Flattered by attention
Date :21-Apr-2020
By Bedika :
Shooting in India was like being in Colosseum or doing live theatre with thousands of people watching and cheering every take, Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth said as he looked back at the making of his new film Extraction in India. The star, known for his superhero persona of Thor, was supposed to travel to India again this March to promote his film but the trip got cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. “Thousands of people up in buildings and bridges watching and we’d call ‘cut’ and they’d all start cheering and applauding,” Hemsworth said at a virtual press conference in response to question from PTI. He was in India towards the end of November 2018 to shoot for the film.
“It was like being in the Colosseum or a live theatre, which is very new to me but quite a lot of fun,” Hemsworth added from his home in Australia. Joining him in the press conference was Extraction director Sam Hargrave. The Netflix production, set in Mumbai and Dhaka, revolves around Hemsworth’s character, Tyler Rake, a former military man-turned-black market mercenary with emotional scars, embarking on a dangerous mission to extract the child of an Indian drug dealer from his rival in Bangladesh. Hemsworth said he had never shot in India before, making the experience more unique. “I have such pleasant memories of people and interactions there, and a lot of enthusiasm and positivity.
There was real excitement for us shooting there. We had never shot there before. From the crew it felt like there were not many films like this being shot there so there was a unique sort of originality to it,” he added. Extraction brings together the talent from the last two Avengers movies. It is based on a script by filmmaker Joe Russo. It also marks directorial debut of Hargrave, who was the stunt coordinator on Endgame. Hargrave said the reason for Russo setting the film in India and Bangladesh was because it’s a part of the world Western audiences are yet to explore.
“Western audiences have not seen that side of the world. It is a very unique setting. It offered a lot of opportunities visually because it is a stunning part of the world.” Hemsworth said the story, a redemptive tale about an emotionally scarred man with a moral compass, has the feel of old Western movies, giving it a layer of authenticity. “It is a straight kind of narrative, there is a moral compass but there is a sort of grey area... Due to Sam’s (the director) talent to do everything they used to do back in ‘70s and 80s... You didn’t rely on special effects... It was rewarding to shoot like that.” The film, slated to drop on April 24 on Netflix, comes at a time when people everywhere are locked up and all theatrical releases are on hold.