BharatBala Productions - Media

NEW DELHI -- Appropriately enough, key players in Indo-French road movie "Hari Om," which traverses India's desert state of Rajasthan to explore the Indian concept of destiny, believe they were destined to be part of the project. The six-week shoot of the $2 million project wrapped last week, and the pic is due for completion in time for next year's Cannes Film Festival. "I believe this film came to me," said French actress Camille Natta, who plays the female lead. "It found me." After a chance meeting in Paris with director Bharat Bala, she was on a plane to India four days later. Bala himself believes it was his destiny to work with Natta, who stars in "Ni pour, ni contre" and plays the female lead in upcoming Jean Reno/Luc Besson film "Crimson Rivers 2." "After three months of casting in Paris, I was ready to sign someone else when I met Camille," Bala said. "I knew at once she was the one for the movie." The film tracks the adventures of a French couple as they travel through India on what become separate journeys of self-discovery. Originally intending to travel on the Palace on Wheels, Rajasthan's opulent train preferred by wealthy tourists, Isa (Camille) is accidentally left behind and instead makes the journey on a three-wheeler auto rickshaw. The rickshaw driver, played by Vijaay Raaz, the offbeat marigold eater and wedding arranger in Mira Nair's "Monsoon Wedding," gives Isa a tour of rural Rajasthan that affects her profoundly. At the same time, her partner, Benoit, played by Jean Marie Lamour ("Swimming Pool"), separately undergoes a transformation as he goes in search of her. "Hari Om" is aimed at the European market, says executive producer Sushil Tyagi of Los Angeles-based Tricolor Films. Despite the presence of the French stars, the cash and creative control will remain in Indian hands, he added, however. "I could have raised the cash in the United States, but I wanted this to be an Indian movie made by Indians for an international audience. We are making a prototype. We want it to be the first of many movies that will present positive images of India and its history and culture, the way Iranian movies do." Director Bala, who is making his first feature, has teamed for the project with Kumar Taurani of Tips Films, who has had vast experience in making Indian movies for local audiences, including last year's hits "Raaz" and "The Legend of Bhagat Singh."
Taurani, who is putting up a portion of the financing, said he leapt at the venture because he had long thought Indians should make movies for international audiences -- European rather than American.