Paul Schrader set to make film on Mumbai-underworld

Schrader, who has scripted cult films like 'Taxi Driver' and 'Raging Bull', is currently in the city as the Chairman of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) jury.

He said that he has finished writing the script of the film in collaboration with Mushtaq Shiekh, who had scripted 'Om Shanti Om' and also 'Still Reading Khan', a biography of the Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha will be one of the producers of the film which is a story about an Indian and an American soldier posted in Somalia on a peace keeping mission.

"I am looking for an American and an Indian star and the film will be set in Mumbai. It will combine commercial traditions of Hollywood and Bollywood," Schrader said.

Schrader also gave an insight to the film's story and said, "American saves the Indian's life during one operation and they become friends. After completing the assignment, the two go back to their respective homes. The American becomes a cop while the Indian becomes a "bhai" (underworld don)."

"The American's father-in-law has remarried and has a daughter who lives in Mumbai with her husband. She is kidnapped and the husband is asked to negotiate a ransom with the bhai. It's a story about obligations and duties. There is also a love story with songs and dances," he added.

On asked when the project would see light of the day, Schrader said that he is vigorously pursuing the project and has visited the city thrice in the past one year, but at the same time he was also being "realistic."

Schrader added that he is looking for an actor between the age of 30 and 40. Talking about Indian cinema the director said, "I have been watching several films of the 50s,60s and 70s as well as contemporary films," he said.

"The main challenge for the film industries worldwide is the emergence of new technologies than the content. We have a sense of the change, but don't know what shape it will take," he said adding that no industry is geared up to face the challenge.