For those of us who are avid Sharpe fans - namely myself, Pompey-Nik & Carl, the latest news from
India, is the filming of Sharpes Peril progresses well.
A number of British re-enactors have been on-location in Khajuraho, India as historic and technical
advisors for the film crew.
Naturally they cannot resist posting snippets of their experiences on internet forums and here
are a couple of interesting extracts of their time in India, filming Sharpes Peril.
The first weeks filming:The sets we have built here look magnificent - the village and mission church is particularly good which is sad
as we are going to blow it to pieces using artillery in the climax scene ! We've used three palaces so
far (one quite old, the others 18th Century) which were fun to explore (if a little hazardous in the dark).
Tonight I'm on camera in the Ball Scene at The Governors Residency. I shouldn't really tell you this as it
spoils the traditional "Spot Richard" contest but there is a much harder one to try and spot later.
First 'big' battle scene tomorrow night with the bandit leader attacking, against all odds versus our gallant
sepoys : having read the script (indeed written parts of it) I can tell you they get nowhere even though
using a rather odd weapon for this time of year which has caused me a few headaches.
The plot now thickens as Sharpe discovers the skullduggery - the ranks of the ungodly are slowly being
depleted but three guns and one sword lost broken last night in battle scene. Three tents and a wagon
lost in the conflagration. Good stuntwork by our faithfull russians. Next week easier with interiors and
dialogue before coming out into the jungle again for a forced river crossing under enemy fire.
A rather slow week of skulduggery dialogue to come : opium dens, snake-pits and dungeons - but the
swordmaster I saw this morning who will be rehearsing our Hero and our Arch-Villain in over the next week
for the big finale. I will be on stand-by for sword repair and blade replacement.
Dynamite-jobby next week to remove a cliffside and reduce the Opposition still further and some river bathing
due to crossing on rafts (I have to stand-by to find any dropped muskets and swords : rifle on stand-by
too as like a bereft Tarzan - clad in loincloth with dagger clenched in teeth - diving to the bottom in case
of a passing mahseer or crocodile. Not looking forward to that.
First week filming complete. Sharpe and Harper send best regards to all. I'm not so much a roving
grasshopper as a stick insect and I already look like a dried prune.
Back in Khajaraho now, from two wild locations in ancient Temples on the banks of the Betwa River
and a wonderful old hill-fort named Barua Sagar. No leopards in my tent yet but a few howling jackals
roved around the other night and the circling vultures I hope were not an omen. The usual problems
in getting started but weather is currently 37 degrees and is making life quite hard as people new to it,
cannot stand the blistering sun.
I fried most of an egg on a swordblade just to see if it could be done and it will rise by three degrees
by the time we''ve done. Taken some wonderful photos including one of me and Sean with your 95th
polo-shirt (which will not survive the film as it is pretty tatty and stained already after ten days
out here).
The elephants are quite manageable especially if you have a chocolate biscuit in your pocket
(they prefer Bourbons but I don't think they have any political affiliations). It was party night last
night - I showed my face for 30 minutes to be sociable and will call on them later today to see if
anyone survived. The Russian stuntmen arrive today.
Picked up a bit of stuff for those who have asked for 95th items - if they get through customs they'll
duly appear at some point. Swords with only 2nd pattern blades, no early ones available.
I had several visitors this week from British tourists who are Sharpe fans - got one a part in the film
but he leaves India the day before : bad luck but one girl-fan I took to meet someone was so shy
she couldn't utter a word.
Time now 7am - sitting in down town kharajaraho drinking massala tea with Bharat from SPFX and
waiting for bazaar to open. Not much useful on sale, mostly tat but some useable camp gear
including vast kettles. One man is sitting making cart wheels, prices from five pounds each.
Thanks to those who have sent mesages of support to us and I'll be in touch with you in due course.
Sunstroke, mosquitoes, snakes, lizards, flies, bl**dy volley-gun ... it's hard work, it's tough, it's hot,
it's dry : it's "Sharpe" once again.
From another Brit on location:
Two days later, with ten minutes in hand I just make the connection and fly from Delhi & I reach
Khajuraho, a tiny one-elephant town with more temples than you can shake a rifle at. Balmy evenings
on the veradah shooting at passing mosquitos with muskets. Weather is pretty cool at 32 degrees
105 F but it will warm up next month. The usual start - I began training our Extras to be our valiant
Sepoy Infantry next day. Tomorrow I move towns (four hours drive west) where I start work on the
Armoury pending the arrival of the wagon train from Bombay and we start shooting - or should I
say filming - in an evocative but pretty basic area on March 3. Communication problems already -
cellphones don't work here for a start - but I will do my best to send on this or a similar facility
whenever I can. We shoot several scenes in The Kama Sutra Temples but I don't expect to be
attaching any images.
Just worked 72 hours in semi-dense jungle in over 100 degrees of heat : one day was a closed
set (involving nudity) in which I got well-baked doing sword-work in a dry river bed. The jungle
is filled with thorn bushes some of which can penetrate a shoe sole and reach the foot and so far
managed to avoid stepping on a snake bungalow. Jackals and langur monkeys seen, no leopards
or crocodiles yet. Night shooting starts tomorrow.
As stated some interesting photos taken and another additiona to survival experience and a
new batch of campfire stories already.
'The Old Shekarry' (for those who understand this term) may go hunting in Chittapur on
Sunday ... worked with Indian Forest Police and elephants today. They carry do-shotguns with
No. 1 buckshot and I carry the Nock Volley-gun : scares the hell out of all of us.
Now pretty brown - in my turban, kurta and pyjama I pass for an Indian (save the bright blue
eyes). I believe Your Honour Cholmondeley it is quite fashionable to have an Indian bodyservant
these days ... ?
Wayne - I don't count the gunshots but we have already consumed 3000 bottles of half-litre water.
The sun is extremely strong each day and a rifleman must remember to take his salts etc each hour
and wear his helmet ... or he's dead. Though I trust most folk here, I can't give any definate details
of the cast or the plot of the film on open forum. No photos of the Karma Sutra Temple either.
What a day...
Some highlights:
1) Had some good conversations with Sean Bean, one of which was about horse riding (something he
has done a fair bit of over the last few days). I am happy to say that Sean is a really nice chap, very
friendly and a pleasure to meet! I often hear of fans meeting their favorite actors and coming away
very dissapointed but Sean is a top bloke. Hope to get a photo with him in the next two days...
2) Amazing storm caused an early rap today, strong gusts of wind blowing tons of sand and dirt
around. I sheltered under an umbrella against a tree with Richard Moore and Richard Bonehill (Swordmaster)
while the storm swept past us. Got some great photos! It rained for the first time since my arrival, it
was very refreshing!
3) Talking of Richard Bonehill he invited Richard M and myself (along with a few others) to a lunch
party he was hosting for his birthday. Very, very nice food and drinks - great company, loads of
old film stories from some of the industries finest. I gave him a bottle of Taylors port that I brought
over from England, polished off the meal nicely... and seemed to settle my stomach, the first time
port has had a 'positive' effect on me!
4) I'd been supplying Harper with his Nock gun on a fairly regular basis over the last few days
(particularly Saturday) and today I had the pleasure of supplying Sean with his sword. It may seem
a small task but it feels very good to be trusted with tasks such as this. I've worked on Films/TV
before at which eye contact with stars is frowned upon! The whole crew are very friendly and
extremely welcoming, I will be very sad to leave on Thursday.
Anyway its all good stuff and always interesting to get these 'behind the scenes' experiences.
