The Celtic Tiger

Wandering through Trinity College’s Parliament Square one breezy afternoon, it struck me just how happy the students here are. I can’t remember ever jumping joyfully around UCD with a group of brightly costumed classmates and saxophonists, as catchy Hindi music blared.

Then it hit me – I had walked straight into one of those all-inclusive, joyous, uplifting, spirit-uniting flashmobs! And they seem to be doing some kind of Slumdog Millionaire tribute dance routine! Wait, why am I being escorted away by a security guard?
It’s actually the final day of filming Ek Tha Tiger, the Bollywood romantic thriller that has been shooting in Dublin for the past two months. Directed by Kabr Khan, it stars Indian heartthrob and bad boy Salman Khan and his ex-flame Katrina Kahif, one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actresses.
While it stars India’s biggest celebrities, Ek Tha Tiger has been given a decidedly Dublin twist. With choreography from Dublin hip-hop teacher Jane Shorthall, dozens of Irish dancers were hired to play the friends and classmates of Kahif, whose character attends a fictional dance academy in Trinity College. Switching saris for skinny jeans and patiala salwar for pyjama bottoms – yes, Dubliners’ love of leaving the house without getting dressed is now going international! – the blend of iconic Dublin settings, Irish dance fusion routines and diverse cast ensure that this Indian film has been rendered in nearly 40 shades of green. One of the elaborate dance routines even featured hurlers – though how ginger lads waving their hurleys will translate back in India remains to be seen.
Keeping the shooting schedule secret to avoid attracting crowds, the production instead chose a Crouching Talent, Hidden Dancers guerrilla-style approach. Popping up in various locations around Dublin city, including Grafton Street, Trinity College, Temple Bar, the Millennium Bridge and more, unsuspecting shoppers, students and tourists found their daily routine interrupted by huge dance numbers, intimate scenes and even a dramatic sequence where a car is overturned by a LUAS.
While the film may have blended the Irish with the Indian, the general response underlined the distinct difference between our two cultures – namely, we Irish are shameless messers.
“The public have been mad! We’ve had some really funny encounters,” laughs Gill Keogh, a Dublin dancer and stylist who plays Kahif’s best friend in the film. “On Grafton Street we were filming a market scene and a random pedestrian jumped up on a bench and started waving madly in the background.”
Director Khan was canny enough to capture Dublin’s love of craic onscreen, letting the Irish extras use method acting when needed.
“I play a dance student who’s one of Katrina’s best friends,” Keogh says. “Our scenes were of us chilling out and heading out to a party where you see us leaving the Temple Bar pub absolutely locked. They actually got us drunk!“
As you do...