Australian film director Phillip Noyce, who directed the popular film Salt, is excited that his latest film Fast Charlie (2023) has finally hit theaters in India. “It’s very exciting that people in India are watching my film now. I wish I was there to watch this film with them and see their reactions. Watching a film with an Indian audience is different because they are very expressive with their appreciation. They live the film inside their bodies in the cinema. This really doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world,” he says.
The director’s experience filming Fast Charlie was “fantastic for two reasons”. “I was filming in one of my favorite cities, New Orleans. Secondly, I was filming with my idols James Caan, Pierce Brosnan and Morena Baccarin. It was great working on location with such a great cast,” he smiled.
The untimely death of actor James Caan left the cast and crew in shock, but they will always cherish a fond memory. “Mr James Caan passed away just two months after we finished shooting the film. When we were working with him, we thought maybe we were making a documentary and not a drama. He was playing a man with dementia and he wasn’t really acting but living the same experience, except that the camera was rolling,” he told us, “However, after the shoot he was so happy and enthusiastic that we felt fortunate to be working with a wonderful actor. He was so immersed in method acting that he faked dementia. It wasn’t his fault, it was his performance and he fooled everyone on set. It was a relief really! He wasn’t sick, he was fine. But sadly, he passed away soon after.”
Noyce is passionate about the Indian film industry and has watched many films. He said, “I have seen RRR, it was very successful worldwide. I also loved Dev Patel’s Monkey Man, it was the best film of the year for me. It has the same love for storytelling as RRR had. I think it is an Indian film.”
The 74-year-old actor further added, “My love for Indian cinema is very old. Pather Panchali is one of my all-time favourite films. It has emotions and it impacted me a lot when I was young. There are so many great Indian films that we can watch through streaming services as well.”
He wants to shoot a film in India soon and would love to work with Bollywood actors. “I would love to work with Shah Rukh Khan. It would be an honour to make a film in India. There are so many great films of many different kinds here. It would be great if the Indian film industry worked hard and made its films reach a wider audience. I know the market is responsible for that, but there are so many great Indian films that don’t even get released outside India. I can say that because I have seen them at many film festivals,” he concluded.
