Kapoor and Sons Updates Thread; In cinemas on 18th March - Page 79

My son was travelling on an early morning flight to Delhi. He sends me a message from the flight: "Hi Dad, dna was tucked into the seat this morning. Opened it to see if your article was there, and it was! Great piece, keep it going". A few seconds later another message: "Hi, and I saw Sharad Pawar, who was on the flight, reading it too." That made my day! It was the piece on my Coonoor shoot.

Today I want to wind up my Coonoor experience with a few off-shoot moments. Rishi Kapoor, coming on the sets from his Throne of Transformation' " as he used to call his make-up chair since he had to be made to look aged 90 " continued to act as if he was on the throne, the way he dictated the director on how his scene is to be played. Poor Shakun Batra, just into his second movie, took it with a smile. Sidharth Malhotra was the toast of the local ladies who were a part of the shoot and would surround him during breaks, and Sidharth loved it! Alia Bhatt was in her dreamworld talking on the phone whilst strolling in the garden with an escort walking behind holding an umbrella. Just like me, Fawad Khanwould join his wife during breaks. I had the opportunity to congratulate him on his award-winning Pakistani TV serial Zindagi Gulzar Hai. He said the new lot of young directors, just like in India, are trying to break away from the usual "ba bahu" syndrome. Both me and my wife shared a few moments with Ratna Pathak Shah. We go back a long way because of the theatre connection. Sharing a cabin with Rajat Kapoor was a privilege. One of his big theatre successes is Hamlet, the Clown Prince. He was reading Romeo and Juliet when I met him, thinking, perhaps, of a similar twist in the tale.

My Coonoor experience cannot be complete without my talking about some of the Coonoor residents who were part of the shoot and who both me and my wife were privileged to befriend.

Krishnamurthy, popularly called Krish after 38 years of corporate life with two global companies, and his Gujju wife Hema, a keen gardener, wanted to spend their retired lives close to nature, away from pollution and endless commuting, which are the bane of city life. Coonoor met their retirement vision perfectly. They joined the shoot out of curiosity to understand how a film is made. While they enjoyed spending time with friends, Krish said he was amazed at the slow pace of film-making and the number of retakes. "I could not have replicated this style in a corporate world without losing my job!" His one moment of glory in the shoot is where he is seen exchanging pleasantries with actor Fawad Khan.

Then there was Robin Chukerbuti who talked about his colourful life. Born in the Nilgiris in a military family, he trained in stud farming at New Market and worked for the likes of Aga Khan and the Dubai Sheikhs. From the stud farm he moved to a coffee plantation. His wandering spirit took him to the doors of the movie world where he worked on the sets of films like Gandhi. Finally, he says, the hills beckoned me again' and he returned to his roots settling down in Coonoor. He joined the shoot as a break from routine. He was one of the guests in the party scene.

There were others and I wish I had more space to talk about them, but that can happen some other time. My final cheers to Coonoor, the place where I experienced four seasons on a single day!

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-a-shoot-made-memorable-by-new-found-friends-in-coonoor-2127358