Thaindian News

By Gurmukh Singh
Toronto, Sep 12 (IANS) Danny Boyle, director of Oscar-winning ‘The Slumdog Millionaire,’ is still not finished on India.

The director, who is at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the gala of film ‘127 Hours,’ said here that he still has “a couple of ideas’ about India.

When his attention was drawn to Sarah McCarthy’s film ‘The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical’ which is based on Mumbai slum kids and premiering at the festival, he said he has heard so.

The British director said India offers so much in terms of ideas for film makers. “There are so many ideas for a filmmaker can have about India,” Boyle told IANS here.

Asked whether he planned any follow-up on Slumdog, Boyle didn’t say anything.

He was all praise for his Slumdog actor Freida Pinto. “I think she is a wonderful actor,” he said.

When asked why she was not getting any offers from Bollywood, he said, ” She also told me so. I don’t know. She is very talented. We are touch.”

But the Indian actress could not have asked for more at the Toronto film festival as she is featuring in two films premiering here - Woody Allen’s ‘You Will Meet a Dark Tall Stranger’ and Julian Schnabel’s ‘Miral.’

However, Boyle’s ‘127 Hours’ featuring Spiderman star James Franco had a rather unceremonious start at the festival Saturday because of repeated delays.

So big was the response that more than a thousand people had lined up before the threat which had a capacity of just 557 seats. As digital hiccups led to repeated delays in the screening, the organizers had to shift the screening to another theatre in the Scotiabank multiplex in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Boyle came on to the stage before the start of the film to apologize to the audience for the delay. “The film is 127 Hours, but it will be over in 94 minutes. I look forward to hearing all your 127 hours jokes,” he quipped.

(Gurmukh Singh can be contacted at gurmukh.s@ians.in)