By Victoria Stone-Meadows
TWO residents from Hampton Park have been part of a project to produce a Bollywood style Hindi movie in Melbourne.
The film’s title is “WOH” – meaning “That” – and is about a girl returning to her dad’s home in Melbourne after a marriage break-up in London.
Husband and wife pair, Ajay and Mita Gupta, both played characters in the movie and while they have a history of stage acting, said acting in a movie was very different.
“Acting in this movie was very different to what we had done earlier,” the couple said.
“The sound of the clapboard, Chris’s (Director Of Photography) call of “camera rolling” and Deo’s (Director) “Action” would instantly change Mita into Madhavi and Ajay into Desouza.”
“We had to make sure we gave our best in every scene as the role demanded.”
Mita plays the character Madhavi, a mature minded and loyal office secretary who co-ordinates between the staff members of the office where the film is set.
Ajay plays Mr Desouza, who is a rich but simple businessman and the dad of the leading actress, Costina.
Ajay and Mita said they had fun making the film and working with the production team and other cast members to help bring the project together.
“We had a great time and enjoyed working with the very talented, skilled, and committed cast and crew; all of whom are locals from Melbourne.
“Working with producers and directors like Deo and Kusum has been a privilege and Kusum’s extraordinary cooking was always a big attraction for everyone on the set.”
While the film is made in the modern Bollywood style, it contains many universal human conditions that the Guptas identified with.
“WOH portrays human values such as pure and unconditional love, compassion, dedication, selfless service and sacrifice,” they said.
“These values are needed more than ever in today’s society and it has some important messages for the community.”
While the Guptas are keen to work on more film projects, they said there was nothing like working on this project in their hometown.
“Overall it was like having a flavour of Bollywood experience in our beautiful city of Melbourne.”
