Once we arrive at Mumbai airport, we as the Dutch crew are immediately introduced to Indian culture. We are warmly welcomed by our production assistance on-site after we have passed through customs with our camera gear. Two drivers arrive in vans to pick us up. This is our transportation for the coming days, which will take us through the slums of Mumbai over the next five days. We are dropped off at our hotel and have a beer before the lights go out.

The next morning, we start exploring the slums that have been scouted by the production assistance. The slums of Mumbai are known for their vastness and size. These slums are prominent in the well-known Bollywood film Slumdog Millionaire.

We quickly find out that the slums are a unique place, providing a good representation of real India. There are no tourists in sight, giving you the feeling of being absorbed into daily life as if you are a local.

Impressive

For us organized Westerners, the slums are a very impressive and remarkable creation of improvised huts. People, waste, and organized chaos everywhere. From the weathered textures of materials that the inhabitants use for their shelters to the brightly colored clothing, especially worn by the women. And not to forget the faces of the population marked by life.

At the end of the day, we drive to Bollywood, where we meet the lead actor and head into the recording studio to make voice-over recordings. After some coaching, we manage to elevate the lead actor's voice to a level where every word he utters strikes a chord. His voice perfectly matches the atmosphere we want to create in the film.

Looking outside during the return trip to the hotel, I can only conclude that the slums are a setting where we will experience impressive situations that will lead to remarkable and authentic film footage.

The shoot

Just after sunrise around 8 o'clock, the mercury already hits 36 degrees. With a crew of 15, we move like locals through the searing heat. Alleys, squares, and corridors are traversed until we reach one of the hundreds of apartments that provide us with a magnificent overview of the slums. It becomes clear how large the slums are. Here we shoot the opening shot of the film.

Next, we use a drone to capture the most insane environment shots. People, animals, and vehicles effortlessly swarm through the slums as if it is staged. We film women doing laundry on the street in front of their huts and children joyfully hopping through alleyways full of garbage. For us Westerners, it is a bleak sight, but for the locals, it is nothing more than daily reality.

We end up in a tiny room where an older lady teaches a class of young children. Most children cannot afford to go to school, so there are initiatives from the local population to provide the youngest in society with basic reading and writing lessons. The situation here is also nothing like we are used to. There is no teaching material, the children sit on dirty ground, and the location resembles an old shed that has long been out of use.

Not everything is as it seems

The beautiful thing about all these seemingly harsh conditions is that the population realizes they must make the best of it, and they keep themselves as busy as possible with what can be done. They seize every opportunity to promote youth growth and help them further in development. How wonderful would it be if there were facilities to make this possible for more children?

In a country that is not your home base, it is crucial to have people on your team who know the way around and can read and write with the local population. Our crew does an excellent job in this regard. All of them have a lot of experience, make the right choices, and contribute to the successful progress of the entire shoot. As far as possible, everything was very well organized.

However, India would not be India if everything ran as planned. Locations where access is denied at the last moment, to people playing roles in the film suddenly becoming untraceable. All challenges we solved on site by being smart and creative. The beauty of all these unpredictabilities is that we captured the real life in the slums perfectly on film. Just the ordinary way of life in Mumbai. This atmosphere does something to you and the footage we shot.

Sporting children as film stars

The final setting of the film is an artificial grass field in the middle of Mumbai where we played various sports with about 70 enthusiastic children. Three groups of children, together with their coaches and parents, joyfully engaged in a match of hockey, football, and cricket.

That day it was 40 degrees, with no shade and no breeze. It is no wonder that this day is one of the most intense filming days we have experienced. It was absolutely worth it; the footage shot is stunning. Especially the enthusiasm of the sporting children was fantastic to see. They all felt a bit like film stars that day.

It’s a wrap! The recordings have come to an end. We took stock and returned to the Netherlands more than satisfied. A shoot to never forget and which has enriched us with an experience.

And then everything comes together

Upon return, we started reviewing and spotting all the filmed material. The editor then began to set up the first montage. It quickly became clear to us that all the puzzle pieces would fit together even better than we expected. The unexpected situations that occurred in Mumbai created dynamic elements in the film that beautifully portray real life in the slums.

Next, the audio composer began applying all his creativity to the big challenge. A challenge that lies in composing a piece of music in which both Western and Indian music merge into an authentic composition that moves and touches you. A female vocalist provided the beautiful melody that gives the music a human touch and an extraordinary character. Thus, the audio comes to you even more intensely.

The combination of the voice-over and the exceptional audio allows you to understand how important it is to pay attention to the development of people who need it most.

As the final step in the process, after the completion of the visual and sound editing, the colors of each shot are lined up, the grading. In the first part of the film, we depict the situation as it is. A situation that is not always rosy but considers the possibilities and talents of the youth. In this part, the colors are warm and real but not very vibrant.

This changes when the opportunities visible in the first part are realized. Sporty children are vividly depicted, bringing the whole to life and the energy and joy of the children beams off the screen.

Ultimately, everything comes together into a whole where we see the children enjoy and play. We then return to the lead actor, who expresses that we can make a difference as long as we join hands. His dream for a better future.