As Christopher Nolan arrives in the city, we speak to an ardent fan of the filmmaker to know what the visit means to him and to the close-knit community of Indian followers who swear by his work
A still from Knights of Nolan, where Gohil shares why Nolan's films are special to him
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There are fans, and then there are those who determine the course of their lives after factoring in their heroes. Mehul Gohil is among the latter. In January this year, the 34-year-old video production and social media professional from Mumbai experienced the same flutter of the heart he had felt seven years ago when he decided to pack his bags and head to Jodhpur with fellow Christopher Nolan fan (we'll stick to "fan" for practical purposes) Ryan Pereira after learning that the filmmaker was in the Blue City to shoot a few sequences for The Dark Knight Rises.
The T-shirt designed by community members
Gohil remembers sitting in the blazing May sun for hours on end before the duo managed to meet crewmembers of the film's production unit. They watched Nolan from a distance as he shot at Mehrangarh Fort, but all attempts to meet their hero remained futile. What they did do was hand over the memorabilia - posters, letters and pictures - they had lugged along with them to the unit production manager, who promised to pass them on to the man. And he did, for a month after the shoot was wrapped up in India, Pereira received a gracious satellite call from none other than Nolan himself to thank them for coming down to Jodhpur and the gifts.
Christopher Nolan arrived in Mumbai on Thursday. He is seen here with his children and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. Pic/Bipin Kokate
This time, however, is different. "Chris is on our soil, in Mumbai itself!" says Gohil with childlike excitement. Ever since he gathered from social media about Nolan's visit to the city, he has kept track of the Film Heritage Foundation's (FHF's) Facebook page. The organisation's work in film preservation and restoration was noticed by Nolan, and he is in Mumbai to discuss the future of the medium of film - which he shoots his movies on, as opposed to the more popular digital medium - with FHF co-founder Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and one of Britain's premier artistes Tacita Dean. To engage Mumbaikars with celluloid, the foundation organised a film reel hunt in the city, and Gohil is one of the six winners, who will be in the audience for the discussion on Sunday.
Mehul Gohil (left) and Ryan Pereira (extreme right) with the production unit in Jodhpur in 2011. Gohil's photographs from the shoot went viral as they were the first to emerge on the Internet
"I had always been a fan of Batman, the character, but the 1997 movie, Batman and Robin, was a disaster and I knew that a remake was due. It was when the first production images of Nolan's Batman Begins started surfacing in 2004-05 that I felt it was going to be different. When I watched the movie, I was blown away. It was compelling stuff that had the true essence of Batman; the way it should have been all along," says Gohil.
He went on to co-found the official The Dark Knight Rises Community page on Facebook with Pereira and Lester Fernandes, which has close to 10,000 fans, including famous YouTubers from across the globe. The group has designed its own T-shirt, and members happily wear one when they go to watch a Nolan movie, which could even take them out of their city. Gohil, for instance, has travelled with fellow fans to Hyderabad to watch Nolan's films in IMAX technology, in which "they are best enjoyed". That the community's seriousness about Nolan's work has been noted was established when Warner Bros India ended up inviting a few members, including Gohil, for the official premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Mumbai.
With Nolan in his backyard, what does Gohil hope for? "We have made a short film for Chris called Knights of Nolan, which we hope to give to him," says Gohil, as he returns from the FHF office after handing over a DVD of the film to be passed on to Nolan, just in case. "I was at the airport to drop my parents yesterday, and I saw Mr Dungarpur there. I knew he must have come to receive Chris, and I stood there with an A-4 size paper, saying 'Welcome, Chris'. Chris saw my little note as he came out with his family and smiled. Perhaps the universe is conspiring!" he says. "All we want is a few minutes with him, and thank him for what he has done for us. Then we can get on with our lives."
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