The crew of "I'm Not the God of Medicine" has been in Indu for a week. There are not many scenes here, but every scene is a key point and cannot be careless.
However, I had plenty of time. Except for the scene on the first day where Cheng Yong traveled a long distance to Yindu and started filming without getting enough rest, the rest of the time was relatively generous.
A week has passed and I have almost completed the filming of all the scenes in India, including some background shots of the airport and aerial shots of New Delhi.
On the 12th, the last scene of Indu was filmed in a Chinese-owned factory on the outskirts of New Delhi, which was the scene where Cheng Yong came to buy medicine for the first time.
There is no need to set up a separate photo studio, which saves trouble.
It was just this one scene, there were only a few shots, it only took one day, and there was no rush. After a few NG attempts, Li Qian patiently explained the scene.
"Brother Zheng, when you know that a generic drug with a retail price of 2,000 is only 500 yuan in the factory, you should hold back the surprise in your eyes a little bit, don't look like you won five million, and you should also restrain your laughter. This is what we are doing
For the audience to see.”
Xu Zheng said in confusion, "But with such a high profit, any businessman would do this. Cheng Yong started selling medicine just to make money."
"That's true, but you have to take the audience's thoughts into consideration. You can't just act like a profiteer from the beginning. Going too far is not enough."
"In this case, wouldn't it be the same if you later sell a bottle for 5,000 and get angry at the patients?"
"That's different. At that time, although he sold 5,000 bottles and made a profit of 4,500 bottles, he actually helped the patients. Although the audience would think it was a bit dark, they would not hate this character, even if Cheng Yong was in the front
It's just to make money, and it can't make the audience hate this character." Li Qian explained patiently.
"In fact, it is similar to the Buddhist saying of laying down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha immediately. If a murderer who has committed many crimes puts down his butcher's knife and becomes a Buddha, most people will feel unhappy. But if this evil man kills some bad people, or kills his enemies to avenge his father's murder,
Get rid of it and put down the butcher knife, and it will be easier for people to accept it."
On the side, Wen Muye interjected, "Cheng Yong is an ordinary person who loves money, a small person, but we must not portray him as a profiteer in the first half. If he looks like a profiteer here, the audience will be disgusted."
"Okay, let me try." Xu Zheng nodded thoughtfully.
It's a very subtle difference, and the effect is different.
At this time, an Indian man who had been watching interrupted and spoke fluent English.
"Director Li, are you so worried about the audience's reaction for the sake of box office?"
The speaker was Aamir Khan, India's second-largest actor after Shah Rukh Khan, the king of Bollywood. Hearing that the director who set a box office record for Chinese films was coming to India to film, he came to the crew to watch the filming the day before yesterday.
Although I didn't question Li Qian's age, I watched Li Qian filming for the past three days and found that Li Qian often emphasizes the audience's feelings about watching movies.
If it were an ordinary commercial movie, it would be normal, but after learning about the movie "I'm Not the God of Medicine" and its background, I always felt that Li Qian was a bit too philistine, so I couldn't help but say something.
Looking at the King of Indu, who was over forty and still had a harmless baby face, Li Qian nodded, "Yes, it is indeed for the box office."
"But?"
Aamir Khan didn't finish what he said, but the meaning was already obvious and incomprehensible.
A few years ago, he publicly criticized the plan to build a dam in Gujarat, supported the protests, and called on the local government to resettle immigrants. Because of his too fierce attitude, the movie "The Color of Basati" starring him at that time was forced to be canceled early.
"Destroyed for Love" was banned locally, causing losses of up to 500 million rupees.
Even though his career and business interests were damaged, he still insisted on his point of view and did not apologize. Therefore, it is impossible to understand why Li Qian would always consider the box office issue if he wanted to make such a sensitive movie for China.
Li Qian still respects the King of Indo. Not to mention the movies such as "Dangal, Dad!" in which he starred in the memory, there is only one TV program broadcast last month that sharply exposed the shortcomings of Indo society.
"Truthful Interview" is enough to make people respect him, even though he is a foreigner.
Huge dowries, medical malpractice, women being forced to have abortions, free love and arranged marriages, the caste system, and several programs a month are all topics that no one in India dares to openly criticize.
Li Qian said, "My purpose of making this movie is indeed to reflect medical issues, and I even hope to promote medical reform, but the premise is that the movie can create enough sensation to make everyone go to the cinema and feel happy after watching the movie.
be moved by it, and then speak out for it.
An individual’s voice is small, and no one will care about it in a few days. Only when the voice is loud enough and the image is big enough, will the higher authorities seriously consider our voice. Therefore, we must let more people see the movie, so
If they are moved and willing to express their voices spontaneously, their voices are much more useful than the film itself."
Public opinion is the key point. In fact, there are many serious reality-themed movies in China, but few people have watched them, let alone anyone who has stood up and spoken out, so no one will notice.
But Aamir Khan still shook his head, "Sorry, I still can't accept it. Since it's going to be filmed, it should be free of any impurities and be sincere."
In "The Truth", this was the case. In order to film the first season of the show, he led his team to spend three years investigating and collecting evidence, traveling all over the country.
...how to say.
If other people like to accept it and don't accept it casually, Li Qian won't care about other people's voices.
But there is still time now, and the other party is a Cheng Yong-style hero. Li Qian thought for a while and continued patiently, "I have often heard people talking about the program "Truth Interview" in Indu these days.
But this is different from my movie "I'm Not the God of Medicine"."
"What's the difference?" Aamir Khan asked.
"Every topic in the program is itself a huge contradiction in Indian society, and it is a contradiction that all ordinary people will face, so it does not need to be processed, it can arouse huge social repercussions, and hundreds of millions of people watch it.
But the topic of traditional Chinese medicine in my movie, although it is also a chronic disease in society, is still somewhat distant from most people, because after all, there are only a few people who can't afford the medicine and die of cancer, so it needs to be artistically processed to make it more touching.
Only in this way can the audience feel that they are feeling the same.
Just like when I watch "The Truth", I feel pity for those topics and those miserable people in it, but that's all because I can't feel their grief personally."
There are many movies that are worse and heavier than "I'm Not the God of Medicine", but who remembers them?
"So that's it? Illegal abortion, huge dowries, medical malpractice, and arranged marriages don't exist in your country." Aamir Khan murmured, becoming more aware of how bad the current situation in India is.
As a developing country with a large population and a neighbor, China is not as bad as domestic and Western propaganda. China has none of these social ills.
"It's not that it doesn't exist, but in comparison, it's much better in most places, and it's getting better," Li Qian said.
However, this did not make Aamir Khan very disappointed. He showed his iconic baby-faced smile and said, "I really want to visit China if I have the chance."
“Welcome.”
"Then don't bother Director Li. After the child abuse program was broadcast a few days ago, Congress invited me to testify. I'm going to leave first."
Looking at Aamir Khan's generous back and firm steps under his feet, Li Qian shook his head.
In this country, it is absolutely difficult for ordinary people to understand that the series of social contradictions are not isolated cases or in some areas, but happen to all ordinary people every day.
terrible.
Another point is that they have to pay a high dowry to marry a daughter here, which can even make some families bankrupt.
According to statistics, the dowry generally accounts for six years of the woman's entire family's total income before her daughter can be married off.
Disgusting country!
After Amir Khan left, Xu Zheng asked, "Is this the Amir Khan who opposed the caste system? He seems to be of a high caste too?"
Li Qian thought for a while and said, "It seems to be a high-caste Ashraf, and his father's line, mother's line, and ancestors are all nobles, and he has great influence in India."
"I am also a beneficiary of the caste system, but in turn criticizes the caste system. His relatives and friends should also be of high caste, wouldn't they hate him?" Xu Zhengqi asked.
Aamir Khan clearly criticized the caste system in an interview, saying that it was my helplessness that I was born in this country. If the country is still like this after my descendants are born, it will be our incompetence.
"Who knows, but it seems that the low-caste people in Indo once resisted the caste system. After they were used to upgrade to high castes, they stopped resisting and became the exploiting class. Perhaps high-ranking people with social influence.
It is possible for caste people to change."
It is all too common for a warrior who slays a dragon to eventually turn into an evil dragon.
Speaking of this, Li Qian seemed to think of a very interesting movie.
However, while they were filming, Li Qian waved his hands and said, "Okay, don't worry about Yindu. In fact, this Aamir Khan is somewhat similar to Cheng Yong in the second half, they both have heroic images.
Brother Zheng, don’t think like this in the future. He is a beneficiary of the system but he criticizes the system. Later, Cheng Yong is a figure whose thoughts are much higher than ordinary people. He is the "God of Medicine". You have to
The soul fits this role."
"I'm just a common person." Xu Zheng smiled bitterly and shook his head. This meant that he also wanted to become that kind of noble and great person. What would he do if he couldn't match the second half of the filming?
Li Qian laughed and said, "At least during the filming, don't have such tacky ideas, pretend that you are a noble person, and deceive yourself!"