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Now Hollywood`s Paul Schrader to make film on Mumbai slums

Yet another foreign director has set his sights on Mumbai`s slums. After Danny Boyle`s dark and passionate look at the city in `Slumdog Millionaire`, it is American director Paul Schrader`s turn to make a film here. Schrader is set to direct `Extreme City`, a Mumbai-based underworld drama. Produced by Anubhav Sinha, the film will be shot in and around the slums of Dharavi and will star both Hollywood and Bollywood stars.

Mumbai, July 16: Yet another foreign director has set his sights on Mumbai`s slums. After Danny Boyle`s dark and passionate look at the city in `Slumdog Millionaire`, it is American director Paul Schrader`s turn to make a film here.
Schrader is set to direct `Extreme City`, a Mumbai-based underworld drama. Produced by Anubhav Sinha, the film will be shot in and around the slums of Dharavi and will star both Hollywood and Bollywood stars. "I can`t deny there`s tremendous interest in another Mumbai slum saga after `Slumdog Millionaire`. But our project was firmed in much before Danny`s film released," Sinha, who had a hush-hush meeting with the director-producer, told reporters. Mumbai, already under much global scrutiny after `Slumdog Millionaire`, is expected to get a further touristic boost with Schrader`s film. "To have Schrader agree to make a film for me is a dream come true. Paul came down to India first in July. When I suggested he make a film for me, he was surprised. Paul Schrader making a film for an Indian producer does sound strange, doesn`t it? "He didn`t give an immediate answer. But at the Toronto Film Festival in October 2008 he finally agreed. He`s writing and directing a drama-thriller tentatively titled `Extreme City` for me. We`ve otherwise been interacting for two years," said Sinha, who has directed films like `Cash` (2007) `Dus` (2005) `Tum Bin` (2001). Schrader`s scriptural collaborations with Martin Scorsese for movies like `Taxi Driver` and `Raging Bull` and his hugely influential directorial projects like `American Gigolo`, `Cat People`, `Mishima` and "Hardcore" have made an impact on several filmmakers. Schrader`s last directorial venture "Adam Resurrected" featuring Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe was a critical and commercial success. "Extreme City" will be shot largely in Mumbai and Schrader will soon finalise his script for the film. "Paul has started work on the script. It`ll be an English-language film. But the Indian characters will speak their natural language. The Mumbai underworld is familiar to Hindi film-goers but not to a global audience," said Sinha. Talking about foreign filmmakers new-found interest in Mumbai, Sinha said: "It started when Mira Nair announced `Shantaram`. Now `Slumdog Millionaire` has patented Mumbai across the Mumbai. `Extreme City` will talk about the mafia in detail. We`ve seen the Sicillian and Brazilian mafia in Hollywood. But not the Mumbai underworld." Schrader, in fact, visited Dharavi with Sinha`s assistant during his last visit. "The film will have a swarm of characters. It will star one leading Hollywood and one Bollywood male star," said Sinha. "I started my collaboration with Paul Schrader as a fan. In fact, the paper on which he wrote the plot outline, I asked him to sign so I could keep as memento. We`re now collaborators," Sinha gushed. IANS