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Posted
on 17-May-04 07:01 AM
Mumbai vendor chosen for 'hobbit' role
Mumbai: An advertisement posted on Internet websites in which short people are being sought for a movie project about hobbits has created a buzz among the film community.
Mumbai-based casting director Sameer Bhardwaj says he is working for an Australian company interested in making a film about hobbits, mythical small creatures who play a central role in J R R Tolkien's book "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".
"Hi! We are seeking short people for a documentary shoot (low budget)," says the advertisement on websites including Yahoo's moviezone forum.
"They need to be 3.8 ft to 4.4ft high. Any gender/any ethnic (group)/any country. They should have (a) proportionate body, a valid passport and (be) ready to travel for four months."
Bhardwaj told AFP: "We've already found 10 people in Mumbai and four in Chennai but sometimes people have a tough time believing that we're above board, so we have to practically pick them off the street."
He said he had recently recruited a vegetable vendor he had found in a marketplace for an audition. "We have received pictures from across the world, notably from Ghana and Macedonia," he said.
Bhardwaj, who also helped cast for New Zealand movie director Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, says he is now something of an expert on the topic of short people.
"There's an entire village in Macedonia where no one is over 120 centimeters (3.9 feet) tall. And Nepal has the world's largest number of short people," he said.
Shooting of the mystery film begins in August and actors will be paid 120 dollars a week. Cost of travel, accommodation and food will be met by the company.
Locations are in Australia and parts of Asia. Although the short people will only have bit parts, all actors will be expected to be available for four months, Bhardwaj said.
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