Extra! Extra!

Howard Johnson in white suit on setJohnson on set with prop cocktail

Scouts often cruise the streets of Mumbai looking for westerners to work as extras in Bollywood films. I ended up dancing on the set of a movie within a day of landing in India as a backpacker, says Howard Johnson.

Some people spend their lives seeking their 15 minutes of fame. But as I experienced in India, sometimes it comes looking for you.

I’d just arrived in Mumbai after a flight from Bangladesh. A little travel weary I set about looking for a hotel on the streets of Colaba, the backpacker district.

Walking past the Salvation Army hostel a shadowy figure stood in a doorway called out to me: “Hey, want to be in a Bollywood movie?”

I’d read in my guide book that scouts trawl the area looking for westerners to work as extras, but I hadn’t expected to be asked minutes after my arrival.

The man was Amjad Khan, a casting agent for the film

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