Hollywood
Masala’s Santhosh Daniel directs our attention to “Four
Weeks in Bombay,”
an exciting experiment in reality filmmaking/human torture:
Set in Mumbai (Bombay), the film follows four continuous weeks in the life of twenty-year-old San Diego-native, Phil Mikal, as he steps off the plane and into one of the most compelling cities in the world. Given just twenty American dollars, a few necessities and no translator, Mikal a.k.a. Jonny Quest can end his involvement in the project only if serious illness or injury occurs and, voyeurs can watch his adventure via broadband-access from May 6th-June 3rd for just $2. [Hollywood Masala]
Here are the rules for Mikal, who must have agreed to them while under some form of intoxication or duress:
1. The game starts as soon as he lands at the Airport in Bombay and ends at his scheduled flight back to the U.S.
2. He will only have $20 American dollars to get him started.
3. He will only be allowed to bring daily necessities like clothes, toothbrush, shaving cream, deodorant and so forth.
4. He’s not allowed to advertise that he’s only there for 4 weeks to anyone!
5. He’s allowed to get a job or do anything he has to do to survive as long as he complies with the rules.
6. Since he is aware of the project ahead of time, he’s allowed to do whatever research he may feel is necessary.
7. He is only allowed to forfeit the project if he catches a serious illness or gets a serious physical injury. Common cold, flu, stuff of that nature doesn’t count.
8. He will be allowed to take any required/suggested medical shots preparing him for the trip.
9. We’re not allowed to help him at all…not even translate. We’ll be operating the camera and only act as observers and leave the viewer to draw their own conclusions. [Four Weeks in Bombay]
Still, $20 is a shockingly low amount of money for four weeks in India. How will Mikal earn more cash?
Since your visa is for traveling purposes only, legally you can’t get a job in Bombay. Have you thought about how you’re going to overcome that challenge?
Either by not getting a job and trying to make money in alternate ways… [Four Weeks in Bombay]
Ah, indeed, there are many “alternate ways” for a pretty white boy to make money in Bombay. Hopefully, this will also be taped, making the $2 access fee a downright bargain. The adventure starts on May 6, and the price of admission unlocks full access to the entire show.
oh my gosh! too funny. i’m going to mumbai from the 20th to the 30th of may… i wonder if i’ll run into this guy–i doubt it, but if i did…. oh the laughter that would ensue!
I’m sure he could make some money on the side as a Bollywood extra… and if there are any movies in production with a white male in the lead, he could easily land a paying gig as a stand-in, like that woman who was the double for the white chick in Kisna.
Or, he could open a pani puri snack stand. Mumbai-ites from miles around will line up to enjoy tasty treats concocted by the gora snackwalla.
with only $20 in his pocket, he probably will have less money than most of the beggars that are going to come up to him and harass him
and hopefully, they give him a place to stay. otherwise, he may end up in some seedy hotel in the red light district in colaba
I figure lots of people will treat him to lunch if for no reason than that he has a camera crew trailing behind him, and he must be famous. Heck, he could probably get his lodging and food free as product placements (feed me! clothe me! lodge me! if you do that, you’ll be on TV and your company will be known around the world!)
This fool is going to suffer.
i lived in bombay w/ white roommates, all of whom were approached by agents in their first two days there, just while walking outside. they could work as often as they liked, whether everyday or once a month, and were generally paid 1000 rupees for 2-3 hours of work. sometimes it was for standing in the background of a movie, sometimes just for attending a party. and people offered them free services and food all the time. nobody really cares about the visa issue, so this guy will probably have a more high-class lifestyle in bombay than he does in the states.
I quote from my blog….
After reading through the report, I am kind of intrigued at the numerous ways in which South Asian Americans will find ways to seek their identity. They will send an an average white-American guy to Bombay for four weeks with 20 dollars. Bombay, now Mumbai, the diaspora still like to use the word Bombay, not Mumbai. This diaspora likes to acknowledge titles only of the good ole’ India. Part of the first-generation legacy. The South Asian American film makers have already assumed that the guy is going to struggle in India. With just 20$ for 4 weeks, your going to be struggling in any large city anywhere in the world! So this reality documentary has bitten of into its imagined reality of India. Big Mistake. How about not working with assumptions of struggle? The displaced American as we read is going to face a new challenge each day, the challenges assumed are – a stolen passport, sleeping on the street. He could very well have done that in the ghettos of New York City, why come all the way to Mumbai.
An ordinary white guy living on the streets of a big Indian city, with only 20$ is not an extraordinary situation, it is a highly unlikely situation. Trying to make it real for 4 weeks is akin to what the hippies did way back in the 70’s.
It is all but natural that the South Asian Diaspora in the USA, particularly the gen-x desis have a very Americanized world view, nothing wrong with that. But from my observations the American academia and other intellectual/political lobbies have always compartmentalized its citizens along ethnic, racial, economic, political and social lines. This has given rise to stereotypes. And India is stereotyped as a land of struggle and petty passport rogues. Very objectionable!
The project puts an American dude on the streets of Mumbai and inferences will be drawn on the reality of India from the video clips. I am afraid life on the streets of Mumbai is going to be seen as the average “Indian” life. This is called seeing what you want to see.
I doubt I am going to watch this reality show, because it is hardly real for anyone except for Phil.
All the best, hope India receives him with open arms and the journey is without struggle.
Hell, I’ll fly to Bombay and “keep” him. He’s cute. Sort of.
A local Pakistani TV channel did something similar. They imported a (Canadian?) journalist (I think), named George, and basically turned him loose on the streets of Karachi, Lahore, etc., with a film crew trailing him. It turned out to be quite an excellent reality series, especially given the “American Idol”-ness of the last episode, in which viewers called in to vote for George to be given citizenship or not. Why he’d want it is a whole different story.
start he will have to tape all his openings before coming out of the airport. Crude, Rude Mumbai has a very big heart. One sob story to the cabbies at the airport and he will have made it, in this gora crazy city.
If he enters a disco or a good bar (* sukke may ) he will be picked up in no time, he need not suffer on the streets,as he will get his wine/woman/song on the house !
I wish him a happy stay.