How Freida Pinto managed to shoot on Mumbai roads for an upcoming film

Freida Pinto, Richa Chadha, Sai Tamhankar and two debutantes are shooting all over Mumbai for Tabrez Noorani’s film on human trafficking titled Love Soniya. The film is produced by David Womark, who produced Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi.

Unlike other foreign crews who complain about the locational hazards of shooting in Mumbai, Tabrez, who was the line producer on Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi, gives Mumbai and its administration the thumbs-up.

Says Tabrez, “I’m shooting with Freida and a huge cast and crew. We’ve not encountered any mishap. Last year when I was in Mumbai shooting for Sense8, Mr Rakesh Maria, who was the chief commissioner of police at the time, helped us understand all the regulations for outdoor shootings in Mumbai. Now, we shoot in crowded places like Khetwadi and Bandra without any glitches.”

The trick of over-riding reams of red-tapism in Mumbai while shooting on location is the union card. “We’ve got all our unit members enrolled into various associations. Or else there would have been trouble every step of the way.”