Bollywood Ending

Francesco di Trani

It started just like any other internship – if doing an internship at Bollywood can be considered normal for a student from Milan – and it ended with him having a part as an extra in one of India's biggest blockbusters this season, Luck by chance. Francesco di Trani, a 23 year-old second-year student in the CLEACC program (a degree in Economics and Management in Arts, Culture and Communication) at Bocconi University, remembers the three months he spent there last year as an exciting experience. He packed his bags and went knocking on directors' and producers' doors in the capital of Hindi cinema.

But once he got to Mumbai, Francesco lost heart. "Indian companies are not used to having unpaid trainees. I had a lot of difficulty explaining to them that I didn't want to be paid and that I just wanted to learn." Francesco, however, managed to get a few interviews and finally he was contacted by Excel Entertainment, one of the major film companies. Excel had just started filming the much-awaited Luck by chance, a blockbuster in the world of Indian cinema. "I spent the first few weeks in an office, working on software for production organization and expense forecasts, which for a film of this kind are very complicated. Then I was allowed on the set where I worked for both the first and the second unit. The first unit films the scenes with the stars, the second unit films the background scenes. I never imagined that they would have let me set foot on the sets."

It was a job that dealt more than anything with on-the-spot practical needs: Francesco once had to stop traffic for filming ("almost impossible in a congested city like Mumbai"); he was a "slater," i.e. he worked the clapperboard; and he even ended up in one of the main scenes in the film. "The screenplay included a scene of a party at a director's home: they needed a westerner to make the party look cool, and they chose me."

Getting close to stars that are what Leonardo Di Caprio is to Hollywood gave him the chance to make comparisons. "Indian cinema stars are thought of like gods. I have seen executive producers personally bend over backwards to adjust the air conditioning in a room, just because the actress was hot." But it was also a chance to understand the dynamics of the growth of cinematography at an international level, although it has many local competitors too. "There's not just Bollywood, which is Hindi cinema. There's also Tollywood, cinema in the Telogu language, based in Hyderabad, Kollywood, in Tamil and Mollywood, Malayalam filmography." A universe of cinema in original language that is also the biggest in the world, with about a thousand new films produced each year.

This three month breaking-in period in a country full of contrasts made Francesco want to go back. "India has given me a lot on a personal level and I would like to continue working in cinema production in Bollywood. But I would like to concentrate more on the economic aspects than on the creative side." In the meantime, while he is waiting to pack his bags again, Francesco is busy writing his thesis. The title? "Challenges in the Indian cinema industry in the international market." Obviously.