Baz Luhrmann impressed with Rajasthan

From the people to the villages to the forts and palaces, everything about Rajasthan fascinated this Aussie director so much so that he decided that he would soon be coming back to shoot a film in the desert state. Baz Luhrmann had perhaps never imagined that the biking experience across the villages and towns of Rajasthan would be so much fun.
Baz, who first came to India 15 years ago teamed up with his friend, Australian portrait painter Vincent Fantauzzo, to ride through Rajasthan clicking photos and painting murals, as part of an art project.
The duo zipped through Rajasthan on Royal Enfield bikes photographing people and places during a three-day trip which ended on January 31. They stayed at Dundlod Fort with their hosts Randeep Singh Dundlod and his wife Namrata Dundlod.
“What he liked the most was the history and the architecture of the state and was touched and fascinated by our Rajasthani traditions. We extended to them a warm welcome with tilak and pagri and both of them were so overwhelmed that they got themselves clicked quite a number of times, insisting that the pagri must be visible,” lets in Randeep. Other than the pagri, Baz took a fancy to cotton kurtas. “He saw me wearing a kurta and told us that he really liked it. Later he requested us to get similar kurtas for both of them, which we did. He was really thrilled about dressing up like a Rajasthani and do things the traditional way. Besides biking around, talking to villagers and painting murals in the village, he really enjoyed a kite flying session. And Rajasthani meals were, of course, a great delight to both of them,” lets in Dundlod.
Both Vincent and Baz deliberately chose to be in a village that was not very popular in Rajasthan because they didn’t want the media tailing them. “They were in a mood to freak out on their bikes and therefore they chose to ride through places where not many people would recognise them,” adds Dundlod. As a token of their love Baz and Vincent gifted a painting to the hosts. The director promised that he would come soon to shoot a film or have a fun-filled holiday again. “Both of them are really good, warm- hearted people. After they went from here, they have been in touch with us through emails and keep asking us about the fort and the village that they had been to,” smiles Dundlod.
Follow us on Twitter for more stories