MUMBAI: Shekhar Kapoor has been sneaking off to China a bit too frequently these days. And the latest buzz is that he is making these trips for shooting his futuristic epic Paani there. Shooting in Mumbai is now ruled out since the plot of Shekhar’s film requires the director and his art director to construct a futuristic Mumbai with two sharply demarcated sections: The Upper City (for the elite with abundant water supply) and The Lower City (for the poor). Love and conflict ensue when the boy from the Lower City sneaks into the forbidden Upper City. Apparently, Shekhar has visited China at least thrice already this year. So, ruling out possibilities of him finalizing locations for Paani in China, is difficult. The first and the last Hindi film to be shot there was Nikhil Advani’s Chandni Chowk To China. To top it all, Shekhar Kapoor doesn’t discount the fact that Paani may be shot in China. Says the director, “I’d shoot Paani anywhere where I’d get the intellectual and geographical space to build my city of a water-challenged future. At the moment, we’re exploring the modalities and the feasibility of the venue for shooting. I am definitely starting Paani next year. We’re fully into the pre-production stage. This film needs a lot of preparation. I’ll formally announce the cast only after all the other details are in place.” Spain had also opened its doors to Shekhar for Paani. But it seems the visionary in the director had already taken a liking to China by then. Says a source close to the director, “Shekhar has actually found a paradise in China. It’s a vacation sanctuary near the Great Wall of China run by an Indian, who has now become one of Shekhar’s closest friends.”
