The Great Ganesha

So - I was browsing the Times of India online, reading some crappy article (sans byline, of course) about how Rushdie spent more time flirting with some Bollybabe rather than on promoting AIDS awareness or some-such. Finishing that in a few seconds, I followed some articles here and there and then went to the picture gallery. Eventually I ended up at the section on foreign fashion shows, and then to pictures of a swim wear shoot, (which, I swear, I was looking at with purely intellectual interest, in the chance that I might be asked to design a swimsuit at gunpoint. What?! People with guns aren’t rational!) when I came across this picture:

Now, this does not look like a swimwear shoot to me. Look where his right hand is, for crissake! Looking closer (purely intellectual interest, mind you), I read the caption, and saw that there was a URL typed in there, without a link - theindianplayboy.com. With the pursuit of knowledge in mind, armed only with my research background, I soldiered on. I manually (what dedication!) cut-pasted the link into my address bar and…

The amazing story of a Corporate Finance Executive with a passion for Film Making who had had the guts to risk it all by making a quality erotic film in Los Angeles! Now on DVD with an embedded E-Book that answers all your questions and provides you with all the juicy in side information that you have always wanted to know!

…

It is both an interesting Biography and a “How to shoot a porn/erotic film” combo. Nothing comes close to it. [link]

Ok, sardonic quips about the TOI(let) aside (these pics are categorized under “Foreign Fashion Show”) - what the hell? A desi making a movie about the making of a porno? Why doesn’t he just make a porn? Or maybe he already has. Who is this character?

Richard Menon who has previously directed “Miss 2” a film on model aviation that made it to the New York International Film Festival 2004 and an adult film under the Ecstasyvision Inc banner conceived the idea of “The Indian Playboy: Anatomy of a Porn Film” Documentary Film + Book. Since he is the subject of the film, he decided to entrust Steve Clack/DP with the Directorial Assistance. [link]

Richard Menon (48) hails from Trichur, the cultural capital of Kerala State, India. He graduated from the University of Calicut in 1979 and … had his formal film production training at the famous Hollywood Film Institute. [link]

A mallu from Trichur, based in Jersey City, going to LA not just to make porn films (mind it!), but also documentaries on the making of porn films. Hmm. Several comments are flying through my mind right now, but I think the humour intrinsic to that thought is enough. Hell, the concept is a movie in and of itself (starring Johnny Lever). It suffices to say that I’m sure glad he entrusted Steve Clack with directorial assistance, because I’d definitely be distracted when shooting something like that. Unless, of course, it was at gunpoint or if I was doing it out of purely intellectual interest.

Now, it’s back to my research for me…