While he accompanies wife, Anoushka on her tour, filmmaker Joe Wright plans to connect with our film industry and might even work on an India-centric project soon
Joe Right with Anoushka Shankar and their son, Zubin Shankar Wright at the Ravi Shankar Memorial on the Self Realisation Fellowship grounds in California on December 20, 2012. Pic/AFP
Q. In 2009, you met Anoushka at a dinner in Delhi, while researching for a film that looked at the last days of the British Raj. Are you still keen to make it?
A. I’m hoping to develop a project that is centered around India. But I don’t want to do a white man’s story, or a European’s story of India. I want to tell a story from the Indian perspective.
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Joe Wright with Anoushka Shankar and their son, Zubin Shankar Wright at the Ravi Shankar Memorial on the Self Realisation Fellowship grounds in California on December 20, 2012. Pic/AFP
Q. What kind of music do you like?
A. I play a lot of music when I’m working. I always have a big sound system on set. I spend most days DJ-ing between takes. When we shot the library sex scene in Atonement, I didn’t want it to feel like some chaste love scene in a period film, so I played modern music; Mark Lanegan’s Bubblegum, I think.
Q. Anoushka acted in a film too. Will we see her in one of your projects?
A. Anoushka’s brilliance lies in her creativity and experimentation. She can be a fabulous actress! However, at this point, I don’t have a script that compliments her persona.
Q. Do you have an India-centric project coming up? What kind of subject would interest you?
A. I hope to make a movie in India one day and would love to work with Indian actors and technicians. I love the ethnicity of India and if I do make a film, it will reflect the fantastic culture of the Indian diaspora. I’d like to tell a story that is aesthetic; perhaps, a bit more modern, something that would allow me to be more expressive with the characters’ emotions and internal landscapes.
Q. Have you seen any Indian movies? Would you like to work with actors from here?
A. Of course, I watch Bollywood movies. I am a huge fan of Aamir Khan. I have never met him; I want to meet him. Anoushka and I will be in India in December and January. She will be doing concerts all over the country, and I am looking forward to be back and connect with the film industry in a way that I have not before.