On a different pitch

Foreign imports are making a big impression in Indian cinema for sure. Katrina Kaif, Barbara Mori, Giselle Monteiro, Bruna Abdullah and Jacqueline Fernandez and many others have made their mark.

Now, it’s time for young but acclaimed Egyptian actor Aida Elkashef, who has already won an award for her short film Rhapsody in Autumn, has been roped in for an Indian film. Titled Theseus’ Ship, this is a multi-lingual film primarily in English with parts in Arabic, Hindi, Gujarati and Swedish.

Directed by Anand Gandhi, the film also has Soham Shah, who made his debut with Baabarr in 2009. Aida plays the role of a blind photographer. Anand says, “She is amazing. When we were selecting her, we couldn’t help but notice how brilliantly she could pull off the role of a blind photographer with total ease. She is the daughter of a very respected film-maker in Egypt and cinema is certainly in her blood.”

Aida too enjoyed the process of auditioning. “I was in Mumbai for the first time. Anand really thought that I would fit the role so I gave it a try. I feel cinema has an international language and the script of the movie is amazing. It is a story that will be globally accepted.”

Ask her what she loves about Mumbai, and she says, “I wasn’t here because I wanted to do Bollywood. I’m open to acting in Indian cinema which has a different language than Bollywood movies. I love Mumbai. I feel it is a very dynamic city and it is this dynamism that gives brith to many inspirational stories. It is a very warm city like Cairo. People are very welcoming and dealing with them is easy.”

Theseus’ Ship will hit the film festivals this October and will narrate four stories. These include a story of an intuitive blind photographer, a monk’s ethics put to test, an obsessive compulsive clockmaker with an ailing heart, and a young stockbroker who gets caught up in the stolen kidney racket.

The narrative will travel to Cairo, Stockholm and Mumbai.
After shooting the Indian part of the film, Gandhi will be moving to Sweden and plans to finish the shooting schedules by September-end.