Mumbai deluge recreated for Tum Mile  "Tum Mile" is a love story set in the midst of the 2005 Mumbai floods,
but director Kunal Deshmukh says the Emraan Hashmi-Soha Ali Khan
starrer is in no way a tribute to the victims. It is rather an attempt
to question the laxity of city authorities."'Tum Mile' is not a
film with which we want to pay a tribute to the people who suffered the
July 26 deluge. It's a love story about two people stuck in the
deluge," Deshmukh told IANS in a telephonic interview from Mumbai. He stressed that the film will not hurt the sentiments of those who were affected by the rains that shook the city in 2005. "It
(the film) is much more than a reality-based fictional film and I don't
want to hurt the sentiments of anyone when they come to watch the film.
The July 26 incident is very sad. It was a cloud burst and there was
rain. But why did people die? With this film, I'd like to question the
authorities why people died," the director asserted. "When the
26/11 attacks happened, people got back to their lives the next day.
But with the flood everything came to a standstill. We are trying to
send a message out with the film," Deshmukh added. Co-produced by Sony Music and Vishesh Films, "Tum Mile" is Deshmukh's second film after "Jannat", which was a hit. Talking
about his own experience of the Mumbai floods, Deshmukh said: "Like all
Mumbaikars even I was stuck in the torrid rains and that too for seven
hours and it completely changed my perspective towards life. I wanted
to express those feelings and a film was the right medium." Recreating the deluge wasn't easy for the director. "There
were plenty of problems and I had to give out my best in a certain
budget. We needed a studio floor bigger than usual studio floors with a
waterproof ground. I was looking at something cheaper and I got it in
Bhandup (close to Thane) with a concrete floor," he said. "Then
standing 12 hours in water every single day had its effects. We had to
take a lot of precautions like Hepatitis B (shots). Still I suffered a
very bad skin reaction and Emraan got a bad eye. Luckily there were no
long-term health issues," he added. Asked if he faced any star
tantrums while shooting the flood scenes with Soha and Emraan, Deshmukh
said: "There were no star tantrums and they were extremely supportive.
Emraan was extremely supportive despite the fact that he had to be in
cold water most of the time, while Soha was a bundle of energy." Though
the release date of the film has not yet been finalised due to the
ongoing producer-multiplex deadlock, producers are hoping for a July 24
release. "We are looking at a July 24 release only because the
closer it comes to that day, people will be able to relate to it more.
However, if the producer-multiplex strike is not called off, nothing
can be said with surety. But I'd love to release it on July 24,"
Deshmukh said. Indo-Asian News Service | |
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