On the set of Bolywood movie Purple Lake - ASA productions - Vishal Bandya

Arriving at Loch Ness 9:20AM (Shoot started at 8am) just down the hill from the Clansman Hotel (Loch Ness's only Lochside hotel) I felt cold and confused.

On the waterside, a clan of Indians of different ages, were hovering about doing various tasks within the set, which comprised of a new model Black Volkswagen Jetta, a large jib (See photo) with dumbells strapped to the ends, some (Definitely not luxury) chairs huddled around a couple of boxed Samsung monitors and more.

Next to the ticket cabin (Which sells tickets for Loch Ness boat journeys with Jacobite tours), a large lighting system and kit boxes sat. further toward the Loch sat a lone sound technician, an experienced movie technician who later told me he had aspirations for Hollywood, and wanted to move there.

For the sound equipment, the technician had a pair of monitor headphones, a box for levels, an 8 track tape recorder and a box of batteries, just before each scene he would switch the 4 batteries on individually then start the tapes rolling, setting the sound levels as things progressed.

The plot is going to be kept kind of secret, but basically (And vaguely) a male actror and female actress go down the hill toward the Loch in the car shown to the Right.

The film is directed by Vishal Pandya, a talented young and energetic individual, who could just as easily pass as a Bollywood Actor himself.

A reporter and photographer from the Scottish newspaper "The Sun" came on set to take a photo or two. Shelley Matheson, a young happy looking (And chatty) reporter, did a couple of interviews with the actors.

Whilst floating about the set looking for interesting shots to take, I spotted Akshay Kapoor (One of the main actors) sitting in a people carrier waiting for his next slot. Fondly reading a copy of "The Sun", I asked if there were papers like it in India (Its well known that The Sun is very light reading, and said readers enjoy an eye opener and every day on Page 3), he said there was, and stated one (I wont mention its name) that especially had a page 3 model spot too!

After some hard work by the crew, and especially the talented british locations manager Sue Bellarby, we all retired to one of the Jacobite boats for the next part of the filming. After i got some pics, we set off onto the famous Loch.

About 100 Metres from the shore, the boat started jumping toward the moon, then down toward the sea bed. Whilst the Indian crew and actors/actress played things well, two local extras from within a 50 Mile radious got sea sick (And had to retire when we hit Urquhart Castle further up the Loch). The boat finally stopped with Urquhart Castle close by and the boat bobbing about, turning every so often so that Vishal could keep the background just perfect.

When taking inside photos, and because of the space limitations of a boat with an almost unlimited amount of crew, actors, extras and me on board, I had to hide under tables and squidge my body against walls to get my shots.

After this, we had lunch at the special catering van, catering for Indian tastes, at the castle, then back on the boat for some more filming inside the boat, then home for the day.

Next day we were at Ness Islands, Inverness for more!

Aaron Sneddon, 2009.