The Pool (2007 film)

The story revolves around a young janitor working at a hotel in the port city of Panjim, India, who sees from his perch in a mango tree a luxuriant garden and shimmering pool hidden behind a wall. In making whatever efforts he can to better himself, Venkatesh offers his services to the wealthy owner of the home. Not content to simply dream about a different life, Venkatesh is inquisitive about the home's inhabitants and his curiosity changes the shape of his future. == Cast ==

• Nana Patekar as Nana • Venkatesh Chavan as Venkatesh • Jhangir Badshah as Jhangir • Ayesha Mohan as Ayesha == Production ==

After American Job (1996), American Movie (1999), Home Movie (2001), and The Yes Men (2003), Milwaukee-based director Chris Smith read a story, written by Randy Russel, about a person from a graduate school in Iowa. This person, who is out running, sees a swimming pool and gets obsessed with swimming in it. He follows around the people who own the place and tries to befriend them. However, Smith clarified that the film's story evolved from it in a "completely different way from there". He said that though they had a draft in hand while beginning the shooting, his goal was to let the environment (the actors, their experiences and observations) shape the story. The film is a collaborative result of a crew that was half-based in India and United States. The crew included producer Kate Noble, creative consultant Xavier Leplae, whose film ''I'm Bobby'' was shot in the Indian state of Goa. For the 65-day shoot, Smith and his crew moved to India for a five-month period. While referring to this cinematic endeavour as an experiment, he felt that the journey to India was crucial in clearing up his creative space to work. Jhangir, who was selected to play the 11-year-old character, worked as an employee in a bar/restaurant. Filmmaking Neither of the young leads could read, so they couldn't really prepare their scenes in advance. They had to rehearse on the spot and once they got it right, the scene was shot. Another complication was their language. Since neither of them spoke English, it was difficult for Smith to directly convey detailed direction. Hence, with a translator in place, it could easily get translated in the wrong way. Another challenge was that the film was being shot in Hindi, which was not the first language of either of them. In addition, Smith had absolutely no knowledge of Hindi. Effectively, they were being directed in a language they did not understand and having to shoot complex dialogue scenes in a language alien to them. Poltermann was editing while the filming was in progress. Smith thought that this process had a huge impact on the finished film. ==Critical reception==

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 94% based on 45 positive and 3 negative critics' reviews. The website consensus reads: "Beautifully crafted with loosely drawn characters and a lilting, natural pace, Chris Smith's The Pool features a universal message to which everyone can relate." The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle named it the fourth best film of 2008, == References ==