REHNAA HAI TERRE DIL MEIN - SHO0TING REPORT
Call from Kiwi land!

We're out in the great wide open, shooting with director Gautam Menon in South New Zealand, as he gets ready to wrap up his first Hindi film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein introducing South Indian superstar Madhavan and Femina Miss Asia Pacific Diya Mirza. The first day of our coverage finds us in a golf club in Christchurch, one of the bigger cities in Kiwi land. On approaching the sets, we are welcomed by blaring music Bollywood style as we get into the groove of Madhavan and Diya serenading each other around trees and the lush green expanse to the tune of the song.

In between shots the lead pair takes time out to thaw, freezing as they are in the chilly weather. "It's so cold." coos the skimpily dressed leading lady. "And Madhavan and I have to pretend like we're totally in love in this number! God, it's so hard to play lovers when you're frosted to the bone."

Rehnaa Hai Tere Dil Mein is a remake of the Tamil super hit Minnaley. Which shares the same director as well as Madhavan, although the Hindi version sees Diya Mirza take the place of Reema Sen who starred in the original. "It's a tough job trying to recreate a film all over again," says director Menon. "But we're trying to infuse the new version with a lot of its own brand of originality, so as to adapt it to a Bollywood scenario and a wider audience." They already have one in the form of a steady flow of NRIs who drop by to watch the shoot of the film.

Rehnaa Hai is not the first movie to be hitting the New Zealand outdoors in the recent past. Several other filmmakers have explored its locales in their films, including its producer Vashu Bhagnani who took his previous production Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai starring Tusshar Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor to the NZ exteriors. "It's a beautiful country." He says happily. "You get a chance to get away from all the pollution, get a whiff of good weather, besides it forms a perfect spot for a movie like RHTDM. In fact I'm coming back here for my next film too."

We then move onto the University of Canterbury to shoot an additional scene in the Hindi version of the film. The shot requires Madhavan to walk a bunch of highly energetic Golden Retrievers. Passers by watch the dogs tug at their leashes in a bid to drag their escort off track with a good deal of amusement. "We want to add nuances to the Bollywood version that weren't there in Minnaley." States Gautam Menon matter-of-factly. We've even added four new songs to Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein to lend it a new taste."

But why remake a South Indian film? "Well, Minnaley was such a big hit down South." Says the ever-smiling Madhavan who is fondly referred to as the 'Hritik Roshan' of the south by his adoring fans. "When Vashuji came to me with the idea of making a movie, I immediately put him onto Gautam Menon and we decided to remake Minnaley in Hindi as my Bollywood launch."

The next day, the cast and crew shift location driving down to Dunedin to can a song sequence. Expertly choreographed by South Indian pro Brinda, Madhavan and Diya shake a leg with a bevy of other dancers.

Students from the neighbouring Ottaga university pour in to watch the actors do their thing, watching Femina Miss Asia Pacific with keen interest. The shoot is successful, even though the rains provide an unwelcome interruption. Unwilling to let that stop him, Menon promptly instructs his crew to go for a take, converting the scene into a wet-in-the-rain sequence. It's all about innovation after all.

After a belt of serious hits in the South including his feature film debut in Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey followed by Perumal's Dum Dum Dum and Menon's Minnaley, Madhavan looks well braced to take on Bollywood with Rehnaa Hai. With the backing of a producer like Vashu Bhagnani who took Tusshar to the pinnacle in his last film, Madhavan and Diya sure seem to be on their way to hitting jackpot.

.WRITTEN BY ANUSHA SAMIR GILL