China Entertainment started in 2004

Chapter 500 Returning to China
The casting for "Life of Pi" is proceeding as scheduled. The casting is on a large scale and many people come to audition.

Everyone in India who has paid attention to this knows that "Life of Pi" is not only a Hollywood film, but also directed by a new Oscar-winning director.

Although this director is Chinese, he is very talented.

At a young age, he won the Venice Film Festival and the Oscar for Best Director.

He is the youngest Oscar-winning director in history!

Therefore, despite his young age, no one doubts his strength.

In fact, the casting time for this movie was only one year earlier than the original timeline.

One year earlier or later, there is not much difference in the actors.

So Wang Shu was thinking, should he just call back the original crew?
Action speaks louder than words, and that's what he did.

"Hello, Tree."

In the coffee shop, Tabu, who had been waiting for a long time, saw Wang Shu coming and hurriedly stood up to greet him politely.

"Hello." Wang Shu stretched out his hand and shook the other person's right hand.

I heard that Indians wash their butts with their hands when they go to the toilet. I wonder if this Indian film queen does the same?
If so, is there any poop residue on your hands?

The two sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries. Wang Shu then handed over the prepared script and said, "Take a look first."

Wang Shu and Ivy Kaufman worked separately on the casting of the film.

Ivy Kaufman is auditioning for Life of Pi.

Wang Shu is in contact with other actors in Life of Pi.

For example, Tabu is not only a top actress in India, but also the queen of the Indian film industry.

In 1997, he won the National Film Award for his film Maachis, and the following year he won the Filmfare Critics Award for the film.

In 2001, he starred in "Chandni Bar" and won the Indian National Film Award again.

Not only did she originally play the role of Pi's mother in "Life of Pi" directed by Li An, she was also the vicious heroine in "The Piano Tuner" in the original timeline.

In order to save time on casting, Wang Shu was too lazy to audition the actor for the role and directly invited Tabu to participate.

This is a project of Fox, one of the eight major Hollywood film studios. It is an award-winning film aimed at the Oscar stage and directed by the youngest Oscar-winning director in history. Wang Shu doesn't believe that Indian actress Tabu won't be moved.

This is true even though Tabu is a top Indian actress.

India's top actors are just India's top actors.

And going international means becoming an international actor.

"Life of Pi" is an opportunity for Tabb.

The reason for this is that if he returns to China and releases the audition news for this role, it will definitely be highly sought after.

Even Gong Li would ask him.

Just as Wang Shu thought, although Tabu is a top actress in India, she attaches great importance to this rare opportunity and is willing to accept it even without reading the script.

However, the script had already been handed to him, so Tabu politely took it and symbolically flipped through it.

The script was written in English, and Tabu knew English, so he could understand it.

After briefly reading the script for a while, Tabu looked up at Wang Shu with a burning gaze, smiled and said politely: "Shu, thank you for your invitation. The script is very good and the content is very challenging. I am very happy to receive your invitation and I am also very happy to have the opportunity to participate."

"Life of Pi" is not only not a bad script, but also an Oscar-winning film invested and produced by Fox, one of the eight major Hollywood companies, and directed by an Oscar-winning director.

Tabu, of course, I don’t want to miss it.

"It's a pleasure to work with you." Wang Shu smiled and extended his hand.

Tabu also smiled and stretched out his hand to shake hands with Wang Shu.

To be honest, Wang Shu was really curious about whether Tabu had ever washed his butt with his hands?
Of course he knew that the middle and upper classes in India also used paper, but washing the butt with hands seemed to be a traditional craft in India?

Even the upper middle class will inevitably use their hands.
"Shu, do you have any work to do next? If not, I'll treat you to dinner." Tabu looked at Wang Shu and made an invitation with a smile.

As far as she knew, Wang Shu was the youngest Oscar-winning director in history.

If I can get in touch with them, I may have more opportunities to participate in Hollywood movies in the future.

Today, she is already a top actress in India and has long wanted to go beyond India and go global.

But without the help of a noble person, there will be no chance.

Wang Shu heard this and thought that they would work together in the crew in the future, so it would be embarrassing for the other party to refuse like this.

As a qualified director, you need to know how to consider the emotions of the actors in the crew.

As long as the actors in the crew are in a normal mood, the show can be filmed smoothly.

Paying attention to these things is also helping himself.

Then he smiled and said, "Okay."

Wang Shu had just arrived, so Tabu, in order to show his hospitality, specially invited him to eat Indian food.

Um.
I can only say that Indian food in high-end restaurants is okay. Although some dishes don’t look very good, they still taste okay.

Anyway, as long as you put enough seasoning, nothing will taste bad.

Tabu might be eating in front of Wang Shu. His movements were quite graceful. He provided help to Wang Shu from time to time and introduced the food to let Wang Shu know what he was eating.

When two people eat, they don't use their hands, but use knives, forks and spoons.

Considering that Wang Shu is Chinese, Tabu even asked the restaurant to provide chopsticks.

He was very attentive throughout the whole process, fearing that he would neglect Wang Shu.

After lunch, Wang Shu said politely: "Tabu, the food is delicious, thank you for your hospitality."

He felt that the food was just average, and that this was just a polite remark. Upon hearing this, Tabu smiled brightly and said, "You're welcome."

After that, he added, "Shu, this should be your first time in Mumbai, right? If you are not in a hurry to go back, I can take you around Mumbai."

Wang Shu shook his head and declined, "I still have things to deal with. If there is a chance in the future, I will ask you for help again."

Tabu listened to him, smiling as if he hadn't lost his smile, and said, "Shu, you're always welcome."

"Haha." Wang Shu laughed and said, "Tabu, that's all for today. I look forward to working with you in the future."

Tabu smiled and replied, "Shu, I am also looking forward to working with you. I can't wait."

Wang Shu smiled when he heard this, chatted with him for a few words, and then left.

The smile on Tabu's face remained as he watched Wang Shu leave.

She really couldn't wait to work with Wang Shu.

Because Wang Shu is not only an Oscar-winning director, but Life of Pi is also an Oscar-winning film produced and invested by Fox.

Such resources, such opportunities.

It's hard to come by.

The casting is in full swing.

After more than ten days of hard work, the role was finally decided.

Although the auditions took place a year earlier than the original timeline, the characters chosen were no different from the main actors in the original timeline.

Naturally, the casting of Li An in the original timeline could not have been completed so quickly.

The casting is now being presided over by Wang Shu, who is casting actors based on the roles in Li An's version of "Life of Pi".

After some operation, the role was quickly determined.
In the original timeline, the protagonist, Pai, was played by 17-year-old Suraj Sharma.

Now, it's still him.

However, the film was released a year earlier and was played by 16-year-old Suraj Sharma.

He's just one year younger, not a big difference.

After the roles are selected, filming cannot start immediately. Instead, the actors will be trained to facilitate subsequent filming.

Veteran Indian actors like Tabu don't need any training.

But it is different for Suraj Sharma. He not only needs to learn various survival skills so that he can perform smoothly during the filming of the movie, but also needs to train his thin body into a muscular man.

Anyway, it was mainly for the special training of Surah Sharma.

As far as Wang Shu knows, Suraj Sharma grew up in a middle-class family in the suburbs of New Delhi, India. Both his parents graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology.

His father is a software engineer and his mother is an economist.

This reminded him of the conversation he had with the person in charge when he first arrived in India.

Sure enough, the casting this time is different from that of "Born into Brothels".

"Born into Brothels" is a documentary, featuring real children living in the red-light district performing in their original state.

On the other hand, in Life of Pi, the mother of the male protagonist Pi is played by Tabu, an Indian first-line actress.
Even the actor who played the role of Pi was a child from an Indian middle-class family.

3 month 15 day.

Surah Sharma came to the capital with Wang Shu and his team, where he will undergo strict physical training in order to better complete the filming work.

Although this could be done in India, it was impossible for Wang Shu and Fox's people to stay in India to monitor Surah Sharma's physical training.

Also, in order to avoid being away from India, Suraj Sharma’s physical training might not be completed well and delay the shooting time.

After comprehensive consideration, it would be safest to bring Surah Sharma to Beijing and hand him over to the Yikeshu Company team.

In the original timeline, Suraj Sharma's physical training was also taken to Taiwan by Li An and handed over to the company for care.

Wang Shu, just following suit.

I have to admit that this really saves a lot of trouble and worry.

Leave it to Yikeshu Company to take care of it, and you can just sit there and do nothing, without worrying about poor training delaying the filming.

And Wang Shu, who is a hands-off boss, can lie down for a while.

However, although returning home makes one familiar with the surroundings, it also has its disadvantages.

The news could not be concealed and it spread quickly.

As a result, he received constant phone calls and invitations to various dinners.

In a private room of a restaurant, Wang Shu was attending a dinner party.

"Director Wang, I'd like to offer you a toast. I hope we can have a chance to work together in the future." Ye Lin from Wanda said politely while raising his glass.

Wang Shu heard this, raised his glass and clinked it with his, and said politely: "There will be a chance."

When Ye Lin heard this, he smiled and took the first sip.

The reason for this dinner was mainly because Han Sanping invited Wang Shu, and Wang Shu couldn't refuse, so he came.

After arriving, I found that not only Han Sanping was there, but also other people from China Film Group and the people above me.

In addition, Ye Lin from Wanda was also there.

Considering the complex composition of Wanda, it might not be surprising that Ye Lin appeared here.

Seeing Ye Lin take a big sip, Wang Shu had no choice but to take a sip as well.

(End of this chapter)