Based on the award-winning novel by Yann Martel, “Life of Pi” is definitely one of the most anticipated films of 2012, and its maker Ang Lee gets chatting about his dream project that releases Nov 23 in India, almost after four years.
After exchanging pleasantries, Lee says with much conviction that he never wanted to make “Life of Pi” at the first place, but it was the book and the producers that chose him.
“I never aspired to make the film because from the very beginning I was under the impression that it’s ‘unfilmable’, but when the project was finally offered to me with lot of trust and strong persuasion, I simply couldn’t resist. Moreover, I told myself that the book chose me amongst so many other filmmakers it changed hands”.
Suraj Sharma plays Piscine Patel aka Pi, the title character in the film, which is about the journey of a 16-year old boy and his 227 days of survival while stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger.
Out of the 3000 plus participants who enrolled for the lead role, Suraj was selected because Lee thought he was a natural.
“The role of Pi is of an individual who’s thrown into an unimaginable, life-changing situation, which demands an actor who is a natural, and out of the lot, I found Suraj with that quality.
Asked why did he cut Tobey Maguire of the cast, and Lee says he wanted an international cast because the story demanded it.
“Since most of the story is set in Southern India, I decided to go with all international cast. But, this doesn’t make this an Indian film because it handles a universal subject”.
“Life of Pi”, which also stars Indian actors Irrfan Khan and Tabu, has screenplay by David Magee, known for his work in “Finding Neverland”.
Lee said he struggled hard to do justice both to the book and the film.
“Since the story is based on the book, I adapted whatever I could and yet improvised on the output so that I don’t upset my producers and audiences. In essence, in the process of making the film, I made both the parties happy”.
The film, which will be released in 2D, 3D and IMAX, was made on a budget between $90-120 million approx.
3D was not used as a cinematic gimmick to mint money says Ang Lee, who convinced his producers to give him budgets to make the film in the format.
“I couldn’t think of the film in any other format, but 3D. I knew the film had to be visually engaging and that’s only possible with the help of this format. Typically, producers persuade director to make big budget action flicks in 3D, but here, I convinced my producers to give me funds to make the film in 3D”.
Most of the film was shot against the backdrop of Pacific Ocean and Lee quips that they didn’t have to go to the ocean
“We created a water tank as big as a football field in an abandoned airport in Taiwan, and using simulation software and 3D we created the boat and shipwreck scenes. Had it not been for Taiwan, we would’ve struggled a lot to find a place to build a water tank”.
The film’s two most important characters are Pi and Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger. While, Suraj who plays Pi was easily found, the character of Tiger almost took 7 months to complete.
