Soha so good

Our view of Soha, guest judging a gameshow

When Soha Ali Khan, Bollywood star and Princess, agreed to be interviewed by us we were pretty excited. When she agreed to let us shadow her – to a TV show screening, and the dubbing of her latest movie – we were over the moon. Mumbai was obviously going to be a very productive stop.

When we discovered the Assistant Director’s terms for letting us into the dubbing studio – that we dub some lines ourselves – it was almost too much to take. Getting a glimpse into private worlds, from hospitals to movie studios, is what keeps us going through the slog and jetlag of the trip.

I’ve been in one or two Soho post-production houses, and despite the unpaved pavements outside this place, it could have been transported from Dean Street, right down to the last black leather sofa and overworked production intern.

The studio uses the same headphones as us!

Some of the material we were dubbing – filmed in cafes or moving cars – understandably needed fresh sound, given all the background noise. I dubbed a line of a grumpy man in a cafe, and Hannah a line of an art teacher in a busy drawing class. However, a lot of the stuff Soha was dubbing consisted of dialogue between her and the other leads, in what looked like a studio. Why do Bollywood movies dub so much more?

Wikipedia says the tradition arose in the 1960s, when Indian movies were made at such speed that crews didn’t bother to muffle the noise of their film cameras. That ruined the sound recorded on set. Replacing all the dialogue (and removing most of the ambient sound in the process) became a tradition until only a few years ago.

As production values rise in sound (and everything else), there are still a few ways to save money it seemed, though. For example, rather than get all-the-bells-and-whistles insurance, apparently actors signed a waiver and the producers flooded the set, recycling the water for 40 days of filming. You can imagine the potential health hazard. But everyone went about their jobs, no-one drowned or got too ill, and the film got made. Jim Cameron would probably approve. This is where probably the biggest difference between Hollywood and Bollywood exists.

Interviewing Soha at home (note the Oxford print on the wall!)

Hannah and I sweated blood to sort out insurance for this trip (dealing with eventualities ranging from medical repatriation to a burst pipe to hijack at sea), and it was both refreshing and terrifying to discover that the movie they were making – a disaster movie – had less insurance than us.

Needless to say, Soha was a practised and professional interviewee and couldn’t be more down to earth with the two of us, or more patient. Having shared experiences with her and chatting about her time at Oxford (she was there only a couple of years before us) was a great giggle and made great footage.

I was surprised how easy going she was with takes. She explained how she felt that the more film experience she’s had, the more she trusts the cameraman and editor, and the less self-conscious she has become. If we were happy with the take, she was. If there’s anyone who understands why a series of two-minute films takes four hours to film and days to set up, it’s someone who works in front of cameras for a living.

- Tom

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