Village children hang from tree branches to watch a film shooting. A boy reaches up to touch the lips of a heroine on a giant poster. A woman sits with her newborn baby in a makeshift home built entirely from movie banners. In a roadside calendar shop, Jesus and Hanuman rub shoulders with Salman Khan and Kajol.
Even inside the industry, Torgovnik searches out its unknown soldiers: lightmen, clapstick boys, junior artistes. Bachchan and Shahrukh get cursory nods; Torgovnik is more interested in the also-ran actors. The dreams that light up the infinite dreariness of their most ardent believers’ lives are built by drudgery, hints his camera. Always interesting, and often illuminating.
