Moments of magic, melody and melancholy

They came, they shot, they conquered. The Parineeta shooting schedule in Siliguri was a one-of-a-kind experience which saw everything from unalloyed fan adulation to sheer production passion. Pratim D. Gupta was there to capture the action as it happened

Day 1, Saturday, 30.10.2004
Time: 2.37 pm
Location: Tindharia station
Storyboard: Shekhar (Saif Ali Khan) is on the toy train to Darjeeling. He is sitting in the last coach and reminiscing about his lady love Lolita (Vidya Balan, not in the frame). He has a guitar with him and is singing Dharti saji… (sung by Sonu Nigam, composed by Shantanu Moitra). Most frames have him looking out through the window.
Lights, camera, action: The huge Saif fan following has landed up at Tindharia making the moving of the train almost impossible. They want photographs and autographs. Saif is on a Shakespeare trip, reading Hamlet and sipping his orange juice even as he waves to the crowds every now and then. Director Pradeep Sarkar wants the frame to be just right: “Nutty (cinematographer Natarajan) thoda left pan kar.” Bhavani is the production guy who is in charge of the train. So whenever there is a possible chance to move, Sarkar will shout: “Bhavani, let’s move.” The train chugs towards Rongtong and Sarkar cans some shots but the light doesn’t hold up beyond 5 pm and they have to wrap up.
Freeze frame: She is in her early 20s and all she wants is Saif. She has a camera with her to preserve the memories for posterity. But there is a technical problem — she doesn’t want to click just her star but also fit herself in the frame. She walks up to the train and asks a policeman to capture her as she goes and stands below the window Saif’s leaning on. At least one dream comes true…

Day 2, Sunday, 31.10.2004
Time: 12.23 pm
Location: Elephant Hill, Rongtong station
Storyboard: Shekhar’s really excited now and stands at the door of his coach in the train and waves out to nature even as he sings. The camera movement is really complicated as the jib swings from right to left with the train coming in. The closer the train comes, the lower the camera goes and almost brushes past Shekhar as it leaves him.
Lights, camera, action: Nutty is using a striking golden yellow filter to get that rich texture in the frame. Sarkar is sitting in the middle of Hill Cart Road on his special director’s cane mora keeping a close eye on the monitor. His wife Panchali, also the executive producer of the film, joins him and the two admire their previous shot as it is played back on the monitor. “We have been trying to get this shot right from the morning. And finally, bhagwan ne daan de di,” says Nutty. Sarkar is all smiles as Saif goes down the hill to board the train for the shot. After five takes, the shot is okayed.
Freeze frame: The policemen are on the edge as they use lathis to keep the vehicles moving on Hill Cart Road. They however lose the plot themselves when Saif walks by. “Dada, amra to uniformey parbo na, ekta autograph ene deben,” was one policeman’s plaint.

Day 3, Monday, 1.11.2004
Time: 8.42 am
Location: Sukna station
Storyboard: Shekhar arrives at the station. Even as he gets into his jeep, Gayatri (Dia Mirza) surprises him by popping out of the rear seat. She plays the daughter of Shekhar’s father’s business partner. She is slated to marry Shekhar and is obviously in love with her man. Shekhar has no idea of Gayatri coming to the station and is pleasantly surprised.
Lights, camera, action: Dia’s Siliguri sojourn has taken off on an unlucky note with her catching a viral infection in the eye. The eye is swollen and painful. She is asked to wear sunglasses. The road opposite the station is crammed with people — all eyes on the Saif-Dia duo. A make-up move by Saif or a yawn from Dia is being cheered loudly. The particular shot needs a lot of co-ordination from the junior actors as all of them are required to move in the foreground and background at a certain pace and in a certain direction. Sarkar isn’t happy with the way Dia is popping up from the back seat. Neither is she. As many as 12 takes are needed to get the shot right.
Freeze frame: Saif is passion personified as he walks up to the monitor and suggests to Dada (Sarkar) that Dia should take a pause between the two dialogues “Surprised?” and “Aren’t you here to see me?”. Sarkar makes the necessary changes and once the shot is canned to everyone’s satisfaction both Dia and Saif watch the shot again on the monitor and discuss how they should act-react in the next shot.

Day 3, Monday, 1.11.2004
Time: 2.14 pm
Location: Between Sukhna and Rongtong stations
Storyboard: A part of the song sequence on the train has Shekhar sitting in the dining car and actually seeing flashes of Lolita in the seat in front of him. For the particular shot, Lolita’s face is in the foreground and Shekhar’s smiling face in the background. There are also a couple of lines of the song in the female voice.
Lights, camera, action: After being in the hotel and vanity van for the greater part of the first three days of shooting, Vidya Balan finally gets to face the cameras at Siliguri. She is wearing a red-and-white tant sari and loads of jewellery to go with the Sarat Chandra look. She has a quick lunch and heads straight for the train. Nutty has an equally brief lunch as the coach is turned into a dining car with very ethnic tableware, cutlery and crockery. Sarkar is very excited and actually sings and directs Vidya how to emote while lip-syncing the song. The cameras roll as soon as Bhavani gets the train to move from the tracks.
Freeze frame: The production people believe Vidya Balan holds the key to the film with her playing the title role of Parineeta. So they are planning to launch the actress in a grand way before the release of the film since very few people beyond Bengal are aware of the Bhalo Theko debut. The actress on her part has worked a lot on herself and has prepared religiously for the role. So it is not surprising to see her break into the song as soon as she boards the train for the shot. Saif too is rehearsing the lines as if there’s no tomorrow.

But tomorrow there is, and that too, in Calcutta when the whole team parks itself for a month-long shoot.