British-Indian actor Phaldut Sharma, the voice behind the "goofy guy" singing 'Mera joota hai Japani' in 'Gravity', feels the classic number from Raj Kapoor's film 'Shri 420' fit beautifully in the Sandra Bullock-George Clooney starrer.
Sharma, who has worked with director Alfonso Cuaron on 'Children of Men' and in TV shows like 'EastEnders', 'Hunted', 'Casualty' and 'Roger Roger', said he opted for this song because it was "a classic, playful and celebratory" number.
"Alfonso Cuaron had asked me to put together a 20 minute pitch when he was trying to get the film made. They had this slow romantic Bollywood song but I don't remember what it was. This song suited the character's nature and mood better.
"It has a different kind of tempo to it. It is much more celebratory and playful. I also liked the idea of this man who is floating above in space and looking down and is mentioning that his shoes are from Japan, his hat is from Russia but his heart is Hindustani," Sharma told PTI over phone from London.
Sharma said that since the actual process of making the film was very closed, he did not understand why they wanted to have an Indian origin character in the movie but realised its importance after watching the complete film.
"The actual process of working on the film was very closed and very confidential. I was in but I had no understanding why the character was of Indian origin. But it made sense when I saw the complete film," Sharma said.
The actor says though it was a small part, he decided to be a part of the project because it had Cuaron as a helmer.
"In effect, there are only two characters in the film. But, I like the small impact this character had. He puts the audience in ease, gets few laughs before the actual story kicks off. I enjoyed being able to provide that small relief." The Warner Bros film, which released in India on October 11,crossed the USD 300 million mark at the global box office in just three weeks after its release.
