Bigelow’s Brigade

He provided the film crew with around 50 artists and a 5,000-plus crowd along with logistical support. “The main shoot was at Punjab Engineering College (PEC). Other locations were finalised in a jiffy by writer-producer Mark Boal,” says Aulakh.

Shooting took place in February and March,with Aulakh’s sister,Sukhwinder Kaur,too assisting with the costumes and casting. Not only this,Aulakh bagged the role of an ISI chief in the film. Ever since,he has been on a roll,with Punjabi film Ajj De Ranjhe,directed by Manmohan Singh,and managing the production of YRF’s Mere Dad Ki Maruti.

From production crew to actors and extras,Zero Dark Thirty has given the local talent a memorable global platform,and actors Navdeep Singh and Navjit Brar second that. While Singh’s role was of a “courier guy-cum-reluctant terrorist”,Brar played a Pakistani police ranger called Abdul Ansari. “When the call came for auditions,we had no clue it was Kathryn Bigelow’s film,” says Singh,a PhD scholar along with Brar at Patiala University.

“How to approach a script,compose and shoot,do scene division — we learnt a lot,” says Singh. What will remain with him also is how well they were treated.

“Kathryn would listen to everyone,say ‘great job’ after every shot,make sure there was food and beverage on the sets and that the shoot was going according to schedule. There was proper medical aid on board too,” recounts Singh,who also got to translate the script in bits into Urdu-Punjabi and teach actor Fares Fares some lines.

Every person on the sets,informs Singh,was insured. Sniffer dogs would also make their rounds on this tight ship every morning. Busy translating Arthur Miller’s work in Punjabi these days and working on a serial on ETC Punjabi,Singh cannot forget how Bigelow rescued a stray dog and checked on him everyday.

A law student,Palak Dev enjoyed her stint behind the scenes. “I did assist on films like Namastey London and Singh is Kinng. It’s good pocket money,but this was special. Bollywood stars are inaccessible and act pricey but on this set,we were equals. We would hang out together,play games and teach them Punjabi,” she says about her 30-day “paid vacation”.

Harsimran Singh agrees. Now working in Hyderabad,this engineer from PEC also got a chance to work on the sets. “I was associated with Ben Lanning,the second assistant director,and we had to make sure no classes were being disturbed at PEC,that shoot timetable was being followed,” tells Singh. Ten PECians worked with the assistant directors as well.