SYNOPSIS

From strobe-lit studios in Mumbai, to back-alley village sets in the shadow of communal strife, MANUFACTURING DREAMS shines a spotlight on a society where rising prosperity has set traditional values in turmoil. Our characters are seen through the colourful prism of Bollywood From would-be actors to stoic nightwatchman, Manufacturing Dreams pulls back the curtain on the new India, revealing intensely vivid lives lived in Bollywood’s colourful shadow: a spectacular world of bright profiles … and stark divisions.

The show opens with a lavish Bollywood-themed wedding in the nation’s capital. The bride to be, Neha Chopra, has just met the man her father chose for her. 8,000 guests are invited to the spectacle. Geeta Samuel, a top wedding planner (with a crew of 3200) is helping achieve the bride’s dream of the best wedding in Delhi. Geeta blesses the day she gave up dreams of being a civil servant.

Outside, Pradeep, the night-watchman begins work: standing guard at a five-star hotel hosting another lavish wedding. He fears he won’t be able to afford even a modest wedding for his four-year old daughter and worse, he fears she might try for a love marriage. He has no use for Bollywood’s new movies: “I don’t like the fact that the guy is from one caste and the girl is from a different one.”

In a high-tech studio in the city-of-dreams itself, Mumbai, a former chartered accountant lives out his dream as a celebrity radio disc-jockey. While his family back home frets about finding him a bride, Tarun is unworried (and unhurried) in searching for a wife.

A few hundred kilometers inland, in a dusty village, two young Muslim friends, Farogh and Sheikh, are struggling to make their own cheap knock-offs of the latest Bollywood hits. And with more than 300 channels, television is moving the furniture in India’s social system. On the set of the popular soap opera “Bidaai” — the delicate issue of skin colour is tackled head-on, challenging viewers in a country where some of the biggest stars advertise skin-whitening creams.

On the most populated stage in the world, Manufacturing Dreams’ characters traverse social and cultural divides

CHARACTERS

Anuradha and Abinayasri

A well-known item girl (film dancer) of yesteryear in Telugu films in South India. She is an experienced veteran of Indian cinema and now her daughter Abinayasri has the same ambition to succeed as a dancer.

Geeta Samuel

Geeta is one of Delhi’s most successful wedding planners, a job that speaks to the changing times. A decade ago she had her heart set on a staid, safe civil service job.

Tarun Ratnani

A hip young star DJ at Radio Mirchi FM in Mumbai. The confident 27-year-old was a chartered accountant, but now he lives the life of a swinging bachelor, while his parents and brother fret about his single state and constantly try to find him a bride.

Pradeep Sharma

Pradeep is a nightwatchman at a 5-star hotel, with a stoic work-ethic and even more stoic sensibility. He has a very clear-cut view of what’s right and wrong with India today. A lot that’s wrong is Bollywood and its new morality. He lives in a poor neighbourhood and plans modestly for the future of his children.

Anupam Kher

Anupam is one of India’s most celebrated actors. He is a veteran Bollywood star who is passionate about the place cinema has always occupied in Indian culture.

Neha Chopra

A millionaire’s daughter with dreams to have the biggest wedding in New Delhi. She’s getting married Bollywood style … to a man her father picked out and she’s only just met. Her wedding will last 14 days and 8000 guests are coming.

Farogh Jafri

Farogh lives in Malegaon, a small town 300 kilometres from Mumbai. He is a classic character struggling to rise from his surroundings. An impoverished actor and writer and father of three children, Farogh has dreams of becoming a star in Bollywood. But for now he makes home-made versions of the latest Bollywood hits with his best friend. As a Muslim in a small town, he struggles with issues of communal tension constantly.

BROADCAST CREDITS

Directed and Produced by
JACQUELINE CORKERY

Producer
SANJAY TALREJA

India Producer
AMIT VACHHARAJANI

Written and Produced by
NEIL DOCHERTY

Narrator
MICHAEL MURPHY

Editor
GARY AKENHEAD

Director of Photography
DOUGLAS TRENT

Field Sound Recording
BRENT CALKIN

Original Music Composed by
KEN MYHR

Sound Design
JODY ELLIS

Art Director / Graphic Design
STEPHEN DUTCHESHEN

Business Manager
WILMA ALEXANDER

Project Manager
ANNE EMIN

Series Producer
KELLY CRICHTON

Executive Director, CBC Documentary Programming
MARK STAROWICZ

Executives in Charge of Production
SUSAN DANDO (CBC)
CLAUDIA RUETE (ZDF)
LOWRI GWILYM (S4C)
ANN JULIENNE (FRANCE 5)

Character Voices
RAOUL BHANEJA
SURESH JOHN
JAZZ MANN
ASHA VIJAYASINGHAM
RONICA SAJNANI
PAMELA SINHA
ANAND RAJARAM

Casting Director
GAIL CARR CDC

Musicians
KIREN AHLUWALIA
GEORGE KOLLER
RAVI NAMPALLY
ERNIE TOLLAR

Production Manager
DAVID WILSON

Unit Manager
BEVERLEY HAFFNER

Associate Producer
GRIFFIN ONDAATJE

Visual Research
MICHELLE DEMEYERE

Post Production Supervisor
PAT GOODLAND

Associate Director
IAN CAMPBELL

Resource Coordinators
ANALISA AMOROSO
MEGAN BEECKMANS

Communications Manager
NANCY BOYLE

Associate Business Managers
DINA PINO
TAMMY RAYMOND

Assistant to Susan Dando
MARIA KNIGHT

Assistant to Mark Starowicz
NADINE SIMUNIC

Additional Camera
MRINAL DESAI
K. NANDHAKUMAR
SUDHEER PALSANE

Additional Sound Recording
GISSY MICHAEL
NANDHKUMAR RAJESH

Maps
KIMBERLY MacDONALD

Voice Recording
JODY ELLIS
STEVE CUPANI

Sound Effects
ALAN GELDART

Foley Artist
FLOYD BURRELL

Foley Recordist
DON DICKSON

Production Coordination (India)
SHASHANK GADKAR
NEELIMA GOEL
SHERNAZ ITALIA
SANJAY JHA
K. LAXMIKANT
PREM RAGHUNATH

Drivers (India)
MOHAMMED AKBAR KHAN
VICTOR REGO

Colourist
ARLENE MOELKER

Online Editor
MURRAY GREEN

Acknowledgements
Parul Chauhan Aleem Faizee
Jaaved Jaffrey Ruchi Jain
Sara Khan Amrish Pershad
Akram Khan Trambak Nikaljey
The Vishwanathan Family (Delhi)
An Actor Prepares Acting School
Ashtavinayak Films
Aurora Cinema, Mumbai
Bhavishya Arts
Director's Kut
Hyde Park Entertainment
JW Marriott Hotel, Mumbai
Sudha Real Estate, Mumbai

Archival Sources
AP Archives
Sahara One Television
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd., 2005 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Bhansali Films,
Pathfinder Home Entertainment, 1999
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham,
Yash Raj Films Pvt. Ltd., 2002
Hum Aapke Hain Koun,
Rajshri Productions (P) Ltd., 1994
Vivah, Rajshri Productions (P) Ltd., 2006
Saaransh, Rajshri Productions (P) Ltd, 1984
Manzil Manzil, Nasir Husain Films, 1984
Arya, Sri Venkateswara Creations, 2004
Omkara, Big Screen Entertainment, 2006
Musafir, White Feather Films, 2004
Friends, Prince International, 2001
Bidaai - Sapna Babul Ka,
Star Plus, STAR TV, 2007
Boogie Woogie,
Sony Entertainment Television, 2007