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312:. This person, who is out running, sees a swimming pool and gets obsessed with swimming in it. He follows around the people who own the place and tries to befriend them. However, Smith clarified that the film's story evolved from it in a "completely different way from there". He said that though they had a draft in hand while beginning the shooting, his goal was to let the environment (the actors, their experiences and observations) shape the story.
412:(2004). Initially, Patekar was not interested to do the film. But Kashyap urged him to take a look at 45 minutes of the film's footage. Upon watching it, Patekar remained quiet for some time and then he said, "this reminds me of what we used to do before we got corrupted." According to Smith, Patekar not just played his character, but also helped out in various scenes while filming.
250:, who sees from his perch in a mango tree a luxuriant garden and shimmering pool hidden behind a wall. In making whatever efforts he can to better himself, Venkatesh offers his services to the wealthy owner of the home. Not content to simply dream about a different life, Venkatesh is inquisitive about the home's inhabitants and his curiosity changes the shape of his future.
358:, Goa due to his long-time fascination with the city, especially the contrast between the rich and the poor. For the 65-day shoot, Smith and his crew moved to India for a five-month period. While referring to this cinematic endeavour as an experiment, he felt that the journey to India was crucial in clearing up his creative space to work.
31:
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Neither of the young leads could read, so they couldn't really prepare their scenes in advance. They had to rehearse on the spot and once they got it right, the scene was shot. Another complication was their language. Since neither of them spoke
English, it was difficult for Smith to directly convey
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When you're trying to cast, you will look anywhere and everywhere. At dinner, we would look at the waiters. And one day, this newspaper came (to their hotel room) with a story on Nana (Patekar). And it said that he takes his time between movies and likes to do interesting projects. And Kate thought
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uniforms and never returned, a young girl could not obtain permission for leave from school. The actor originally chosen for the father's role left them for a television series. These unfortunate incidents happened three days prior to commencement of the shoot.
467:, which was not the first language of either of them. In addition, Smith had absolutely no knowledge of Hindi. Effectively, they were being directed in a language they did not understand and having to shoot complex dialogue scenes in a language alien to them.
335:. The film also credits independent film representative and producer John Sloss, who has handled all of his films, as being his "conduit to the rest of the world," and said that it was Sloss' work on his behalf that "has allowed me to stay in Milwaukee."
431:, Smith met him, introduced himself and asked him to act in his film. Venkatesh took his parents' permission and agreed. His mother and sister were asked to play the role of his mother and sister in the film as well. He received
482:, the film has an aggregate score of 94% based on 45 positive and 3 negative critics' reviews. The website consensus reads: "Beautifully crafted with loosely drawn characters and a lilting, natural pace, Chris Smith's
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60,000 as compensation for acting in the film. While filming, Chavan thought it was a documentary. Jhangir, who was selected to play the 11-year-old character, worked as an employee in a bar/restaurant.
453:] what we already had. The great thing was I could think of a scene at night and we could shoot it the next morning – give the tape to the editor at lunch and see it in the cut the next night."
427:. Chavan's parents left for Goa in search of work. While Smith was in the process of casting, Venkatesh was helping his parents to sell scrap. In January 2006, when he was roaming on the streets of
315:
The film is a collaborative result of a crew that was half-based in India and United States. The crew included producer Kate Noble, creative consultant Xavier Leplae, whose film
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After a casting director, who had previously worked with Ayesha Mohan, sent them her details, she was chosen to play the main actress. Speaking about how they identified
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features a universal message to which everyone can relate." The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Marjorie
Baumgarten of
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detailed direction. Hence, with a translator in place, it could easily get translated in the wrong way. Another challenge was that the film was being shot in
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Smith once thought of aborting the project because they were unsuccessful in locating a bungalow with a pool. Eventually, they managed to lease one from a
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for the film was quite a challenge. The crew lost three lead actors due to various reasons. While one of them went to Mumbai on the pretext of buying
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he looked perfect. We liked his eyes and the way he handled himself in the interview. And he seemed a kindred spirit to what we were trying to do.
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Poltermann was editing while the filming was in progress. Smith thought that this process had a huge impact on the finished film.
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Smith was convinced that if
Patekar agreed to play the role, the film would get a boost. Actress Mohan helped him approach
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20-year-old
Venkatesh Chavan, who played the role of the young boy fascinated by the pool, originally hailed from
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Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond – Featuring a Very
Special, Contractually Obligated Mention of Tony Clifton
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447:"We would cut scenes together – then either adapt other scenes or shoot new scenes to compliment [
215:, a language Smith didn't know, the film earned good reviews. Besides winning a Special Jury prize at the
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Saying that this film was the hardest he ever worked on in his life, Smith added that
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The story revolves around a young janitor working at a hotel in the port city of
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read a story, written by Randy Russel, about a person from a graduate school in
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323:. Xavier's brother, Didier Leplae, who composed the score with
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named it the fourth best film of 2008, and Tasha
Robinson of
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Though the story was originally set in Iowa, Smith chose the
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309:
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612:"Frequently Asked Questions with Chris Smith, director"
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named it the fourth best film of 2008, Sheri Linden of
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715:"Tanda boy turns English movie hero: Deccan Herald"
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1009:
331:composer, and recorded by a small orchestra in
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747:"Star-crossed boys grab screen-share at IFFI"
566:"Milwaukee director goes to India for 'Pool'"
522:"Sundance: Winners span the Earth and beyond"
987:Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
809:"Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists"
223:. In the same year, it was screened at the
1053:Sundance Film Festival award-winning films
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406:, who directed her in the Bollywood film
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234:The DVD was released on 13 July 2010.
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649:"A tale reminiscent of Satyajit Ray"
229:International Film Festival of India
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647:Pais J, Arthur (2 September 2008).
327:in Milwaukee, had it arranged by a
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755:. 28 November 2007. Archived from
688:Rapold, Nicolas (29 August 2008).
564:Dudek, Duane (18 September 2007).
225:Vienna International Film Festival
14:
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834:
690:"Chris Smith: American Directory"
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723:. 23 August 2007. Archived from
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319:was shot in the Indian state of
196:film co-written and directed by
520:Means P., Sean (7 March 2007).
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1:
1048:Films directed by Chris Smith
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265:Venkatesh Chavan as Venkatesh
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217:2007 Sundance Film Festival
208:and newcomer Ayesha Mohan.
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1033:2000s Hindi-language films
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268:Jhangir Badshah as Jhangir
134:January 18, 2007
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1058:2007 independent films
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271:Ayesha Mohan as Ayesha
221:Sundance Film Festival
527:The Salt Lake Tribune
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1063:2000s American films
1043:American drama films
759:on 14 September 2008
616:Press Kit – The Pool
489:The Austin Chronicle
1028:Films shot in India
534:on 23 December 2007
192:is a 2007 American
1023:Films set in India
925:Films directed by
727:on 25 January 2016
474:Critical reception
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819:on 2 January 2009
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337:Barry Poltermann
304:-based director
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100:Barry Poltermann
75:Venkatesh Chavan
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150:Running time
127:Release date
82:Nana Patekar
79:Ayesha Mohan
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955:The Yes Men
927:Chris Smith
788:1 September
763:3 September
731:2 September
699:3 September
660:3 September
629:3 September
582:3 September
538:3 September
363:New Zealand
306:Chris Smith
297:The Yes Men
294:(2001) and
198:Chris Smith
91:Chris Smith
64:Produced by
57:Chris Smith
48:Chris Smith
44:Directed by
1018:2007 films
1012:Categories
874:Metacritic
823:11 January
813:Metacritic
779:"The Pool"
654:Rediff.com
508:References
440:Filmmaking
292:Home Movie
276:Production
154:95 minutes
138:2007-01-18
67:Kate Noble
54:Written by
752:The Hindu
425:Karnataka
352:port city
329:Bollywood
317:I'm Bobby
302:Milwaukee
202:Bollywood
178:subtitles
167:Languages
96:Edited by
971:Collapse
963:The Pool
890:AllMovie
885:The Pool
869:The Pool
858:The Pool
847:The Pool
720:Zee News
484:The Pool
419:town in
417:Mundargi
341:The Pool
325:Joe Wong
300:(2003),
290:(1999),
284:(1996),
204:veteran
189:The Pool
174:English
112:Joe Wong
106:Music by
72:Starring
36:The Pool
24:The Pool
379:casting
373:Casting
262:as Nana
159:Country
136: (
998:(2022)
990:(2019)
982:(2017)
974:(2009)
966:(2007)
958:(2003)
950:(1999)
942:(1996)
383:karate
365:-born
356:Panjim
333:Mumbai
280:After
244:Panjim
38:poster
995:"Sr."
623:(DOC)
465:Hindi
367:India
248:India
213:Hindi
194:drama
171:Hindi
852:IMDb
825:2009
790:2022
765:2008
733:2015
701:2008
662:2008
631:2008
584:2008
540:2008
343:and
310:Iowa
254:Cast
238:Plot
227:and
888:at
872:at
861:at
850:at
478:On
450:sic
433:INR
423:of
354:of
321:Goa
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
