went to bollywood, we had to sit on a mock plane in first class for hours, not sure if it was ever used, or the name of the movie now, (was really funny cos everyone who went were really broke and looked a right mess half looked strung out and the rest were nodding off think they'd done a bit too much, certainly not first class passengers) lol. it was some sort of indian gangster movie, there were 2 scottish girls with us, they got loads of work think they ended up moving in with one of the directors or movi stars and were in about 20 movies. wish i could remember the name of the one I was in now would be funny to see.

I know this has nothing to do with this but I just heard my dog making a noise in back living room, just went out to see what he was up too, and he has chewed, the arm off the couch, **** the stuffing everywhere, just what i needed. think the accident (car crash) has upset him more than I thought.

Nick-H

Sorry to hear about the dog, the accident and the couch.

__________________
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IndiaMike Mod Team (The Grumpy One)

Tarotray

OK. Definitely time for a contribution from me. I knew Johnny quite well and have lots of anecdotes, but I don't wish to air all that much of it in public.

Anyone PMing me with an email address & questions may get more information.

Amongst other things that I want to say in this post, I was an extra in a Bollywood movie, called 'Do Chor' ('Two Thieves'), which was partially shot in Goa. We danced as stoned-out hippies on Vagator Beach for 40 Rupees a day. I believe it was 1971 or 1972. I'd love to hear from anyone who was in that movie also. My favorite memory was when some extra complained that the dope the film company were supplying was crap and convinced them to lay out some money, so we could smoke good stuff and act as stoned-out hippies, for real.

Barb Israel: I'm pretty sure that I actually remember you girls, though we only met briefly. I remember one of you being surprised that people in Goa were still taking acid, which was just like sweeties to you girls and something you all gave up, when you were in your early teens. FYI The suburb you mention was Juhu Beach, the going rate for extras was 40 Rupees a day (about 3-4 dollars, then - at a time when I wished I could have had as much as a dollar a day to live on) and 'Hare Krishna Hare Ram' was made in 1969, mostly in Kathmandu. I knew well many of the people you mention, here, but mostly nothing of their current whereabouts, since my life now, is a quite different one (although the principles by which I live are exactly the same).

Then, back to the Johnny Cairo story, I was one of the people who carried wood up the South Anjuna hill for the fire at Stevie's funeral. It was a strange scene, that night and it was presided over by Bom Shankar baba, who was a great friend of mine throughout the seventies. He was a real Hindu priest (as well as a total head-case and amazing fun to be with) and had authority to conduct funerals. That it was a surreal experience is understating the event. There are a couple of photos of him, online, in various locations, for those who knew him and want to seek them out.

On lazy days, during long monsoons in the early eighties, when my eldest daughter and Luke were the best of friends, being about the same age, Johnny told me lots of stories of his days as a strongman in the fair, his gangster days in London and so on. It was strange that we got on so well together, since our personalities were so far apart. I guess I sensed a heart of gold hidden somewhere within Johnny's brash external form. I had a similar relationship with Alexandro (what is the proper spelling, in Spanish?).

It's a pity I have no photos of the period (which was what Kid Cairo's original posting was about). I too am looking for more photos, online. I'm trying to collect them, for my own nostalgia. Many of the characters I knew, then, are mere memories now. Thank God I shall never forget so many of the amazing incidents and stories I encountered in my Goa days, from 1970-1986.

As many people on this forum know, I edited & published a magazine for foreign visitors to Goa, from 1975-1976, called 'The Stoned Pig'. For the benefit of those who have a similar nostalgia for those days - or else a curiosity for the history of the period, I have scanned & uploaded all the issues of 'The Stoned Pig' at a web-site of mine. Visit http://www.goaheadspace.com/stonedpig to view the issues and/or maybe to get the forum up and running with some postings. :-)

BTW IndiaMike rocks!

Barb Israel

Hi Tarotray -- just a short note -- Thanks for
your info -- this is all so fascinating to read! --

However, going by your description, it DEFINATELY WAS NOT
US THREE SISTERS that you thought you might have (briefly)
met -- we were never that "HIP", (alas!)

I WILL be checking out that 'stonedpig'website though!

Barb I.
NYC / April 7,2008

Tarotray

I guess it wasn't you then. What's amazing to me is how these random, sometimes very fleeting memories come flooding back with just a small trigger. The trouble is that they are often not that accurate in the details :-)

NeeliAankhen

Barb, Les, Tarotray, thanks for the great Bollywood stories, and if anybody has more I'd love to see/hear them!! The detail about the demand for better drugs is excellent, and I'll keep an eye out for stoned-out first class passengers in films.

Barb, I wonder if your movie was Disco Dancer, I forget its year. There is a scene in it called "International Nite of Disco" -- actually it's "International Ntie of Disco" precisely -- it's supposed to be an International Disco contest which is won, of course, by the hero -- an interesting thing about it is that it's not very international, there's one gora couple and one elderly "African" couple. If that's the movie, and they weren't feeding the "international" cast -- that could explain the lack of verisimilitude!!

I'm going to see if some of my fellow fans of Bollywood in the 70s will come over here and take a look at this page and maybe identify other movies besides Do Chor.

I was an extra in a Bollywood "muti-starrer" filmed in NY in 2005 -- different time, different scene, still amazing to me to have an opportunity to be in an Indian movie and get onto its sets. Anyhow they had smartened up and fed us more than well enough to keep us there all day.

NeeliAankhen

Disco Dancer was 1984 -- too late.

Canada Paul

I was an extra in an Indian Movie when I was in Bombay, sometime between March and May, 1976. Sorry, I can't pin the time down any more accurately. I, too, started off at the Rex Hotel and joined the crowd going to be in the movie. We all were transported to the movie studio. We went into a room where there were western style clothes piled on a table and we selected our "costumes" to wear. The movie was about a female Indian Dancer who was working the clubs in London. I was part of the crowd on the street in front of the night club. I had "action", so the girl was dancing around frantically, and when the director yelled "action" a few of us had to push through from the back of the crowd to the front. That was it, my entire movie career was spent on a hot, sunny afternoon somewhere in suburban Bombay. I don't remember how much we were paid. We were not fed. I don't even remember getting a drink of water. I never knew the name of the movie.
I wouldn't mind seeing any of those Indian movies from the 70's with western extras, and see their faces even if I don't know any of them, I would know the real life that they were living. I think it would be a nostalgic experience, somehow.

__________________
Canada Paul

liverpool les

I remember the magazine well, i just looked at the links, and looked at the photo's, under road to Goa, baga beach, and there is a picture under percy's taxi, is the very taxi I drove overland with percy, which we bought in birmingham amazing, so i must have known you, what was your name back then?

did percy tell you about the pistacho nuts, in afghanistan which we bought on way.

liverpool les

the link to taxi is http://www.roadtogoa.com/photos/photos.html

I just put a photo of myself in my profile its came up in new photo's too, but how do i save it as my pic as everyone else has next to members name? can someone advise me please

Canada Paul

Les the picture under my name is called my "avatar" and when you set up your membership profile there is a place to put your avatar.

liverpool les

Thanks paul, will have to have a look and do that with the photo, one of the pics is me from the late 70's and the other was taken last year.

I'm driving to Birmingham today to go to a birthday party, going to see some friends from years ago, afew of the old crew i was in india with will be there and a couple of different mates who were in bands in the 60's 70's some of the bands are still going other people have gone solo, so it should be good fun to catch up, we only do it every few years think the last time was about 4 years ago. few of johnny's old mates will be there anyway will let you know how it goes. best wishes les