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这封邮件是二月份发到我们邮箱的。
The email hit our inbox in February.
主题行只有11个词，几乎本身就像个短故事。
Subject line, 11 words, almost a short story on their own.
我爸要拍一部宝莱坞电影。
My dad is making a Bollywood movie.
他是不是被骗了？
Is he being scammed?
邮件是一位听众发来的，他是儿子，最近发现他父亲一直在给印度的一个陌生人汇大笔钱，那个人是他在网上认识的导演，目的是拍一部他一周内想出来的电影。
The email was from a listener, his son, who'd recently learned that his father had been sending large amounts of money to a stranger in India, a director who he'd met via the Internet, in order to find a film that he dreamed up in a week.
这部电影背景设定在1780年的印度，但也涉及现代。
The film was set in India in 1780, but also in the present.
邮件里还说，这部电影会，引用原话，大量出现花椰菜。
And according to the email, it would quote, heavily feature cauliflower.
一堆错综复杂的事实，我们花了今年大半年的时间才理清楚，这个探索始于给邮件作者打的一个电话。
A tangle of facts, which would take us most of this year to unknot, a quest which began with a phone call to the email's author.
你能说一下你的名字，然后告诉我你现在在哪里吗？
Can you say your name and tell me where you are right now?
嘿，PJ。
Hey, PJ.
我是拉贾，我住在宾夕法尼亚州的州学院。
I'm Raja, and I'm based out of State College, Pennsylvania.
好的。
Okay.
那你能给我一些背景信息吗？
So you could just give me some context.
比如，你担心你爸爸。
Like, you're concerned about your dad.
你能给我一个大概的印象吗？
Can you just give me, like, a postcard image?
比如，你爸爸是个什么样的人？
Like, who is your dad?
跟我简单说说你父亲的情况吧。
Just tell me a little bit about your father.
我父亲大约五十年前从印度孟买来到美国，他带着典型的美国梦来到这里。
So my dad moved to America from Mumbai and India about fifty years ago, and he came here with the classic American dream.
他受过良好的药学教育。
He had a good education in pharmacy.
他一开始做药剂师，把妻子接过来，组建了家庭，但他走的并不是一条传统的路。
He started out as a pharmacist and brought his wife over, started a family, but he didn't have exactly a traditional path.
甚至在他退休之前，在我出生之前，他就开始涉足各种副业。
Even before he was retired and before I was born, he was getting involved in all these side businesses.
最近的一件事是，他在感恩节时突然告诉我们，说，嘿。
And the most recent thing is he sprung it on us during Thanksgiving and said, hey.
下个月我要去印度，开始拍一部电影。
Next month, I'm going to India, and I'm gonna start shooting a movie.
在我们聊最近这件事之前，你先给我讲讲他那些副业大概是什么样的吧。
And before we get into to the most recent one, like, just give me a sense of, like, what are some of the side businesses?
比如，你在邮件里描述了你父亲创业项目的广度和深度。
Like, I in your email, you were describing the kind of width and breadth of your dad's entrepreneurial ventures.
我希望你能给我讲讲其中一些项目。
I just want if you could just tell me about some of them.
哦，当然可以。
Oh, absolutely.
在我出生之前，他开了一家五金店，和家得宝竞争，卖螺母、螺栓和螺丝。
So before I was born, he started a hardware business where he was competing against Home Depot, where he was selling nuts, bolts, and screws.
至少他是这么打算的。
Or trying to anyway.
罗杰记得小时候觉得车库里堆满卖不出去的五金存货是件很正常的事。
Roger remembers as a kid thinking it was normal to have a garage filled with unsold hardware surplus.
那生意失败后，他父亲开始寻找更容易的目标。
When that business failed, his dad started looking for easier prey.
他开始盯上了金考。
He started eyeing Kinko's.
他当时有个复印生意，也是在车库里，想印出成千上万份，但一个客户都没有。
He had a photocopy business where he was just also in the garage just trying to print off hundreds and thousands of copies, but he never had one customer.
金考公司也很有优势，能应对像拉贾父亲这样的潜在颠覆者。
Kinko's also well positioned to take on would be disruptors like Raja's dad.
不过，其他市场也在招手。
However, other markets beckoned.
那个脱毛凝胶是一种透明的凝胶，女性会涂在脸上，涂在任何不想要的毛发上，把它漂白，让它不那么显眼。
The hair bleaching gel is a clear gel that women would put onto their face, onto any unwanted hair just to bleach it to make it less noticeable.
他接管了我们的地下室，把它变成了他的旧实验室，买了你能想到的一切，比如化学实验套装，然后布置起来。
He took over our basement and made his old laboratory, buying everything you can imagine from a chemistry set and setting that up.
这个凝胶产品其实卡在了研发阶段。
The gel product actually got stuck in r and d.
罗杰说他记得有一次弄到自己手上，烧得很厉害。
Roger said he remembers once getting it on his own hand and it burning a lot.
如果说他父亲对这些生意的失败似乎毫不在意，那家里的其他人可不这么想。
If his dad seemed undeterred by the failure of these businesses, the rest of the family felt differently.
我妈妈非常节俭，非常保守，把钱存起来，把钱拿去投资，不要去追逐那些疯狂而不切实际的梦想。
My mom has the extremely frugal, extremely conservative, put your money into savings, put your money into investments, don't chase wild, ridiculous dreams.
她非常明确地说，嘿，这纯粹是浪费钱。
She was very clear that, hey, this is a a waste of money.
你爸爸又在搞他那些愚蠢的生意了，这不会有什么结果的，也不会变成什么大事。
Your dad's doing another one of his dumb businesses, and this is not gonna go anywhere, and it's not gonna turn into something.
所以从小到大，我对他尝试这些事情总是有点犹豫，也有点沮丧，我当时就说，对。
So growing up, I always was a little hesitant and always a little frustrated with him trying these things where I said, yeah.
这可能又是一次浪费钱。
This just could be another waste of money.
这就是罗杰当时的感觉。
That's how Roger felt back then.
如今，他已经是个成年人了，自己也当了父亲。
These days, he's an adult, a father himself.
他和自己父亲的关系，从偶尔的沮丧，变成了持续的担忧。
His relationship with his own dad has evolved from one of periodic frustration to one of ambient concern.
因为他爸爸现在七十多岁了，退休了，靠着自己攒下的积蓄生活，没有家里的钱支持。
Because his dad's now in his seventies, retired, a man living off the nest egg he earned himself, no family money.
他拥有的就是这些，这意味着如果出了什么问题，可能会非常严重。
He has what he has, which means if something were to go wrong, it could go very wrong.
所以当Raja谈到他爸爸最新的项目——那部他众筹的宝莱坞电影时，Raja觉得这事儿挺离谱的，但同时也挺担心的。
Which is why when Raja talks about his dad's newest venture, the Bollywood film he streamed up, Raja sees how it's absurd, but he also worries about it.
那你给我讲讲，从头开始，比如有一天你爸爸满脑子都是各种点子。
So give me, like start me at the beginning of just, just, like, one day you had a dad with a garage full of ideas.
又有一天，你爸爸居然想拍一部宝莱坞电影。
Another day, you had a dad who was trying to make a Bollywood movie.
你就告诉我，这到底是怎么发生的？
Like, you just tell me, like, how did this even happen?
我爸爸其实不看宝莱坞电影。
So my dad doesn't watch Bollywood movies.
我从来没听他提过宝莱坞。
I've never heard him talk about Bollywood.
我从来没见他在旁边看过宝莱坞电影。
I've never seen him watch a Bollywood movie in the background.
这事儿真是突然冒出来的。
It just sprung up really out of nowhere.
他当时并没有一个成熟的想法。
He didn't have a fully baked idea.
他也没写个像样的剧本。
He didn't write a proper script.
他就是打开Word，直接开始打字。
He just went into Word and just started typing.
你要是看那个文档，感觉就像他的初稿。
And if you look at it, it looks like his first draft.
看起来他连检查都没检查过。
It doesn't look like he even reviewed it.
拉贾在给我的邮件里附上了这个Word文档，就是他父亲开始拍电影的那个文件。
Raja had included this Word document in his email to me, the file that began his father's journey into movie making.
标题是《花球摘要》。
It's titled Flower Volley Summary.
摘要这个词拼错了一点，多了个e。
Summary is slightly misspelled with an e.
不过《花球》才是电影的名字。
Flower Volley, though, is the title of the film.
在印地语里，它大致可以翻译成“带花的女士”。
In Hindi, it loosely translates to lady with the flowers.
故事里有个舞者，就叫这个名字。
There's a dancer in the story who goes by that name.
这个剧情摘要不太好理解。
The plot summary is not tremendously easy to follow.
我可以告诉你，它讲的是一个穿越时空的电影，故事在印度的现在和两百五十年前的过去之间切换，里面有个叛逆的青少年，还有一段出现了一头会说话的驴。
I can tell you that it describes a time travel movie, which splits its action between India's present and India's past two hundred fifty years ago, that it involves a rebellious teenager and at one point, a talking donkey.
拉杰的爸爸还起草了一份两页的剧本，他称之为预告片，其实就是一个电影场景。
Raj's dad had also drafted a two page script for what he calls a trailer, which is really just a movie scene.
在那个场景里，一个想当制片人的人跑到宝莱坞导演的办公室，推销他的点子，一部叫《花球》的电影。
In that scene, a would be movie producer shows up in the office of a Bollywood director to pitch him on his idea, a film called Flower Volley.
导演还问他，什么花？
The director even asks him, what kind of flower?
花菜吗？
A cauliflower?
这挺自嘲的，而且作为推销来说，确实很粗糙。
It's all fairly meta, and as pitches go, certainly very rough.
然而，就凭这个推销，拉吉的爸爸居然在印度找到了一个人，说能把他的点子拍成真正的电影，据说还是个有名的宝莱坞导演，很快就开始了大笔的付款要求来资助这部电影。
And yet, with nothing but that pitch, Raj's dad had somehow found a person in India who said he could turn his idea into a real film, supposedly a reputable Bollywood director, who quickly began submitting large payment requests to fund said film.
拉贾看到了其中一个请求。
Raja saw one of those requests.
那个请求来自一个普通的Gmail邮箱地址。
The request was coming from a regular Gmail email address.
它跟任何制片公司都没有关系。
It wasn't tied to any production company.
邮箱地址就是 lightproductions@gmail.com。
It was just lightproductions@Gmail.com.
所以特别可疑。
So very suspicious.
光看表面，这看起来一点都不靠谱。
If you take it at face value, it didn't seem very legit.
lightproductions@gmail.com。
Lightproductions@Gmail.com.
一个所谓的知名宝莱坞导演，怎么会用这种任何人都能在九十秒内注册出来的邮箱地址呢？
Why would a reputable Bollywood director be using this sort of email address anybody could make in about ninety seconds?
拉贾对这个所谓导演感到好奇，于是让父亲把
Raja, curious about this so called director, asked his dad to give
那个人的名字告诉他。
him the guy's name.
这位导演叫卡马尔·钱德拉。如果你上网搜一下他，会发现只有一条新闻报道提到他的某部电影曾引发很大争议。
The director is Kamal Chandra, who if you go online and start googling him, there's one news report about one of his movies being very controversial.
除此之外，我没看到太多电影。
Other than that, I didn't see a lot of movies.
我看到了一个IMDb页面。
I saw an IMDb page.
我看到了一个Instagram，但除此之外没有太多信息。
I saw an Instagram, but not much information outside of that.
那你当时是在试着确认这事是否靠谱，还是说你其实已经怀疑它不靠谱，想找点证据说服你爸让他别继续了？
And were you like was it like you were trying to find out if this was okay, or was it kind of like you suspected it wasn't okay and you were trying to find something to prove to your father that he ought to stop?
我想我只是想说服自己这事没问题，但更多的是，嘿，这家伙到底是不是真的？
I guess I was just trying to prove to myself that it was okay, but more so, hey, is this guy legit?
因为对于一个自称是知名宝莱坞导演的人来说，他来找你爸说，嘿，你的创意，你的电影，真的让我特别着迷。
Because for somebody who claims to be an established Bollywood director to come to him and say, hey, something about your concept, something about your film just really, really captivated me.
而且我通常做的是——这是他的原话。
And I normally do and these are his exact words.
我通常做的项目规模是这的十倍，但你的创意太独特了，我觉得我被它吸引了，我真的很想制作它。
I normally do projects that are 10 times the size, but your concept was so unique that I felt I felt gravitated towards it, and I felt like I really wanted to produce it.
我就是觉得心里不太踏实。
It just it just doesn't sit right with me.
你有没有担心过，这根本就不是卡马尔·钱德拉本人？
Did you worry at all that it was possible that this wasn't even Kamal Chandra?
比如，他确实是个真正的导演，但并不是你父亲在合作的那个人？
Like, that that was a real director, but that it wasn't the person your father was doing business with?
当然有想过。
Oh, absolutely.
那具体是
And what is
电影的总预算大概是多少？
the movie budget, like, in total?
大概在30万美元左右。
Somewhere around $300,000.
30万美元。
$300,000.
对一个人来说，这是一大笔钱，对你爸爸来说，把钱寄给一个陌生人也是一大笔钱，但这点钱够拍一部真正的故事片吗？
A lot of money for a person, a lot of money for your dad to send to a stranger, but was it enough money to make a real feature film?
在印度，大热的电影预算都是几百万美元。
In India, the big hit films have multimillion dollar budgets.
但当时不清楚卡马尔·钱德拉到底在哪个市场层次，他平时拍的电影预算是多少。
But it wasn't clear which part of the market Kamal Chandra worked in, what his films were normally budgeted for.
所以拉贾开始试着去了解他爸爸一头扎进去的那个世界。
So Raja started trying to better understand the world his dad had leapt into.
我做过一些调查。
I've done some research.
我上了Reddit，发了个帖子，问大家知不知道这个情况，问他们认不认识这个导演。
I went on to Reddit, and I put a post out there asking people about the situation, asking about this director.
除了我在网上能搜到的信息，没人给我提供什么别的。
No one really gave me any information outside of what I could Google on the Internet.
不过，倒是发生了一些有意思的事。
Some funny things did happen, though.
我开始收到一些人的私信，问我，嘿。
I started getting DMs from people about, hey.
他电影选角选完了吗？
Did he finish casting the movie?
你爸还需要女主角吗？
Does he need a lead female character, your dad?
我就想，这个我也不知道啊。
I'm like, the I don't know.
这不是我要找的东西。
This is not what I'm looking for.
我不是要帮他拍电影。
This is I'm not trying to help him make the movie.
我只是想确认这电影是不是真的。
I'm just trying to see if it's a real movie.
如果拉贾担心互联网在他父亲和那些急于得到他父亲钱的人之间打开了一扇门，那这情况可没帮上忙。
If Raja was worried that the Internet had opened a door between his father and people desperate for his father's money, this was not helping.
就连他在Reddit上发的那个问导演是否靠谱的帖子，都引来了想在宝莱坞找工作的人。
The fact that even his Reddit post asking if the director was legit had itself summoned people looking for work in Bollywood.
不过，那个Reddit帖子倒是带来了一个有意思的结果。
However, the Reddit post did produce one intriguing result.
一个陌生人在WhatsApp上自称Chaya Chaya，联系他说自己是宝莱坞圈内人，可能有一些信息要告诉他。
A stranger, WhatsApp named Chaya Chaya, reached out to say that he was a Bollywood insider, and he might have some information for him.
Raja当然对宝莱坞一无所知，他兴奋地回复了对方，很想从这位新线人那里了解点情况。
Raja, who, of course, knows nothing about Bollywood, excitedly responded, curious to learn about his new source.
他在这个圈子里地位有多高？
How well placed in the industry was he?
他承认自己是个第三助理导演。
He admitted to being a third assistant director.
当我问他第三助理导演是做什么的，他说，其实没什么事干。
And when I asked him what a third assistant director does, he said, not much really.
大概更像是制片助理之类的吧。
Something something more like a production assistant.
可能前两个助理导演干的活更多。
Probably the first two assistant directors do more work.
没错。
Exactly.
不过，拉贾还是觉得这套东西挺有用的。
Still, Raja found this kit helpful.
就算是第三助理导演，也比拉贾更了解宝莱坞。
Even a third assistant director knew more about Bollywood than Raja did.
所以他把所有知道的事情都告诉了查雅·查雅，而查雅·查雅也根据自己在宝莱坞的经验告诉他，
So he shared everything he had with Chaya Chaya, who in turn told him that from his experience of Bollywood,
这些情况看起来都不太妙。
none of this looked good.
他说有很多危险信号。
He said there's a lot of red flags.
他甚至建议让我爸退出，但事情已经停不下来了。
He even suggested telling my dad to pull out, but the wheels were really set in motion.
事情进展得非常快。
Things were moving ahead very quickly.
所以更多的是，好吧。
So it's more, okay.
到了这个时候，我们能做些什么来控制局面？
At this point, what can we do to contain this?
我们能做些什么来确保我爸不会因为这件事而破产？
What can we do to make sure that my dad isn't going to just walk away dead broke from this?
那次交流之后，你就决定给搜索引擎发邮件了吗？
And is that was it after that interaction that you decided to email search engine?
其实，我当时非常绝望。
Actually, I I was pretty desperate.
那么对我们来说，你希望我们试着找出什么？
And so for us, what do you want us to try to find out?
我想我希望你们帮我查清楚这个项目是不是真的在进行。
I guess I would love for you to help find out if this project is really happening.
如果那个自称是卡马尔·钱德拉导演的人，真的是他的话，对。
If the person who claims that he is Kamal Chandra, the director, if that's really him Yeah.
到了这一步，我只关心有没有产品。
At this point, I just care that there is a product.
我爸付的那些钱，总得有个结果。
Whatever my dad has paid for, it becomes something.
好的。
Okay.
我们会查清楚的。
We're gonna find out.
我们会了解更多。
We're gonna learn more.
休息片刻后，我们的调查就开始了。
After a short break, our investigation begins.
接下来的对话由LabCorp On Demand为您呈现。
The following conversation is brought to you by LabCorp On Demand.
我们都是自封的专家，对某些事情，比如工作、朋友、喜欢去的餐厅，还有真人秀明星的私生活。
We're all self proclaimed experts about something, our jobs, our friends, our favorite places to eat, the inner lives of the stars of reality television.
但我们对自身的健康状况了解得够多吗？
But are we as knowledgeable about our own health?
LabCorp On Demand 提供了一种便捷的方式来获取健康检测和相关信息。
LabCorp On Demand provides a convenient way to access health testing and insights.
通过 LabCorp On Demand，你可以轻松进行健康检测，掌控自己的健康。
You can take control of your health with convenient health testing through LabCorp On Demand.
我最近做了一次全面的 LabCorp On Demand 检测，想弄清楚自己身体里到底发生了什么，这对我来说一直是个谜。
I recently took a general LabCorp On Demand test to find out what exactly is going on inside my own body, which is an unnerving mystery to me.
我做了个非常全面的检测，因为我特别想知道为什么我总是感觉睡眠不足，好像总是少睡两个小时。
I did a very expansive test because I very much wanted to know essentially why I always feel like I'm two hours short of the amount of sleep I would have preferred.
说实话，整个过程简单得让人意外。
And to be honest, the process was shockingly easy.
我在网上购买了检测，然后选了一个附近的 LabCorp 地点进行样本采集。
I bought the test online, picked a nearby LabCorp location for sample collection.
这种地方特别多。
There's a ton of them.
第二天早上就约到了，骑车过去，前后大概十五分钟就搞定了。
Was able to get an appointment the next morning, biked over, was in and out in about fifteen minutes.
然后下周初，我收到邮件通知说结果出来了，这样我就能知道身体里到底发生了什么。
And then early next week, I got notified by email when my results were ready so I could find out what was going on inside my own body.
我把结果分享给了我们节目的编辑。
And I shared my results with our show's editor.
所以，就算你不是我说话最多的人，也绝对排得上号。
So you're if not the person that I talk to the most, in contention for the person I talk to the most.
这是真的还是假的？
Is that true or not true?
绝对是真的。
Absolutely.
在我们所有的对话里，有多少比例是关于我自己诊断出来的真实或想象中的健康问题的？
And what percentage on the pie chart of our conversations are about real or imagined health issues that I have diagnosed myself with?
说实话，我觉得这个比例这些年已经降下来了，以前可能更高。
I mean, honestly, I think the percentage has gone down over the years, so it might have been higher.
以前肯定更高。
It was definitely higher.
现在的话，我觉得大概有20%。
And now I would say it's about 20%.
所以如果我告诉你
So if I told
我刚刚
you that I
拿到了一份比较全面的体检结果，能看出我身体有什么问题，你作为要跟我聊天的人，会有多焦虑？
just got, like, a a fairly, like, full panel test results so I can tell whatever is wrong with me, what's your level of anxiety as just a person who has to have a conversation with me?
作为一个也四十多岁、也在担心自己胆固醇什么的人，我很好奇你
As a person who's also in my forties and thinking about my cholesterol, yada yada, I'm curious what you
查出了什么。
learned.
好的。
Okay.
准备好了吗？
You ready?
接下来要说的事情特别离谱。
Here's what's very crazy.
你很健康。
You're healthy.
完全健康。
Totally healthy.
恭喜你。
Congratulations.
谢谢。
Thank you.
说实话，我现在都不知道该想什么了。
I honestly am not sure what to think about now.
我简直太普通了。
I'm, like, totally unremarkable.
我一直这么觉得，因为我总是很累。
I was convinced because I'm always tired.
我真的以为我的睾酮水平会很低，而且——
I was really convinced I was gonna have low testosterone, and
我没觉得，或者缺铁什么的。
I didn't Or an iron deficiency or something like that.
好吧，我确实以为睾酮低，但当我跟医生聊的时候，她说你上网太多了。
Well, I was convinced low testosterone, and then when I talked to my doctor, she was like, you're you're spending too much time on the Internet.
网上总想让大家觉得自己——
The Internet is trying convince everybody they
睾酮低。
have low testosterone.
她说我有焦虑症。
She said you have anxiety.
好的。
Okay.
我只是有点惊讶，因为我觉得我对饮食习惯有些想法。
I'm only surprised because I think I have thoughts about eating habits.
哥们，我的胆固醇好得很。
Dude, my cholesterol is fantastic.
恭喜你。
Congratulations.
你肯定基因很好。
You must have great genes.
这绝对是天生的，不是后天养成的。
It's definitely nature, not nurture.
如果你对自己的整体健康有疑问，LabCorp On Demand 是一个值得信赖的方式，能帮你获得推动前进的洞察。
If you have questions about your overall health, LabCorp On Demand is a trusted way to get insights that can power you forward.
只需访问网站，从超过100种实验室检测中选择，包括微量营养素、皮质醇、体能、睾酮等。
Just visit the website and choose from a suite of more than a 100 lab tests, including micronutrient, cortisol, fitness, testosterone, and more.
之后，去离你最近的LabCorp检测点做检测。
From there, visit the LabCorp location closest to you to get tested.
只需几天就能拿到可靠且易懂的结果，这些结果来自医生信赖的实验室。
It takes only days to receive reliable, easy to understand results from lab doctors trust.
准备好开始了解自己了吗？
Ready to start knowing yourself?
访问ondemand.labcorp.com/搜索，并使用代码search，在特定检测项目上最高可节省15%。
Visit ondemand.labcore.com slash search engine and use code search to save up to 15% on select tests.
网址是ondemand.labcorp.com/搜索，使用代码search。
That's ondemand.labcorp.com/ search engine and use code search.
了解自己。
Know yourself.
欢迎回到节目。
Welcome back to the show.
宝莱坞。
Bollywood.
在继续讲我们的故事之前，我们得先了解一下拉贾追着他父亲进入的那个世界。
We cannot proceed further into our story without a primer on this world that Raja was chasing his father into.
宝莱坞，你可能已经知道，名字来源于孟买，很多住在那里的人以前都这么叫这座城市。
So Bollywood, as you might already know, gets its name from Bombay, which is what many people who live there used to call the city.
美国人听到宝莱坞这个词，会想到一种电影类型。
When Americans hear the word Bollywood, they think of a genre.
我们觉得宝莱坞电影就是场面宏大、情感丰富，有歌舞，还有夸张的打斗场面。
We think of a Bollywood movie as big and emotional with song and dance and over the top fighting scenes.
虽然宝莱坞这个词字面上指的是用印地语对白、在孟买制作的电影，但我们在这里用它来指代整个印度电影产业，这个产业遍布全国，用多种语言拍电影。
And while the word Bollywood literally describes movies made in Bombay with Hindi dialogue, it's a word we're using here to cover the entire Indian film industry, which exists throughout the country and makes movies in many languages.
整体来看，印度电影的影响力不如美国电影。
Taken as a whole, Indian film does not have the reach of American film.
没有哪个国家的电影能比得上美国，但印度电影也很厉害。
Nothing does, but it's big.
印度每年上映的电影数量比地球上任何国家都多，是我们的两倍。
India releases more films per year than any country on Earth, twice as many as we do.
而且和这里一样，印度的电影行业竞争非常激烈，对任何人来说都很危险，更不用说外来者了。
And like here, India's film industry is cutthroat, a perilous place for anybody, let alone an outsider.
这些我都是通过和一位宝莱坞内部人士的电话了解到的，他是真正的内部人士，不是第三助理导演，而是一位从宝莱坞记者转行做编剧的人，名叫安库尔·帕杜克。
I learned all this from a phone call with a Bollywood insider, a real insider, not a third assistant director, a Bollywood journalist turned screenwriter named Ankur Paduk.
我们通话时，他正在片场。
When we spoke, he was on set.
你那边情况怎么样？
How are you doing over there?
挺好的。
Good.
挺好的。
Good.
今天挺平常的，所以还不错。
It's been a fairly predictable day, so quite okay.
平常的一天是什么样的？
What happens in a predictable day?
你知道，通常不会有什么紧急情况让你被叫到片场，去处理那些你没计划好的突发状况，演员们也不会
You know, like, there is usually not a dire emergency where you're called on to set and, you know, firefighting stuff that you've not planned for and actors are not
耍脾气。
throwing tantrums.
听起来像是制作过程中常见的事。
It sounds like production.
安库尔，一个似乎值得拥有自己故事的人，但今天却自愿在我们的故事里当起了向导。
Ankur, a person who seemed to deserve his own story, but who today had volunteered to appear in ours as a guide.
他告诉我，随着行业规模的扩大，宝莱坞已经远远超出了我脑海中的形象，现在包含了各种类型的电影，写实的、粗粝的、独立制作的，而不仅仅是我一直想象的那种感伤歌舞大片。
He told me that over the years, as the industry scaled, Bollywood has just evolved well past the image in my head, that it includes all sorts of movie genres now, realistic, gritty, indie, not just the sentimental song and dance bonanzas I've been picturing.
但令人惊讶的是，他说，即使行业多年来规模不断扩大，它的边缘地带仍然保留了不少阴暗面。
But surprisingly, he said, even as the industry has scaled way up over the years, it's retained a fair amount of seediness at its fringes.
就像，这是一个非常庞大的行业，PJ。
Like, it's such a vast industry, PJ.
有太多角色进进出出，扮演各种不同的角色，所以被骗、被耍是非常常见的。
It has so many characters kind of going in and out, playing various different parts that, like, being taken for a ride, getting fooled is remarkably common.
你知道吗，就在我住的那条街上，我住的地方附近基本都是制片公司。
You know, just down the road where I live, I mean, I I live in the part where, like, most of the production companies are.
比如，我现在还在跟你录播客，要是去附近的咖啡馆买杯咖啡，就能看到一些看起来很可疑的人在偷偷见面，他们自己都不知道谁在骗谁。
Like, if I go and grab a coffee right now while I'm still on this podcast with you at a local cafe, I'll just see, like, some really shady guy trying to, like, meet another person, and they wouldn't know who's trying to scam home.
你知道吗，他们都会说，哦，对。
You know, they'll they'll all talk, like, oh, yeah.
我们要拍一部大制作的宝莱坞电影，而且我认识这个人。
We're gonna make, like, this big Bollywood film, and, I know this one.
哦，对。
Oh, yeah.
那个人，我跟他们合作过。
That one, I worked with that.
我的意思是，他们都会到处提名人名。
I mean, they they'll all be name dropping.
他们都会吹得天花乱坠。
They'll all be talking big.
而且真正能搞出点名堂来的情况非常少。
And it's very rare for something really serious to come out of it.
最后你只会浪费大量时间。
You'll just end up spending a lot of time.
明白了。
I see.
还会浪费很多钱。
You'll waste a lot of money.
而且极大概率你什么都拿不回来，更别说赚钱或者拍出一部让你自豪的像样电影了。
And it's very, very, very likely that you won't see any return, let alone a profit or a reasonable film that you're proud of.
当我把拉贾父亲——那个业余的门外汉，现在却往印度汇了几十万美元——的完整故事告诉安库尔时，他确实愣了一下。
When I told Ankur the full story of Raja's father, the amateur outsider who is now sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to India, that gave Ankur a real pause.
他不想对花谷或它的导演具体发表评论。
He didn't wanna comment specifically on Flower Valley or on its director.
他从来没听说过卡马尔·钱德拉。
He'd never heard of Kamal Chandra.
虽然他有些担心，但他还是没有直接说这是骗局。
And though he was concerned, he did stop short of the word scam.
这个词带有动机的意味。
It imputed motive.
它指责了他从未见过的人。
It accused people he hadn't met.
我一开始以为他只是出于礼貌，或者怕惹上官司。
I thought maybe he was just being polite or litigation averse.
但当我跟美国电影圈的朋友们讲这个故事时，他们的反应都一样。
But when I'd repeat the story to my friends in the American film industry, they'd all have the same reaction.
难道我没看出来吗？
Didn't I see?
一个制片人把钱打进导演的账户，却永远拿不回来，这怎么能叫骗局呢？
The story of a movie producer pouring his money into a director's bank account and never getting that money back, how could you call that a scam?
很多时候，电影行业就是这么运作的。
That was how much of the time the film industry worked.
我一开始以为他们在开玩笑，但后来我的朋友泽夫给我指了这场当时还在进行的官司。
I thought they were being funny, but then my friend Zev pointed me to this then ongoing legal battle.
奈飞正在和一位名叫卡尔·埃里克·林奇的导演纠缠不清。
Netflix was tussling with a director named Carl Eric Rinch.
奈飞给了林奇5500万美元做他的项目，结果林奇把这些钱花在了豪车、名表上，还买了两张豪华床垫，不是一张，是两张。
Netflix had given Rinch $55,000,000 for his project, which Rinch had then spent on luxury cars, luxury watches, and not one, but two luxury mattresses.
林奇后来试图辩称这些都是非常昂贵的电影道具。
Wrench then tried to claim that these were all just very expensive movie props.
其实根本不是。
They weren't.
但这件事已经拖了好几年了。
But this had gone on for years.
像奈飞这么精明的公司，居然白白浪费了数千万美元。
Tens of millions of dollars squandered by a company as sophisticated as Netflix.
也许在电影行业，艺术家和骗子之间的界限，确实比其他行业要模糊一些。
Maybe in film, the line between an artist and a scam artist was a little blurrier than it was elsewhere.
是骗局还是电影？
A scam or a movie?
我的问题问错了。
My question was wrong.
所以我把这个问题在心里藏了好几个星期。
So I kept the question in my pocket for weeks.
我把它拿出来，在手里反复琢磨，翻来覆去地想，就是想把它变成一个更准确的问题。
I take it out, worry it in my palm, chew on it, just trying to work it into a more correct shape.
然后有一天，答案自己回来了。
And then one day, it returned to me.
终于，对了。
Finally, right.
这里要回答的问题是这样的。
The question, the one to answer here, was this.
拉贾的父亲是不是被人利用了？
Was Raja's father being taken advantage of?
这才是拉贾真正想知道的。
That's what Raja really wanted to know.
“骗局”这个词很响亮，很吸引眼球，简单易懂。
The word scam was loud, SEO, something simple to click on.
但真正的问题其实更含蓄，坦白说，可能更让人心酸。
The actual question here was quieter and frankly, maybe a little more sad.
拉贾的父亲，一位七十多岁的老人，是不是被人利用了？
Was Raj's father, a man in his mid seventies, being taken advantage of?
你介意先告诉我你的名字吗？
Do you mind just starting with your by telling me your name?
哦，我的名字？
Oh, my name?
哦，兰吉特·卡雷斯卡斯。
Oh, Ranjit Kareiskars.
我知道你已经退休了，但我想知道，你以前是做什么工作的？
And I know that you're retired, but I was wondering if you could tell me what your profession was before.
哦，是的。
Oh, yeah.
哦，哦，这说来话长了。
Oh, oh, it's a lot of life history.
好的。
Okay.
不。
No.
其实也不算。
It's not really.
我从印度药学专业毕业后，就离开了那里。
I graduated from a pharmacy and took off from there from India.
我来这里已经五十多年了。
I'm here for more than fifty years.
我在药学领域工作了大约四十年，然后退休了，之后就没别的事可做了。
I worked for about forty years in pharmacy section, then I got retired, and I had nothing else to do.
所以我探索了很多东西。
So I explored a lot of things.
其中一件事就是拍了一部电影。
And one of that ended up with making a movie.
今年春天，我和兰吉斯在他佛罗里达的家中进行了第一次对话。
This first conversation with Ranjith from his home in Florida happened this past spring.
从那以后，我和这位先生相处的时间多了很多。
I've since spent much more time with this man.
他说话的方式我很喜欢。
He has a way of speaking I really enjoy.
他很有趣。
He's funny.
有时候感觉他身上有种超越平凡的特质，但他用谦逊温和的态度把它藏了起来。
It feels sometimes like there's something larger than life in him that he contains behind a curtain of warm self effacement.
比如，当他认真告诉你他的人生经历很丰富，然后过一会儿又轻描淡写地说其实也没什么。
Like, when he tells you correctly that he has a colorful life history, and then a beat later walks it back with a not really.
你儿子告诉我，你当药剂师那几年，也是个真正的企业家。
Your son told me that in your years as a pharmacist, you were also a real entrepreneur.
但我告诉你实际情况吧。
But I'll tell you the score.
如果说是成功的生意或者尝试，比分是100比0。
If it is a successful business and might attempt, the score is 100 to zero.
等等。
Wait.
100比0是成功的生意多，还是尝试多？
A 100 to zero more successful businesses or more attempts?
不是。
No.
是不成功的。
And unsuccessful.
我
I'm
一个有点笨拙的商人。
a little clumsy businessman.
兰吉特，这个自称笨拙的商人，告诉我他是如何受到启发，投身于这个最新的昂贵事业——宝莱坞电影制作的。
Ranjith, the self described clumsy businessman, told me how he'd been inspired to plunge into this latest expensive venture, Bollywood filmmaking.
兰吉特，正如他儿子已经告诉我们的，其实并不是一个宝莱坞专家，甚至不是粉丝，但他非常热衷于冒险创业。
Ranjith, as his son already told us, not actually a huge Bollywood expert or even fan, but an enormous fan of long shot entrepreneurship.
有一天，命运的安排下，兰吉特在看一部印度电影时，突然有了一个想法。
And one fateful day, Ranjith found himself watching an Indian movie when a thought occurred.
那部电影拍得确实不错，没错。
The movie was competently made, sure.
但也有一些地方让他觉得不太对劲。
But also, there were things about it that bothered him.
有些东西是你意料之中的。
Something like that you expected.
好吧。
Okay.
这肯定会发生的。
This is going to happen.
会有反派，会有舞者，还会有打斗场面。
There's there'll be villain, and there'll be dancers, and there'll be a fight.
哦，我想你说的那个词是“套路化”。
Oh, I think the word you mean is it's formulaic.
就是说，一旦你知道是什么类型，你就知道接下来会发生什么。
It's like, you know everything's gonna happen once you know the genre.
对。
Yes.
我说，不。
I said, no.
我觉得我能改进它。
I think I can improve on it.
于是Ranjith打开了电脑。
So Ranjith cracked open his computer.
展开剩余字幕（还有 480 条）
一开始，他只是开始写下他改进电影的方法，他的那些小改动。
At first, he just started writing down the ways he'd improved the movie, his tweaks.
但没过多久，他发现自己其实是在从头设计一部他自己想看的宝莱坞电影。
But before long, he found he was actually just designing his own Bollywood film from scratch, one he'd actually wanna watch.
当然更古怪，也更贴合他个人的幽默感。
Certainly weirder, certainly more tuned to his particular sense of humor.
最终形成的文件就是我看到的那个所谓的摘要，那个有时光旅行小孩和会说话的驴子的故事。
The resulting document was that so called summary I'd seen, the story with the time traveling kid and the talking donkey.
对兰吉特来说很幸运，这个想法恰好在他手头有点闲钱的时候冒了出来。
Fortuitously for Ranjith, this idea also happened to strike at about the same time he'd come into some easy money.
我在股市上运气不错。
I had little luck on the stock market.
我当时在关注一只股票，是Meta还是什么来着？
I was watching stock for a meta or what is it?
那时候是Facebook。
Facebook then.
是的。
Yes.
然后它跌破了100美元。
And it dipped to below $100.
所以我就从股票经纪人那里借了些钱，买了一千股。
So what I did, I borrowed some money from a stockbroker and bought thousand of them.
幸运的是，它涨上去了。
Fortunately, it shot up.
我记得大概涨到了600多美元。
I think it's there something $600 and a plus.
哇，真的吗？
Oh, wow.
我卖了一些来筹钱拍这部电影。
I sold some of them to finance this movie.
所以一下子就能筹到三十多万美元。
So out of nowhere, could raise about 300 plus thousand dollars.
好的。
Okay.
所以你在股市上赚了钱。
So you've you've you've made your money in the stock market.
你有一个宝莱坞电影的想法。
You have an idea for a Bollywood movie.
你知道你想要什么，但你以前从未拍过电影。
You know what you want it to be, but you've never made a film before.
那么，你是怎么找到愿意帮你的人的呢？
So, like, how did you find people who are gonna help you?
比如，你是怎么认识导演卡马尔·钱德拉的？
Like, how did you meet the director, Kamal Chandra?
就是打冷电话。
Just the cold calls.
冷电话。
Cold call.
你是怎么找到他的电话去打这个冷电话的？
How did you find his number to cold call him?
当时有一家电影制片厂。
There was this movie studio.
我哥哥打电话过去问，你们有没有拍过电影、有经验的导演？
My brother called and said, do you have any movie director who had experience in movie making?
然后接电话的这个人就回应了。
So this guy answered.
等等。
Wait.
那你是怎么——不好意思。
So how did you but sorry.
你是怎么找到他制片厂的电话的？
How did you find the number for his studio?
比如说，你是怎么找到那家制片厂的？
Like, did you find that studio?
哦，如果你上网搜一下孟买的电影制片厂，会出来一大堆。
Oh, if you go online and look for the movie studios in Mumbai, and you get a bunch of them.
好，明白了。
So okay.
所以你就上网搜了。
So you went online.
你找到了孟买电影制片厂的列表。
You found listings for movie studios in Mumbai.
然后你拿到了他的电话号码。
You so you get his phone number.
你就直接打过去了。
You cold call him.
他接了。
He picks up.
然后你说，你是个导演。
And you say, you're a director.
就是
It's
我有个电影的点子。
I have an idea for a movie.
我有拍电影的钱。
I have money for the movie.
你愿意拍吗？
Will you make it?
然后他问我要预算。
Then he asked me for the budget.
然后他说，预算有点低，但如果你把剧本发给我，我看看能不能拍。
Then he said, that budget is a little low, but if you send me the script, I'll check it if it can be done.
一周后，兰吉斯说导演告诉他，用20万美元的初始预算就能拍。
A week later, Ranjith said the director told him it could be done for an initial budget of $200,000.
他告诉兰吉斯，预计会有10%的超支，但不会更多。
He told Ranjith to expect a 10% overage on that, but not more.
好的。
Okay.
导演卡马尔·钱德拉对故事本身也提了一些意见，算是批评吧。
The director, Kamal Chandra, also had notes about the actual story, like a critique.
电影不能只是关于花椰菜和会说话的驴子的笑话。
The movie couldn't just be jokes about cauliflowers and the talking donkey.
光靠这些是不够的。
It would need more than that.
它需要悬疑和动作元素。
It would need mystery, action.
他们同意加入一个谋杀未遂的情节。
They agreed to add an attempted murder plot.
就这样，协议达成了。
And with that, a deal was struck.
朗格现在相信，通过一连串的陌生电话，他在千里之外找到了一位货真价实的导演。
Runge has believed now that through a series of cold calls, he found himself a bona fide director thousands of miles away.
于是他就开始汇款了。
So he started to wire money.
而且我们连正式的协议都没有。
And we didn't even have formal agreement.
只是握了个手。
Just a handshake.
只是握了个手，没有签合同。
Just a handshake, not a contract.
那他到底是谁？
And who who is he?
跟我说说他吧。
Like, tell me about him.
告诉我他之前做过什么。
Tell me what he's done before this.
卡马尔·钱德拉是谁？
Who is Kamal Chandra?
哦，他其实是个工程师，这是他的本行。
Oh, he's a he's actually, by profession, the engineer.
但跟我一样，他没有去当工程师。
But like me, he didn't go work as engineer.
他进了电影行业。
He got into movie industry.
过了几年艰难的日子后，他成了导演。
And after a few rough years, he became a director.
他拍了五部电影。
He made five, movies.
好的。
Okay.
我现在正在查他的资料。
I'm I'm actually looking him up right now.
他有IMDb页面。
He has an IMDb page.
他拍过不少音乐录影带，也做过短片和长片。
He's done a bunch of music videos, and he's done some shorts, and he's done some features.
比如他最近执导的电影《Aria Bat Kazero》，是2026年的作品。
Like, the last film he directed, our Aria Bat Kazero is 2026.
你有没有看过他之前拍的几部电影？
Have you gotten to watch some of the movies that he made before this?
没有。
No.
为什么
Why
你
didn't you
没看呢？
watch them?
我完全不知道。
I had no idea.
关于兰杰特，你得知道的是，就像每个艺术家和某些疯子一样，他有一种第二视觉在指引他。
Something about Ranjets you should know is that, like every artist and some madman, he is guided by a second sight.
他看得到现实世界，但也看得到幻象，那些还不存在但可能成真的东西。
He sees the real world, but he also sees visions, things that don't yet exist but could.
那些幻象有时会指引他。
Those visions guide him sometimes.
另外，兰吉特非常信任别人，他相信这个世界会想要他想象出来的东西，也相信他选来帮忙的人就是他们所说的那个人。
Also, Ranjith possesses a great deal of trust, Trust that the world will want the things he imagines and trust that the people he's chosen to help him are who they say they are.
兰吉特不需要看完卡马尔·钱德拉以前的所有作品，因为他觉得和这个人有共鸣，这个人说他也看得到兰吉特的愿景，那部目前只存在于兰吉特脑海中的电影。
Ranjit didn't need to see all of Kamal Chandra's past work because he felt connected to this man, who said that he too could see Ranjith's vision, this film that existed for now only in Ranjith's mind.
至于兰吉特很快就要汇出的大笔资金，他觉得自己大概知道这些钱会花到哪里去。
As for the large amounts of money Ranjith would soon be sending, he felt like he had a sense of where it would all go.
毕竟，导演的制作公司已经给他发了一份逐项列出的预算。
The director's production company had sent him, after all, a line by line budget.
他们给了很详细的明细，多少钱花在演员上，多少钱花在食物上，多少钱花在摄影上。
They've given full detail, how much will be used for actors, how much for the food, for camera.
我最不担心的主要部分是演员，他们只分配了大约两万美元，我说，两万美元怎么能请到演员？所以我就把它提高到了四万美元。
Main part that I was less worried about, for actors, they were only assigned about $20,000 I said, how can you get an actor for $20,000 So I I raised it to $40,000.
明白了。
I see.
因为感觉他们在演员预算上压得太低了，而显然，电影质量的一部分就在于演员。
Because it felt like they were under budgeting for actors, and obviously, part of the quality of the movie is the actors.
因为，你知道，发生了什么事，演员们真的很渴望得到工作，而我不喜欢因为他们想要工作就剥削他们。
Because, you know, what happened, you know, actors are really hungry for their job, and I don't like to exploit them just because they want it.
所以我的态度不一样。
So my attitude was different.
我说，你知道，他们是人，我必须尊重他们的技能。
I said, you know, do they are human beings, and I have to respect their skill.
所以你看预算的时候，不是想着‘他们最好别乱花我的钱’，而是想着‘这些可怜的家伙，他们给演员的报酬不够’。
So you're looking at the budget, and instead of thinking, like, they better not be spending my money too much, you're thinking, these poor guys, like, they're not paying the actors enough.
就像，你只是在为工作人员着想。
Like, they're you're you're, like, you're just thinking about the workers.
是的。
Yes.
兰吉特担心钱，但担心的方向和他儿子担心的不一样。
Ranjit, concerned about money, but not in the direction his son had worried.
试镜录像开始陆续送来。
The audition tapes began to roll in.
一盘接一盘的录像带，都是那些想当演员的人在念兰吉特想象中的角色的台词。
Tape after tape of would be stars reading lines for these characters Ranjit had imagined.
有300个人来参加不同角色的试镜。
300 people came in for casting different roles.
看到自己脑海中的想法被这些演员演绎出来，会不会觉得很奇怪？
Was it strange seeing this idea that had been in your head, and then you have these actors who are Oh, yeah.
我当时
I was
惊呆了。
flabbergasted.
说实话，我从没想过它会变得这么大。
Actually, I never thought it will be this giant.
你当时玩得开心吗？
Were you having fun?
当然，开心极了。
Oh, yeah.
比在药房工作还开心吗？
More fun than working in a pharmacy?
我对这个上瘾了。
I'm addicted to it.
也不是啦。
Not really.
有一点
A little bit
上瘾
addicted to
它。
it.
兰吉特，有点上瘾了，他告诉我去年为了这个项目已经去了印度三次。
Ranjit, a little bit addicted, told me he'd already traveled to India three times in the last year for the project.
事情进展得很快。
Things were moving quickly.
那次给卡马尔·钱德拉导演的冷电话是在去年十一月打的。
That cold call to director Kamal Chandra happened last November.
他们还在孟买见过面。
They'd also met in person in Mumbai.
而仅仅几个月内，卡马尔·钱德拉就组织了一场拍摄，一个大约50人的制作团队。
And within just months, Kamal Chandra had organized a shoot, a production with about 50 people.
嗯，51人。
Well, 51.
兰吉特也在那里，和摄制组一起从孟买前往印度一个相当偏远的邦——中央邦，在那里他们的队伍壮大到了大约100人。
Ranjit had been there too, traveling with the crew from Mumbai over to Madhya Pradesh, a pretty rural state in India, where their numbers had swelled to around a 100.
群演特别多。
There were lots of extras.
他们好像三周就拍完了整部电影。
They apparently shot this entire film in three weeks.
兰吉特给我发了几张他在片场用iPhone拍的照片，但光看照片真看不出来拍的是什么。
Ranjit sent me a handful of iPhone photos he'd taken on set, but it was a little hard to tell what I was seeing.
他儿子当初问的那个问题，把我们带到了这里，他担心的是这个电影拍摄本身不是真的。
His son, whose question had sent us here, had worried that the film shoot itself wasn't real.
我能看出来确实在拍东西，但拍的是什么呢？
I could tell something was really being shot, but what?
等兰吉特的钱花完了，这一切最后会留下什么？
What would exist at the end of all of this when Ranjit's money was finally spent?
兰吉特可没这个担心。
Ranjit did not have this concern.
他确信最后肯定能拍出一部电影。
He was sure there'd be a film at the end of this.
而且不仅如此，他还坚信自己甚至能把钱赚回来。
And not just that, he was convinced that he would even make his money back.
他说导演已经保证了这一点。
He said the director had guaranteed it.
你多久能看到一个剪辑好的电影版本？
How soon are you going to be able to see a, like, a cut together version of the movie?
我想他们说的是六月初左右。
I think they said about in the beginning of June.
哦。
Oh.
他们说他们会把它串起来。
They said they'll string it together.
那是当面看吗？
And is it in person?
他们会发过来吗？
Are they gonna send it?
怎么
How does
不，不是的。
it No.
不。
No.
不。
No.
我会去那里的。
I'll be I'll be going there.
你要去那里。而我实际上七月份可能会在印度。
You're gonna go in And I'm I'm actually gonna be in India in July, I think.
七月份，我想。
July, I think.
我想你会受到欢迎的。
I think you'll be welcome.
能招待你，那可不只是荣幸，简直是求之不得。
It will be more than, you know, a pleasure to host you.
就是有一点，那边会有点下雨，也会有点热。
Only thing, it'll be a little rainy and hot.
下雨我倒不怕。
I don't mind raining.
热我也不怕。
I don't mind heat.
我最怕的就是冷。
The only thing I mind is cold.
我已经订好票了。
I booked a ticket.
休息之后，搜索引擎，宝莱坞之后。
After the break, search engine, post Bollywood.
欢迎回到
Welcome back to the
节目。
show.
这个
This
七月份，我和我的编辑Shruti一起坐飞机去了印度孟买。
July, I found myself in India on a plane to Mumbai with my editor, Shruti.
她这几个月一直在和Ranjith协调。
She'd been coordinating over the months with Ranjith.
原本的计划是我们过来观看并剪辑完成的电影《花排球》。
The original plan had been for us to come to watch and edit of the completed film, Flower Volley.
但是出现了延误。
But there'd been delays.
剧组还在拍摄，这反而给了我们一个机会。
The crew was still shooting, which had created an opportunity for us.
我们真的可以去看看片场，亲眼看看拍摄过程，看看这位导演是怎么工作的。
We could actually go inspect the set, witness the shooting in person, watch this director at work.
安库尔，这位从宝莱坞记者转行做编剧的人，曾告诉我们，要想确切知道兰吉的钱花得值不值，真的得请一位电影审计员来审查电影的预算。
Ankur, the Bollywood journalist turned screenwriter, had told us that to know for sure whether Ranj's money had been spent well or not, you'd really have to hire a film auditor to review the film's budget.
但当我们向兰吉特要一份预算副本时，他礼貌地拒绝了。
But when we asked Ranjit for a copy of the budget, he politely declined.
所以我们亲自到场，希望能用自己的眼睛和常识来回答我们的问题。
So we were arriving in person, hoping to use our own eyes and common sense to answer our question.
在1号航站楼。
By Terminal 1.
如果转机航班是从
If a connected flight is from
兰贾特，拉吉的父亲，是不是被人利用了？
Was Ranjath, Raj's father, being taken advantage of?
这里搞定了。
Done here.
你按了吗？我们飞往孟买的航班准时到达了。
Did you press the Our flight to Mumbai arrived exactly on time.
检查。
Check.
检查。
Check.
检查。
Check.
检查。
Check.
看。
Look.
那是Truthi，我走出了航站楼。
That's Truthi and I walked out of the terminal.
好的。
Okay.
所以我们在找Ranjit，他穿着一件浅蓝色衬衫。
So we're looking for Ranjit who is wearing a light blue shirt.
我们扫视了拥挤的室外到达区，寻找我们要找的那个人。
We scanned the crowded outdoor arrivals area searching for our man.
他说他就在同性恋酒吧旁边。看，他们在那儿。
So he said that he's right next to the gay There they are.
不知道为什么，我原以为他会很张扬。
I don't know why, but I'd expected him to be flamboyant.
比如，在我的想象里，他应该是宝莱坞电影里的人物，但他看起来很普通，毫不起眼。
Like, my imagination had cast him as a person in a Bollywood movie, but he was normal, nondescript.
在屏幕上，他可能只是个跑龙套的，一个和蔼可亲、有句台词的人。
On screen, he would have been an extra, a pleasant man with a line of dialogue.
我们的印地语翻译查纳·坎钱达尼也在那里。
Our Hindi interpreter, Charna Kanchandani, was there too.
风很大。
Very windy.
风很大。
Very windy.
谢天谢地。
Thankfully.
哦，这里怎么这么闷啊？
Oh, isn't this so stifling?
当时是雨季。
It was monsoon season.
所以雨很多，但湿度也很大，那种感觉我从来没经历过。
So lots of rain, but also humidity, like, I just never experienced.
我面前空气的感觉就像一条又热又湿的毛巾，在蒸汽房里放了一两百年。
The air in front of my face felt like a hot, wet towel left on the floor of a steam room for a century or two.
我们四个人一起上了一辆车。
We hop in a car together, all four of us.
对。
Check.
对。
Check.
好。
Check.
好。
Check.
我们从机场开车前往一个叫Mud的地方。
We're driving from the airport towards an area called Mud.
兰吉特告诉我们，那里有些人会租便宜的小场地来拍戏。
Ranjit tells us it's where some people rent small cheap lots to shoot in.
大部分摄影棚都是这样的。
Most of the studios are.
在那里，我们会见到导演卡马尔·钱德拉，看看他是怎么工作的。
There, we would meet the director, Kamal Chandra, see him at work.
那今天几点开始拍摄？
So what time does the shooting start today?
九点开始。
It starts at 09:00.
今天拍的是什么场景？
What is the scene that is being shot today?
好的。
Okay.
这是对两百五十年前一个角色的恶搞。
This is a parody of the character from two hundred and fifty years back.
他出现在导演的办公室里，然后发号施令，说我要拍这部电影。
He shows up in a director's office movie director office, and he dictates, I want this movie.
我要这样拍。
This is how I want it.
而且他提出了非常离谱的要求。
And he had outrageous demand for it.
听兰吉特描述这个场景时，我意识到这就是他儿子几个月前在邮件里发给我们的那两页剧本里的内容。
As Ranja described the scene, I realized this was from that two page script that his son had sent us in that email so many months ago.
那个场景里，一个电影制片人带着一个叫《花球》的电影创意，把一沓钱扔在导演桌上，然后开始跟导演讲他那些越来越奇怪的想法。
The scene where a movie producer with an idea for a film called Flower Volley throws money on the desk of a director and then starts telling him his increasingly strange ideas for the movie.
会说话的驴。
Talking donkey.
我觉得这个场景有点自我指涉，我就在想，兰吉斯喜欢拿自己开玩笑，他是不是又在这么干。
I'd found the scene to be a bit meta, and I wondered if Ranjith, who loved to make jokes at his own expense, was doing that again here.
他是不是在模仿你，因为那个人在说他们想要的东西？
Does he, like, a parody of you because it's, like, the person saying what they want them to
那就是我。
It'd be me.
我不知道。
I don't know.
是我写的。
I wrote it.
我敢肯定他的意思是“是”。
I'm pretty sure he means yes.
但就像所有艺术家一样，你问他这些是什么意思时，他总是含糊其辞。
But like all artists, he's cagey when you ask him what things mean.
不过，他倒是很愿意聊自己的生活。
He's happy enough to talk about his life, though.
他的人生始于我们正穿过的这座城市——孟买。
A life which had begun in the very city we were driving through, Mumbai.
兰吉特解释说，他出生在这里，父亲是一名警察，家境普通，而他的人生轨迹却不同寻常。
Ranjit explains he was born here, born the son of a police officer, a family of modest means, the son whose life had followed an unusual path.
当我们穿行在拥堵的车流中时，兰吉特沿着这条路，一一指认那些他人生重要时刻发生过的建筑。
As we make our way through the city's sluggish traffic, Ranjit retraces that path through various buildings where moments in his life had happened.
老美国领事馆就在那附近。
Old US consulate was close to that.
五十二年前，我在那里参加过一次面试。
Fifty two years back, I had an interview over there.
是你离开的时候吗？
When you were leaving?
他的美国之旅始于那个美国领事馆，但那是一段曲折的旅程。
His journey to America had begun in that US consulate, but it had been a wandering kind of journey.
其实这一切都始于有一天我去看电影。
It actually started this one day at the movies.
兰吉特说，他最后成了药剂师，全是因为当初计划去附近影院看场电影。
Ranjit ended up a pharmacist, he says, all because of a plan to catch a film at a nearby theater.
有趣的是，我进药学院的方式跟一个叫奥罗拉的电影院有关。
And the funny part is the way I got into this pharmacy college was there was a movie theater called Aurora.
我和朋友去了那儿，结果到得有点太早了。
Me and my friend went there, and we went there a little too early.
所以我朋友说，那边有所药学院，咱们去看看能不能申请一下。我就随手递了份申请，然后就把这事儿给忘了。结果突然接到个电话，说录取通知下来了，让我赶紧去报到。
So my friend said you know there is a pharmacy college out there why don't we go and see if we can apply and I just put my application then I forgot about it I get a call okay you got admission for pharmacy Come on in.
后来就有机会来美国了。
And then there was opportunity to come to USA.
我立马就抓住了这个机会。
I jumped on the board.
到了这儿之后。
Got there.
我开始理解兰吉特有时在生活中冒险的那种逻辑了。
I was starting to recognize the logic by which Ranjith sometimes adventured through his life.
这里面有一种梦幻般的感觉。
There was a dreaminess to it.
比如，就像这样，看电影前消磨时间，结果一时冲动申请了药学院，最终让他走上了在美国的这条职业道路，这份工作比家里任何人能想象的都要赚钱。
Like here, the way killing time before a movie had led to impulsively applying for pharmacy college, which had led him ultimately to this career in America, a career more lucrative than anybody at home would have imagined.
那么，潘金，你打算说什么呢？
So were what you gonna say, Punjin?
没有。
No.
我没什么可说的。
I don't have anything.
其实我是个安静的人。
I'm a quiet guy, actually.
是你让我说了这么多。
You made me talk a lot.
这就像，这就像一场全方位的视听沉浸体验。
It's like a it's like a full audio visual immersion experience.
非常极致。
Very maximalist.
孟买是一座让人应接不暇的城市，当我试图用语言来描述它时，我能感觉到它从字里行间溜走。
Bombay is a city so overwhelming that when I try to reduce it to words, I can feel it slipping through them.
但作为一个美国人，我的感受是这样的。
But here's how it felt as an American.
想象一下纽约的喧嚣和刺耳的喇叭声。
Take the hustle and honking cacophony of New York City.
再混入洛杉矶给人的那种感觉。
Mix it with the feeling LA offers.
那种身处一座像世界最高金字塔一样组织严密的社会中的焦虑感。
The anxiety of being in a city that's socially organized like the world's tallest pyramid.
对于那些奋力攀上狭窄顶端的人来说，是超乎想象的辉煌成功。
Golden success beyond your wildest dreams for the people who fight to the narrow top.
底下是无比宽广的底座，挤满了奋斗者、追梦人，他们都在梦想着一个所有人都能看见、但大多数人永远无法触及的幻想。
Supported by an infinitely wide base at the bottom, packed with hustlers, strivers, people dreaming of a fantasy that all of them can see and most will never touch.
这是最基础的感觉，但真正让它如此强烈的是这座城市的密度。
That's the baseline feeling, but what amplifies it so strongly is the city's density.
这里有一些地球上最密集的街区。
Some of the densest neighborhoods you can find anywhere on earth.
比纽约多出数百万居民，却挤在更小的一片土地上。
Millions more residents than New York City crammed onto a much smaller plot of land.
其中一个街区，达拉维，密度是曼哈顿的12倍。
One neighborhood, Dharavi, 12 times denser than Manhattan.
这里的梦想太多了。
There are so many dreams here.
几乎让人喘不过气来。
You almost can't breathe.
所以，这就是布勒花园吗？
So this is it, like Bhullar Garden?
好了，我们到了。
And now, we've arrived.
现在要打开一扇门。
So opening a gate.
在一个叫布勒花园的地方的门口。
At the gated entrance of a place called Bhullar Gardens.
这里有几组布景，一个假寺庙，一个假警察局。
There's a few little sets here, a fake temple, a fake police station.
知道他们是真正的警察。
Know they are actual policemen.
但这里挺简陋的。
But it's pretty bare bones.
不。
No.
看到很多群演，很多人围在一张小桌子前狼吞虎咽，桌上摆着吃的，我记得有豆汤，还有好多流浪狗在群演腿间跑来跑去抢食吃。
See lots of extras, many chowing down hungrily at a little table where food's been set up, I think some dal, and running between the legs of these extras, fighting over scraps, many stray dogs.
我在想我们的宝莱坞专家安库尔，他说过有些方法可以用三十万甚至更少的钱拍电影。
I think about Ankur, our Bollywood expert, who said that there were ways to make a film for 300 k or less.
我觉得像这样的摄影棚场地，能帮你省下一些钱。
A studio lot like this, I think, could save you some money.
我问格兰格斯，那些餐饮是你付钱吗？
I asked Granges, are you paying for that catering?
应该是我来安排的。
I'm supposed to arrange for it.
下车，大步走向《花式排球》剧组今天使用的拍摄场地。
Get out of the car and stride towards the set that the Flower Volley crew is using today.
他们正走进拍摄地点。
They are walking into the shooting place.
兰吉特，你走进去的时候，他们知道你是谁吗？
Do they know who you are, Ranjit, when you walk in?
他们当然知道我是谁。
Of they know who
我是，兰吉特说。
I am, Ranjit says.
他说得对。
And he's right.
他们确实认识。
They do.
当我们走进他拍戏的那个小楼时，我注意到的是这样的。
As we walk into the small building where his scene is being shot, here's what I notice.
这个庞大的剧组，大概有50个人，拿着道具和灯光跑来跑去，那种匆忙专注的样子，只有兰吉特经过时才会停下来。
This big crew, maybe 50 people, running around with props and lights with this hurried focus that only pauses for Ranjith.
兰吉特走过时，人们都恭敬地让开。
When Ranjith passes, people step back respectfully.
在这里，兰吉特可不是个不起眼的人。
Ranjith is not nondescript here.
你会怎么形容我们现在所在的这栋楼？
How would you describe the building we're in?
里面。
The interior.
但里面有一堆电影灯什么的。
But there's a bunch of, like, film lights, whatever.
然后有一扇门，上面写着“导演”。
And then there's a door on which says director.
说清楚一点，这不是导演卡马尔·钱德拉的办公室。
Just to be clear, this is not director Kamal Chandra's office.
这是他们拍电影场景时用的假导演的假办公室。
This is a fake office of a fake director for the movie scene they're shooting.
后面有一张大木桌，墙上挂着看起来假假的、展示拍摄特定镜头示意图的海报。
A big wooden desk behind it, fake looking posters that show diagrams for filming specific shots.
墙上还挂着一块那种拍板，就是喊“开拍”时“啪”一声合上的那种。
There's even hung on the wall, one of those boards that claps shut when they yell action.
我突然有点眩晕。
I feel a moment of vertigo.
我们来这里是为了录一期播客，讨论一部电影是不是真的在拍摄。
We've come here to record a podcast about whether a movie is actually being filmed.
现在我们却在一个假电影的片场，里面还有个假导演，而这可能又是在一部真电影里。
And now we're on a set for a fake movie with a fake director inside of a possibly real movie.
我有一瞬间甚至怀疑自己是不是虚构的。
I wonder for a second if I myself am fiction.
然后兰吉特指着那边说，真正的导演在这儿。
And then Ranjit points and says, here's the real director.
你好。
Hi.
真正的导演。
Real director.
PJ，很高兴见到你。
PJ, so nice to meet you.
我也是。
Same here.
我也是。
Same here.
你好。
Hello.
嗨。
Hi.
卡马尔？
Kamal?
卡马尔·钱德拉。
Kamal Chandra.
很高兴认识你。
Nice to meet you.
我也是。
Same here.
终于见到你了，卡马尔·钱德拉导演。
At last, Kamal Chandra, the director.
他看起来很像那么回事，戴着棒球帽，耳机挂在脖子上，我从IMDb页面上认出了他的脸。
He looks the part, baseball hat, headphones wrapped around his neck, and I recognize his face from the IMDb page.
也就是说，我们马上就能排除这是一场精心策划的网恋诈骗的可能性。
Meaning, right away, we can rule out the theory that this has all been an elaborate catfishing scam.
今天拍摄进展怎么样？
How has shooting been today?
我们在这里拍了一场戏。
We have shot one scene over here.
这是第二场。
This is the second scene.
不会印地语？
No Hindi?
不会。
No.
卡马尔问我是不是一点印地语都不会说。
Kamal asked if I speak any Hindi at all.
我说不会。
I say no.
但幸运的是，有印地语翻译贾娜在这里帮忙。
But fortunately, Jharna, the Hindi interpreter, was here to help.
如果可以的话，我们就跟着你走，
If it's okay, we'll just follow you around
然后录一下。
and kind of record.
我们可以午饭时间聊。
We can do lunchtime.
他说
He
他说我们可以午饭时间聊。
says we can talk at lunchtime.
不过午饭时间就像地平线一样，看得见却永远够不着。
Although lunchtime will prove to be a horizon, always in sight, never in reach.
在假导演的桌子对面，有一张双人沙发，真正的导演卡马尔·钱德拉会坐在那里，面前放着监视器。
Across from the fake director's desk, a loveseat where the real director, Kamal Chandra will sit, his monitor in front of him.
他邀请我挤到他旁边坐下。
He invites me to squeeze in beside.
三台摄像机又让我们挤得更紧了。
We're further crowded in by the three cameras.
场景准备工作开始了。
Prep for the scene begins.
工作人员用某种有强烈化学气味的东西喷洒整个片场。
Crew members spraying down the whole set with something that has this real chemical smell.
他们到处喷的那个喷雾是什么？
What's that spray that they're spraying everything down with?
是防苍蝇的。
All flies.
因为下雨，苍蝇特别多。
They're because of the rain, lots of flies.
苍蝇特别多。
There's a lot of flies.
他们的想法是先喷药，灭掉一大群苍蝇，然后赶紧拍，趁下一群苍蝇还没来之前。
The idea is to spray, kill a big cloud of flies, and then shoot quickly before the next cloud inevitably arrives.
卡马尔·钱德拉开始执导了。
Kamal Chandra begins directing.
准备。
Standby.
收音。
Sound.
安静。
Silence.
收音中。
Sound moving.
摄影机。
Camera.
安静。
Silence.
拜托了。
Please.
安静。
Silence.
安静。
Silence.
情绪。
Mood.
情绪。
Mood.
情绪。
Mood.
开拍。
Action.
这个
The
扮演宝莱坞导演的演员独自坐在办公室里，戴着厚厚的黑框眼镜。
actor playing the Bollywood director sits alone in his office, his thick black glasses.
他合上笔记本电脑时，门突然开了，我们看到这个喜剧演员蹦了进来。
As he closes his laptop, the door swings open, and we see this comic actor bounce in.
一个身材魁梧、留着大胡子的人，有点像克里斯·法利，穿着粉色的衣服，打扮得像另一个时代的富人，像是两百年前的贵族。
Heavy set man with a big mustache, a dollop of Chris Farley to him, dressed in pink wearing the clothes of a rich guy from another time, the aristocrat from two hundred years past.
哥们，快点制作吧。
Man, produce soon.
这位贵族宣布自己是制片人，并告诉导演，他不仅有一个电影创意，还有资金来投资。
The aristocrat announces that he is a producer and tells this director that he not only has an idea for a movie, but also money to fund it.
导演看到现金，注意力立刻集中在这个奇怪的男人身上。
The director sees the cash, and his attention sharpens on this strange man in front of him.
制片人想拍什么样的电影呢？
What kind of movie does the producer wanna make?
制片人接连抛出一连串越来越离谱的点子。
The producer unspools a series of increasingly outrageous ideas.
他想让他14岁的侄子当电影主角。
He wants his 14 year old nephew to be the star of the film.
他想让电影里有一头会说话的驴。
He wants the movie to have a talking donkey.
他想把片名定为《花球》。
He wants the title to be flower volley.
导演问：什么花？
The director asks, what kind of flower?
花椰菜？
A cauliflower?
看着这个从兰吉特脑子里冒出来、经过互联网从佛罗里达传到印度的点子，现在又被这些演员一本正经地重现出来，感觉特别奇怪。
It is so strange to watch this idea, which has gone from Ranjith's imagination through the Internet, from Florida to India, and now to watch these actors dutifully recreate it.
就像听一支外国乐队演奏一首别人叠衣服时随口哼的小调。
It's like listening to a foreign orchestra play a tune that someone mindlessly hummed to themself while folding clothes.
特别奇怪。
Extraordinarily strange.
导演卡马尔·钱德拉喊了停，给了些意见。
The director, Kamal Chandra, calls cut, gives his notes.
然后他们
And they
又拍了一遍。
take it again.
准备好了吗？
Ready?
继续。
Go on.
开拍。
Action.
一遍又一遍。
Over and over.
开拍。
Action.
从几分钟到几个小时。
Minutes to hours.
开拍。
Action.
哦，你听到结尾了。
Oh, you heard the end.
所以我们到这里已经大约三个小时了。
So we've been here for about three hours now.
他们确实在拍摄。
They're definitely filming.
很多条。
A lot of takes.
特写镜头。
Close ups.
他们还在拍这场戏。
They're still in the scene.
他们还在
They're in
我们进来时他们就在拍的那场戏，其实不长。
the scene that they were in when we walked in, which is, like, not a very long scene.
但是有全景、中景、特写，还有各种重拍。
But there's, like, the wide shot, the medium shot, the post ups, the reset things.
我觉得最搞笑、最让人意外的是，他们完全没有敷衍了事。
I think the sort of, like, funniest surprising thing is, like, they are not even remotely half assing it.
他们真的是全力以赴，简直太疯狂了。
They are, like, absolutely whole assing the It's thing they're totally crazy.
开拍。
Action.
演员们都很投入，在台词里找到了新的笑点。
The actors are locking in, finding new laughs in the dialogue.
这场戏明显越来越精彩了。
The scene's getting noticeably sharper.
有一次，兰吉斯站起来，悄悄给导演卡马尔钱德拉递了个话，确保这场戏完全按照他的想法来演。
At one point, Ranjith stands up to whisper a note to Kamalchandra, to his director, to make sure the scene plays exactly as he intended it.
还有一次，在短暂的喝茶休息时，兰吉斯走过来问我们。
At another point, during a quick chai break, Ranjith walks over and asks us.
我在这里赢得了所有人的尊重。
I was commanding the respect from everybody here.
在片场当制片人感觉好吗？
Does it feel good to be like the producer on set?
我们的翻译贾娜补充说，她也注意到了这种互动模式。
Our interpreter, Jarna, adds that she has also noticed this dynamic.
你知道吗，大家都认识他。
You know, everybody knew him.
大家都有点听他的。
Everybody was kind of deferring to him
是的。
Yes.
因为他是有钱的那个人。
Because he's a guy with the money.
就是这样。
That's what it is.
哪怕他们有一点点察觉我快没钱了，他们就会像扔烫手山芋一样把我甩掉。
Even they have a little hint and I I'm running out of money, they will dump me like a hot potato.
你担心这个吗？
Are you worried about that at all?
不担心。
No.
我有足够的钱。
I have enough money.
贾娜在这里拿兰吉特的权力开玩笑，说不是说他真会这么做，但如果他想，他可以让片场任何一个人消失。
Jarna jokes about Ranjith's power here, about how not that he would, but if he wanted to, he could make anyone on set disappear.
你看，你，那个，出去。
You see, you, that one, out.
而且你知道那个人会被赶走。
And you know that person will be out.
那真是有权威。
That's some command.
至少一辈子要有一次。
At least one should have it in one lifetime.
而这就是我的高光时刻。
And this is my fifteen minutes.
回到家里，你的家人明白这里发生的事吗？
Back home, does your family understand what's happening here?
有人明白吗？
Does anybody understand?
没有。
No.
完全没有。
Absolutely no.
我老婆完全不知道我今天在这里给50个人供饭。
My wife has no idea that I'm feeding 50 people here today.
她不知道你走进一个房间，里面有50个人听你指挥。
She doesn't know that you're walking in a room where 50 people are answering to you.
就是这样。
That's the way it is.
我来这里之前，还在想兰吉特是不是被人利用了。
I'd come here wondering if Ranjith was being taken advantage of.
我之前想得很窄，只想到钱，但对他还有什么其他动力，我其实不太了解。
I had been thinking narrowly, just about money, but I hadn't had much of an understanding of what else could drive him.
他在这里赢得了尊重。
He commanded respect here.
而且更重要的是，朗格告诉我，他当药剂师这几十年，日复一日地数药片，几周变成几年，最有趣的事竟然是一次持械抢劫。
And more than that, Runge has told me about how in his decades as a pharmacist, the weeks that turned into years, counting pills for people over and over again, the most interesting thing that had ever happened to him was an armed robbery.
但那种生活已经结束了，兰吉特发现自己到了很多人该休息的年纪，却反而踏上了一段大冒险。
But that life was over now, and Ranjith found himself at an age when many people rest, instead on a great adventure.
我开始更明白是什么把兰吉特带到了这里。
I was starting to better understand what had brought Ranjith here.
但卡马尔·钱德拉呢？
But what about Kamal Chandra?
他显然是个真正的导演。
He was clearly an actual director.
他为什么要参与这个项目呢？
Why was he working on this particular project?
开拍。
Action.
啊，
Ah,
你简直像个制片人一样在搞事情。
you are fucking like a producer.
我们什么时候能聊聊？
When would we get to talk?
你是个白痴。
You are an idiot.
我们挤在一起，大腿挨着大腿坐在双人沙发上。
We're smooshed together, thigh to thigh on a love seat.
但我也不能趁钱德拉拍戏的时候偷偷问他问题，尽管我很想问。
But it wasn't like I can sneak in a whispered question to Chandra while his scenes ran as much as I wanted to.
终于有人喊吃午饭了。
Somebody finally calls for a lunch break.
我很兴奋，但只有一部分工作人员离开了。
I get excited, but only some of the crew filters out.
开拍。
Action.
索尼娅，有想法。
Sonya, idea.
卡马尔·钱德拉和他的演员们还在继续拍摄。
Kamal Chandra and his actors, they keep shooting.
我真的分不清他是忙，还是故意躲着我不说话，或者两者都有。
I genuinely cannot tell if he's busy, avoiding a conversation with me or perhaps both.
现在已经过去四个多小时了。
It's now been over four hours.
我们还在等着对电影导演的宝莱坞独家采访，罗恩好像累了，去车里打盹了。
We're still waiting for our Bollywood exclusive interview with the film's director, Ron just seems to have gotten tired because he went to go nap in the car.
我觉得他今天已经把一天的魅力都用完了。
I think, he consumed his daily allotment of glamour today.
所以我们就在那儿待着，赶赶苍蝇，等着看能不能问几个尖锐的问题。
So we're just hanging out, swatting at flies, waiting to see if we get to ask some hard hitting questions.
在等待的时候，印地语翻译贾娜一直在自己悄悄打听导演的消息。
While we waited, Jharna, the Hindi interpreter, had been on her own mini quest to try to learn more about the director.
她告诉我们她发现了一些有趣的事情。
And she told us she picked up something intriguing.
她说导演是坎普尔印度理工学院的，是印度理工的毕业生。
She was saying that the director is an IIT from Kanpur, IITian.
在这里，他们是最有学问、最受尊敬的人。
They are the most educated and the most respected people over here.
我得解释一下。
I have to explain.
在美国，像卡莫·钱德拉这样工程学院的毕业生去当电影导演，并不稀奇。
In America, an engineering school graduate like Kamo Chandra becoming a film director is not that remarkable.
但在印度，要考进印度理工学院特别难，就像哈佛或耶鲁一样。
But in India, to get into IIT specifically is so difficult, like Harvard or Yale.
放弃那个机会去宝莱坞，大家会觉得非常奇怪。
Dropping that opportunity for Bollywood is considered very weird.
这完全不符合大家对正常动机或抱负的理解。
It just didn't map onto anybody's understanding of normal motivation or ambition.
另外，我们在印度还听说钱德拉新片的预告片已经出来了，看起来不错。
Also, we'd learned in India that the trailer for Chandra's new movie was out, and it looked good.
预算还算可以，就像一部普通的独立电影，你会在Netflix上看到的那种。
Decent budget, like a normal indie movie, something you'd watch on Netflix.
这两个事实让我们的疑问更加突出了。
Both facts just made our question more stark.
为什么卡马尔·钱德拉会在这个项目上工作呢？
Why was Kamal Chandra working on this particular project?
现在是下午五点。
It's 5PM now.
剧组正在为下一场戏重新布置。
The crew resets for a new scene.
灯光在移动。
Lights are moving.
摄像机在移动。
Cameras are moving.
一只苍蝇飞进了我的眼睛。
Fly just flew into my eye.
下一个镜头是在室外。
The next shot is outside.
终于，这个镜头里有那个著名的花椰菜了。
It features, finally, the famous cauliflower.
说真的，有个人专门负责拿花椰菜。
Literally, there's a man whose job it is to hold the cauliflower.
你看到他了吗？
Do you see him?
他是花椰菜场务。
He's a cauliflower grip.
每个片场都有这么一个人。
They have one on every set.
我们站在外面，下着毛毛雨。
We stand outside in the drizzle.
场务把花椰菜递给在电影里扮演导演的演员，然后新闻场景就开始了。
The grip hands the cauliflower to the actor playing the director in the film, and the news scene begins.
好。
Alright.
继续。
Go on.
开拍。
Action.
演员看着花椰菜，一开始有点害怕。
The actor looks at the cauliflower, first a little scared.
他看到了电影海报。
He sees a movie poster.
电影《花球》的海报。
The movie poster for the film, for Flower Volley.
海报上，那位女舞者虔诚地举着花椰菜朝向天空。
In the poster, the woman, the dancer, holds the cauliflower towards the sky beatifically.
扮演导演的演员现在似乎明白了，这就是他要拍的电影。
The actor playing the director now somehow understands this is the movie he's gonna make.
他得意地把花椰菜抛向天空，用英语自言自语地说：“灯光。”
He triumphantly casts his cauliflower towards the sky and says in English to no one in particular, Lights.
摄影。
Camera.
摄影。
Camera.
开拍。
Action.
“停，”真正的导演卡马尔·钱德拉喊道。
Cut, says the real director, Kamal Chandra.
他们现在有了第一条镜头。
They now have the first take.
当然，他们想要更多。
Of course, they want more.
他们现在一遍又一遍地拍这个场景。
They shoot this scene now over and over.
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