Old commercial
by elias on Mar.03, 2011, under Uncategorized
I just found this old commercial we did for ”Körslaget” two years ago at High Chaparral. Still kind of cool I think!
Charmi’s Wedding
by elias on Feb.14, 2011, under Uncategorized
Yesterday I went to my first Gujarati wedding. My friend Charmi, who I’ve met first time 2 months ago, was about to tie the knot. I was so excited. Finally I get to see how it’s done.
I came early so I wouldn’t miss a thing and even got to see the dancing in the beginning, which apparently only the bridegroom’s family does.
While the groom and his family were dancing, my friend Charmi was all dressed up and ready to go.
She looked like a princess! My God what a beauty!
After some time the bride and the groom finally met and got some blessings from the priests. Soon after this it was time to walk around the fire seven times.
The people, the dresses and the place were amazing. Everything was top notch. I lost count on all the priests, servants and guests. The place was packed!
The fun thing with the wedding was that you didn’t have to be on time. During the wedding procedure, while it was actually going on, people were up and about, talking amongst themselves and eating some of the snacks that were constantly being offered by the catering boys.
Everything was also filmed and shown on 4 big flat screens so the guests would have the chance to see the wedding ceremony up close as well. And if you wanted you could always get up and click a photo of the couple. Something I did a a lot. All in all I took over 100 pictures this evening. 
Some of my friends from the school came as well. Oh sorry, I haven’t told you guys about this. Since Charmi’s now getting married I have stepped in for her as a drama/circus teacher at the school where she is working. I’ve been working there full time now since 2 weeks back and I really love it. But I will tell you more about that in another post. Anyways, here’s a photo of me and some of my new collegues.
I’ve met HIM!
by elias on Jan.30, 2011, under Bollywood
A couple of days ago I met the only guy in the world who’s better looking and a better actor than both Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan.
It’s quite amazing come to think of it. I have met HIM! In person! I was at home writing when my friend Ashmith Kunder called. His brother was looking for some Goras to his next film and Ashmith wondered if I would like to audition for a part. Sure! I jumped in a Rickshaw and got to the audition less than an hour later. That’s where I met HIM!
I was practicing my lines for the scene I was supposed to audition with when HE came in thru the door. The guy responsible for the audition asked what he wanted and he told the audition guy that he had sent in his CV but hadn’t got any call for this audition. The audition guy said it was because they weren’t looking for someone like him.
That’s when the guy explained that this was his big problem. The fact that he was so good looking. He explained that since he was far better looking than both Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan, people thought he only could play Hero parts. But now he was here to prove that he was also a better actor than both of them. Sadly enough we didn’t get to see it since the guy responsible for the audition kindly showed him to the door with the famous words. We’ll call you!
How my audition went? Well, it wasn’t that brilliant to be honest. But it really doesn’t matter, does it?
I got to see HIM. 
Man vs. Pizza Hut
by elias on Jan.22, 2011, under Bollywood
Oh my God! No one is going to believe what happened yesterday!
I finally met Christian Petersson, a Swedish stuntman who’s been working in Germany for the last 8 years. He’s been in films like Inglourious Basterds, V for Vendetta and Quantum of Solace. Right now he’s here in Mumbai working on the latest Shah Rukh Khan film “Don 2”. It’s funny, we’ve known each other for I think 4 years now and are talking quite regularly over the net, but we’ve still not met. Not until yesterday. So that was really awesome.
After we’ve talked a bit we decided to order some pizzas from Pizza Hut. I called them and gave them my name, phone number and address. They Pizza guy said it would take 45 minutes and I told him to hurry up since we were hungry.
1 hour and 30 minutes later I call them back and ask what has happened to our pizzas. The Pizza Hut guy tells me the pizzas are on their way. 30 minutes later we go down to the reception and ask them if they’ve seen any pizza guy. Yes, he was here but he didn’t know where to deliver the pizzas. But I gave them my number!
It had now been 2 hours since we’d ordered the pizzas. I asked the reception to please call Pizza Hut and see what’s happened. They reception was told to place a new order so we did. OK, it will take 45 minutes. My God! Another 45 minutes? OK, whatever! Just give us the pizzas!
After another hour we ask the reception to call back and see what’s happening with the pizzas. The Pizza Hut guy tells them that it will take another 5 minutes. Great! By now we are really starving. It’s been over 3 hours since we placed the order. 30 minutes later we call them again. Now it turns out that there aren’t any pizzas on their way. The order was cancelled as soon as they saw it was the same number and order as last time! This is just not happening!
I got very frustrated and after a while I got the manager on the line. I asked him why he cancelled the order and told us that the pizzas were on their way. He had no good answer to this but said he would call me back regarding the pizzas. What? Why?
15 minutes later he calls back. He tells me that since they couldn’t deliver the first order, they cancelled the second straight away. But I gave them my phone number! Why didn’t they call me when they didn’t find the address? He told me that nobody answered the phone. I told him I had no missed phone calls. After quite some time he asked me if we still wanted the pizzas. YES!!!! We are starving.
OK, he says, it will take 30 minutes. He just have to call back and confirm. WHAT?!! Confirm what? He had just call my number. He knows that it works. Why does he have to call back again to confirm?
10 minutes later he calls back again. He says he’s really sorry for the inconvenience but he needs to confirm. Now it has been more than 4 hours since we first ordered the pizzas! He says he’s sorry, but now when the confirmation is done he will make sure that the pizzas are getting made as soon as possible. Hahahahaha! This is insane!
After 5 hour we finally got our pizzas. Of course the delivery guy wanted to get paid and of course I refused to. He called the manager and I told him that Pizza Hut would never ever get paid for those pizzas. I gave the delivery guy some money and that was it.
The manager called back once again and wanted to have at least half the money but I told him that I couldn’t talk right now since we were busy eating.
Phas Gaye Re Obama
by elias on Jan.21, 2011, under Uncategorized
Some days ago I ran into the press conference for the DVD launch of the action comedy “Phas Gaye Re Obama” (With love to Obama).
The film has been a major hit here in Bollywood and gotten lots of good reviews. The fact is that the film is still up and running in the theaters, which led to the great appeal: Don’t buy the DVD! Go see the film in the theatre! Then buy the DVD!
PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA is about NRI Om Shastri (Rajat Kapoor), who has lost almost everything due to the global meltdown. His condition is so precarious that he has been asked to vacate his home by the bank unless he pays up $100,000 within 30 days. Unable to find any other solution, he returns to India to sell his property. But soon after he arrives in India, he is kidnapped by an underworld gang, who are also facing the brunt of recession.
After the launch I managed to get hold of the producer Ashok Pandey and talk to him a bit about the film. As always I had to end the talk with a picture!
Birthday party!
by elias on Jan.15, 2011, under Uncategorized
Yesterday my friend Per and his colleague Lotta from Sweden came to visit me.
They are here in India to give some workshops and lectures as well as doing some research for future projects. It’s all very hush hush at the moment so sadly I can’t give you any details but with these guys involved, big things are bound to happen!
Since it was Per’s birthday I decided to treat them both at one of my favorite places here in Mumbai, “Out of the Blue”. We had a great night out and didn’t get to bed until 4 am this morning after we’ve dropped Lotta off at the airport. She had to take the flight back to Sweden so Per and I waved her goodbye and shed a little tear.
Three hours later it was time to get up again. Per had to go for a meeting in Pune while I was heading out for breakfast with another friend. The hard rocking, ass kicking producer Charmi, who actually were the one who introduced me to “Out of the Blue”.
It was really nice seeing her again since it was almost one month ago we last met.
When I got back home I saw these two kids playing outside my building. I wish you guys could see that girl’s dress irl, it was so fantastic!
Man vs. Woman
by elias on Jan.13, 2011, under Uncategorized
I just have to share this photo with you guys. I met these people while waiting for the elevator to my flat.
Although the religion tells her to cover her face it doesn’t stop her husband from putting on that Playboy shirt. Complete with the Playboy bunny and everything! I couldn’t believe what I saw and yes, they were a couple.
Like my dear old mother used to say. If you don’t know whether to laugh or cry you should always go for the laughter.
Hollywood vs Bollywood
by elias on Jan.09, 2011, under Bollywood
Some days ago I got a phone call from Balaji Kumar who works as a director in Hollywood of all places. He told me he was in Mumbai and wanted to meet up. So, today we did! He told me about his plans and I told him about mine. After one hour we decided that we should meet up again and see what we could work out.
Sadly enough I forgot to get a picture with him. But I’ve uploaded this little clip from yesterday when I ran in to the stars of the film ”No One Killed Jessica”. For those of you who don’t recognize the girls it’s the two lead actresses, Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherjee.
After their entrance I just had to film the security guys running the staircase to reach the top floor at the same time as the stars, who took the escalator. 
1.1.11
by elias on Jan.02, 2011, under Uncategorized
I really like this date! Doesn’t it sound like the beginning of a fantastic year?
The first of January 2011 was indeed really good. I got myself a place! It’s in Goregaon close to the Filmcity and I have the big mall Inorbit as my neighbour. I’m very happy and relieved! Now I can start concentrate on da work!
Pooja and Chetan were kind enough to help me locate the place. After I’ve signed the papers we went to their professor’s house. She and her sister kindly took us out for a wonderful dinner at a restaurant nearby. Next after Poojas mum’s food, this was the best I’ve had so far. It was superb! Now that’s what I call a good start of the year!
New Years Eve
by elias on Jan.01, 2011, under Uncategorized
New Years Eve in Mumbai! Where should I start?
Well, I went over to my friend Poojas place, where I met her whole family and got me some really good food. We then met up with her friends Amber and Chetan. I was offered a room that we all thought would be really good but it turned out to be in a hospital, next to an operation theatre! That was so wierd!
Chetan and I then struggled for more or less the whole night to get me a hotel. We tried 14 hotels and they all turned me down! Either they were full or they didn’t take foreigners!
Finally, after hours of searching, we found a place and I checked in just as the clock struck 12!
Happy as two spoiled swedish kids on Christmas eve Chetan and I rushed to the Shivaji Park and looked at the fireworks before I went back to my hotel and collapsed with a big smile on my face!
Happy New Year everybody!
