NOT LIKE ‘SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE’Paul Schrader Talks About ‘Xtreme City’ Contributing Writer <http://bollywood.buzzine.com/author/guestwriter/>
*By: Jai Rajendrakumar* Hollywood already saw one version of Mumbai through the eyes of three kids in *Slumdog Millionaire*. That was one Westerner’s perspective. [image: NotLike_01_091202_350w]<http://bollywood.buzzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/NotLike_01_091202_350w.jpg>It is a perspective Paul Schrader does not share. In separating himself from British-Irish filmmaker Danny Boyle, the former Hollywood writer and director is doing something no one ever thought he would do – produce a light, airy, traditional song-and-dance of a Bollywood film. In what is probably a lot more representative of Indian lifestyle and culture than *Slumdog Millionaire*, Schrader is departing from his usually dark films like *Taxi Driver *and instead putting together a classic Bollywood flick in *Xtreme City*, reportedly interspersing as many as five songs and traditional dance routines in the movie. “My film will not be a shanty film,” he said in a recent interview with *India Today*. “Not like *Slumdog Millionaire *at all, thank you. I have scoured Mumbai and have looked at locations. But unlike *Slumdog*, my focus will not be shanties. *Slumdog *was too British…and too one-sided. Danny Boyle’s film (gives the appearance) that India is boiling with poverty all the time. That is the way the West wants to see it. But my film will be different.” In making his film different, Schrader told the South Asian publication that *Xtreme City* will be a lot more colorful than *Slumdog Millionaire*, which will probably make his first non-Hollywood, Indian-based venture a lot more Bollywood-like than any other Western attempt of merging the world’s two largest film industries. [image: NotLike_02_091202_350w] “Between any two buildings, there is bound to be some space for somebody to live in — a shanty, maybe. That is not my primary concern,” he told the media. “*Xtreme City* will show Mumbai at its colorful best. There will be at least five songs and dances in the film, typically Indian stuff. This will attempt to be the first crossover potboiler. “A Bollywood potboiler used to have a dozen songs earlier; a comedy had around eight. I think now it can be five and we are safe.” While Schrader has reportedly approached several actors to star in the film, such as Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan in India, as well as Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt from Hollywood, sources indicate none have confirmed. Either way, Schrader indicated he hopes to have feature A-list actors from both industries to make this truly a joint project. The filmmaker said he would also love to have composer A.R. Rahman on board as the music director. Rahman recently worked on *Slumdog Millionaire *and *Couples Retreat*. “I intend to make a real pop cultural hybrid,” Schrader said in his interview with *India Today*. “There will be commerce at its best. The film will show a city where contradictions live side by side. In other films, my goal was art…this time, my goal is commerce, and I am clear about that.” [image: NotLike_03_091202_350w] Schrader also appears to be clear on when and where production will take place, telling the media he plans to start filming early next year, with scenes reportedly to be set in Hyderabad, Dubai and New York. With Musthaq Sheikh co-producing and co-writing the film, Schrader said he ultimately hopes*Xtreme City* will show the more positive, endearing sides of Mumbai. “Other films show India’s pimples. We will show the dimples,” he said in his interview. “*Slumdog Millionaire* cannot be the end point of all matters Mumbai. This ‘white man, please save me,’ syndrome is disgusting. We are not going to allow milking this city dry because the West wants to live in that myth.”
