UAE @ BO: Total filmi!

Whistleblower brings you the Dubai film industry’s English debut at the box-office

When the The Boolean Mind, with two item numbers shot in India, is released this year,it will be the UAE’s first ever English film and second film overall, —after the Emirati movie Dream launched this month — to emerge from the country’s fledgling film industry.That’s probably why Yogesh Pratap Singh, Dubai-based Indian director of The Boolean Mind, sits up to watch the film’s trailer on his laptop each night.
‘‘It’s a fast-paced psychological thriller with twists and turns that will make viewers sit up too,’’ says Yogesh.The story of an Indian immigrant couple in Dubai, the film revolves around the female protagonist played by Mumbai-based model Bhoomika Puri, who is wooed by five men, two of whom are Dubai cops. The suspense comes from one of the five men being assaulted by a hitman whose identity is a mystery,and Bhoomika’s husband possibly being a cog in the wheel of machinations.
Newcomer Bhoomika thinks the role is just perfect for her. ‘‘Because, in the film, I get to be both a sensitive, fragile introverted woman and a calculative person. Though I appear serene to others, I’m agitated inside. The film is all about resolving the crisis in my mind through means whose ethics might be debatable,’’ she elaborates.
It is this ambiguity, says Yogesh, which prompted him to call the movie The Boolean Mind.‘‘Every action can be right or wrong at the same time —that’s the concept of George Boole, a 19th century mathematician,’’ he explains. The hitch is that boolean complexity could evade the logic of the common viewer. ‘‘This movie isn’t for the dim-witted,’’ says Yogesh. ‘‘My target audience is the thinking man who is interested in understanding complex concepts.’’
Bhoomika appears pleased that she doesn’t have any kissing scenes in this ‘‘clean yet bold’’English film. ‘‘I’ve never exposed and will never do so unless the script demands it and the film is being made by a classy banner. In any case, I don’t wear bikinis in real life.’’
Next up for Yogesh’s The Boolean Mind, primarily shot in the recently inaugurated Dubai Studio City, is a screening at the Dubai Film Festival. ‘‘And yes, I already have my next film in mind.’’ Dubai, it seems, has a bright future in cinema.