By Hindustan Times
The city of Chandigarh is getting its share of Hollywood flavour these days. The Hurt Locker-fame Hollywood director Kathryn Bigelow is in the Punjab capital to shoot some scenes for her much-anticipated film based on Al-Qaeda chief, Osama Bin Laden’s killing.
For the shoot, some markets in the city have been made to look like a bazaar in Rawalpindi or Islamabad in Pakistan. The film will relive the operation led by American Navy SEALs to kill Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011. While the production team plans to reportedly recreate Abbottabad in Rajasthan, Chandigarh will feature extensively in the film, which is said to be titled, Zero Dark 30.
The unit will shoot scenes at various locations in Chandigarh for about a month, and the locals are excited about the Hollywood crew stationed in the city. Some of the stores in Sector 15, one of the popular shopping areas in the city, were given urdu nameplates for the shoot. Some local artists too, got a chance to be a part of the shoot as a local production company gathered about 140 junior artists for “the crowd” scene.
“The make-up artist took over an hour to give me a Pakistani makeover,” said Girdhari Lal, who got a chance to be a part of the scene. “It is a challenging job to create Pakistan in India but we are doing our best,” said a member of the unit, wishing not to be named.
The production companies from Mumbai and Delhi have also been roped in. The crew of the film, including Kathryn, did not speak to the media, but there were reports that Hollywood actors, including Jessica Chastain, are expected to be in town for the film, which will also be shot in Patiala.
No ‘pitt’ stop
The ongoing shoot for Bigelow’s movie took an amusing turn when a rumour spread that Hollywood actor Brad Pitt is shooting for the movie in Chandigarh. A unit member later confirmed that Pitt does not star in the film, and was not in the city.
