Google, Ridley Scott & Anurag Kashyap Are Asking You To Capture 'India In A Day', Are You Game?

Google in partnership with filmmakers Ridley Scott, Richie Mehta and Anurag Kashyap is launching an historic film project titled India in a Day that will capture the essence of evolving India across 24 hours. The Historic Global Film Project is asking everyone across India to grab a camera and film their day on 10 October. The project will reach out to communities across the country to capture their day.

Participants can shoot footage and upload it on the website. The participants whose footage makes it to the film will be credited as a "co-director," getting a chance to feature in the first user-generated feature-length documentary shot in a single day on life in India. The film is scheduled for release in 2016. Ridley Scott, in a call out to potential participants says - "India in a Day offers a unique opportunity for anyone and everyone across India to grab a camera or a phone and get out there and capture something. It doesn't matter how small or personal it is - from riding a bike to calling your mum. It just simply needs to bear witness to what life is like in today's India - that's magical enough."

Richie Mehta says of the project, "This project is so personal to me, as I believe film is a perfect way to showcase what makes India so extraordinary. I hope people take this opportunity to be honest, fun, and revealing. To dispel the myths of India - or confirm their truths. It will be a thrill to discover."

Anurag Kashyap adds - "We want to tell the story of India in a single day, and we want you to help. You can grab your camera and capture anything and everything around you. Film anything. But most of all, make it personal. Make it your point of view. Tell us what you love, what you hate, what worries you, what you hope for, what you want to change."
The film will be directed by Richie Mehta (I'll Follow You Down, Siddharth, Amal) and executive produced by Ridley Scott (Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Martian, Gladiator) and Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur (I & II), Dev. D, Ugly). R.Balki, Shekhar Kapur and Zoya Akhtar will serve as creative consultants.
1. About Ridley Scott, Executive Producer
Ridley Scott, one of the world's foremost directors and producers, is most known for his work on films such as Thelma & Louise, Alien, Black Hawk Down and Blade Runner. His film epic Gladiator won the Oscar, Golden Globe?, and BAFTA Awards for Best Picture, as well as the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Russell Crowe. Throughout his illustrious career, Scott also been lauded by the Emmy Awards, Cannes Film Festival and the PGA Awards. In 1968, Scott formed RSA with brother Tony Scott as a commercial production house for some of the world's most recognized corporate brands. In 1995, the Scott brothers formed Scott Free Productions to serve as their production company for film and television projects such as Hannibal, Man of Fire, and Kingdom of Heaven, and the critically-acclaimed CBS drama, The Good Wife. Most recently, Scott directed The Martian, a space thriller starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
2. About Richie Mehta, Director
Mehta's last two feature films were completed in 2013. I'll Follow You Down, a science-fiction drama starring Haley Joel Osment, Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, and Victor Garber, premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, and Siddharth, a Hindi-language film starring Rajesh Tailang and Tannishtha Chatterjee, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Siddharth has received over 25 International Awards, and was recently shortlisted for best foreign language film at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards. Mehta's first feature film, Amal, starred Naseeruddin Shah, Roshan Seth, and Seema Biswas. Amal has won over 30 international awards, was nominated for 6 Genie awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay, and was named one of the top ten Canadian films of the decade by Playback Magazine. Mehta is also an on-screen judge for the reality TV program 'Bollywood Star', airing in
3. About Anurag Kashyap, Executive Producer
Anurag Kashyap made an early mark as a writer with the gritty, raw gangster film Satya (1998). He made his directorial debut with Paanch (2000), a film that has not been released due to the objections of the Indian Censor Board. He went on to make the acclaimed Black Friday, based on Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993 which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 3rd Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (2005), and was nominated for the Golden Leopard (Best Film) at Locarno in 2004. In 2009 he wrote and directed Dev.D, which received widespread acclaim chiefly due to the film's fearless visual style, its experimental soundtrack and its innovative narrative structure. Gangs of Wasseypur (I & II) was screened at the Cannes at Director's Fortnight. Kashyap has a record of five films in Cannes either as a director or a producer. He has served as a Jury member at the 66th Venice International Film Festival, and the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. His films have made him a face representing the new wave of Indian Cinema at various prestigious platforms across the globe.

(Originally published in The Times Of India)