‘Martin’ film – ACV reporter-videographer Natalie Barrass becomes ‘international celebrity’ journalist – A Mumbai tale…

Reputed to have cost more than 100 Crores (nearly £10 million), the talents behind this South Indian language film launched their trailer to great fanfare with an audience of international journalists and others invited from around the world… one-time Mumbai based Nat gives us a personal and inside view of three very hectic days, as the media guest of the producers of ‘Martin’…

By Natalie Barrass

A CLASSIC cinema trope if ever there was one – is nine strangers receive a mysterious invite to an intriguing event with little explanation of what lies is in store. It’s a free trip and plush stay in Mumbai, three days only mind.

“Why are you even doing this?!” we the audience scream.  “Don’t you realise this is a trap?  Who on earth would jump on a plane at the beck and literal call of a stranger?”

This is not the plot of ‘Martin’- this is what actually happened to me and a bunch of other media luvvies earlier this month…

Thursday August 1 (London UK)

Receive a call from an unknown Indian number. Convinced it to be an automated voice sales call (frequent in India), yet concerned it might be my Indian accountant – I answer.It is in fact a real person and thankfully not my accountant.
I’m told that I am being invited to India’s “First International Press Meet” to cover the release of big budget South Indian film ‘Martin‘, starring action hero Dhruva Sarja.
This is both flattering and yet mildly insulting.
Since the event is just a few days later, it is patently clear that Nat Bollywood/ACV was not a primary, first-round, original choice invitee. Hmph. I say this is nice but point out that since three months I am no longer based in Mumbai.  This is fine they say – all travel and accommodation will be taken care of as international coverage is the priority.

Sunday, August 4 (Mumbai)

I am off the plane, it is the early hours of the morning and I am searching for a man with my name on a piece of paper.  Rather
predictably, he is nowhere to be seen.  This is slightly annoying as it is now 2.30am.
I am carrying luggage and would just quite like to just go to sleep in my multi starred accommodation. I opt for an Uber and as the car joins the Western Express Highway, monsoon rains begin to pelt. Despite the early hours, ‘Maximum City‘ is in no need of rest – unlike me. After 12 hours of travel I was eagerly awaiting the cool, crisp hotel linens of the Sun N Sand in Juhu – an area very popular with the filmy fraternity. At reception, I discover that whomever ‘booked’ my transport had also been put in charge of accommodation. My booking was for that day – just 12 hours later that day when check-in opened for that evening. Sleeping in the marble-faceted, polished wood lobby not being my preferred way to pass the time (and probably also not ideal for the man at front desk), a compromise was reached and I was granted access to my very own room.

Sunday August 4 (still)
I awaken and despite being promised “a full itinerary” during my stay – I am not required until 7pm for a meet and greet dinner with the cast of ‘Martin‘. I use my time wisely and go through the press notes, learn that the film’s background score was created by Ravi Basrur who created the music for Kannada’s highest grossing film ‘KGF Chapter 2‘ (and the 4th highest grossing Indian film ever), I also check out the visuals of lead actor Dhruv Sarja’s earlier four films.
To say he’s changed between his first big film, ‘Addhuri‘ and this (film number five) is an understatement so huge, it’s in direct inverse correlation to his bicep growth. I note with interest that the director of ‘Addhuri‘ is also AP Arjun, the director of ‘Martin‘.

Sunday 4th August (still, evening)
Arriving at the stipulated 8pm to the “2nd floor conference room” I notice I am the first to arrive, save for a waiter and two PR women.
Having been out of India for a whole three months, it seems my body clock has reset to GMT and therefore Indian Standard Time (ie late for everything) is a thing of the past. 

The Exclusive Media Dinner cum Conversation

At first glance – with the white table-clothed circular tables, orderly lined lidded-tray buffet and miniature mojitos plucked on arrival – one could be forgiven for imagining this was less a press event and more a nuptial celebration. Arriving single and with no familiar face in the crowd, I was placed on a table with other ‘internationals’ some of whom knew one another and one indeed who had actually attended the recent mega million Ambani wedding.
Accents from Canada, Kenya, Japan, UAE, and Indonesia engage in polite chit-chat.  Brave writers (and editors) who had answered the call and found themselves a few jet-lagged days later in the 2nd floor conference room.Milling amongst the intimate grouping of four or so tables was
the producer Uday K Mehta, actor Dhruva Sarja, youthful PR cat herders and a curiously hefty contingent of photographers and videographers, ensuring every handshake, selfie and smile was caught and kept, frozen in time.We are shown a teaser of ‘Martin‘.  It is manly, rugged and
growly.  There’s action, there’s fire, there’s a soundtrack rumbling your ear drums.  Sarja plays the lead role of Lt Brigadier Arjun Saxena.  The on-screen tattooed grunting and flexing is at odds with Dhruva’s quiet almost meek manner of conversing in the room.
When pushed to show off his muscles (not by me, I may add), he shyly complies, despite being fully clothed, mentioning he has lost 10kg for his next film ‘KD – The Devil‘ a Kannada/Bollywood crossover starring Sanjay Dutt, Shilpa Shetty and Nora Fatahi.  Whilst we talk, the cameras continue to click – yet interestingly, unusually and slightly unnervingly, they focus in the direction of the foreign faces more so than on the assembled cast and crew.At the bar after the dinner, the conversation soon turned to the situation we had all found ourselves in and whether we were aware just how much a part of the circus we might just be.
Whilst pretty much everyone else had been given longer to prepare, there were still scrambles for visas and – from the women – concerns about actual safety.  The term “human trafficking” was mentioned – crossing more than one person’s mind, to the point that Canada’s envoy – Jess, refused a bottle of water from her driver fearing she was about to be drugged.
There wasn’t really much of a story for any of us, we agreed – maybe the trailer launch would give us something substantial.  Suspicions of needing to be camera ready confirmed just minutes later as I’m politely whatsapped “please carry a blazer” for tomorrow.

Monday August 5
After breakfast and an unexpected shopping trip at the nearby mall, I arrive in smart attire – though not a blazer.
It is now 3.30pm and we the “international delegation” are squeezed into chauffeured cars and driven to Andheri. Arriving at the PVR (huge cinema chain) this is not the intimate press conference I was expecting – it is an entire cinema full of reporters, journalists, film critics
and camera crew.
Two MCs welcome us to “India’s First International Press Meet” and begin to run through a hefty pre-planned performance.  The teaser is shown, the reactions to the teaser, then the trailer – similar to the teaser and reactions are again sought – particularly by the white journalist positioned near the end of row four, conveniently in-line with the cameras. The stage is filled by lead actor Dhruva, producer Uday K Mehta, writer (and Dhruva’s uncle) Arjun Sarja, director AP Arjun and actresses Vaibhavi Shandilya and Anveshi Jain.
Truly testing the stage’s weight-bearing capabilities – even more ascend – a total of 6 plastic-uniformed sexy nurses with assault rifles stand guard behind the team (for reasons unknown – do see our Instagram video below) and remaining standing for hours as questions are fired from first the international contingent and then what felt like all 120 of India’s other languages and 19,500 dialects. I ask my suggested question to Dhruva and am offered the opportunity to quiz writer Arjun Sarja with something of my own.  I asked was it “a  coincidence that nephew Dhruva had been cast for his talent or whether family connections were more important?”
The question was pretty much ignored as Arjun delivered his pre-prepared answer and then forgot who he was addressing in the crowd as I waved to remind him what I’d actually asked. As we entered the FOURTH HOUR of attendance at the cinema I started messaging folks back home…
But then – as quickly as ‘Martin‘ had appeared in my life, it was over…
I was passed a voucher for a samosa and let loose in the foyer. 
Knowledgeable of Mumbai traffic and not wanting to stay a moment longer than necessary – I book an Uber.

Tuesday, August 6
I sit back on the plane home and reflect back on the entire ‘Martin‘ experience. I am left with more questions (of my own) than answers… The most pressing of which being, who or what actually IS Martin?!

‘Martin’ goes on worldwide release from October 11 2024…

Please note the lead picture has been changed since original publication due to a technical issue…(30.08.2024)