Ridley Scott, Google Partner on Documentary ‘India in a Day’

Google has partnered with The Martian director Ridley Scott, Indian director Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur) and Canada-based Indian director Richie Mehta (Siddharth) on user-generated documentary India in a Day.

The project will be the sixth installment of the series that began in 2011 with Life in a Day directed by Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland), which debuted at Sundance. The films in the series have typically seen theatrical and multi-platform releases, including streaming on Google-owned YouTube.

India in a Day will aim to capture a day in the life of the world’s largest democracy on Oct. 10. The project invites participants to grab any camera, including smartphones, to film whatever catches their fancy to help showcase “the story of evolving India,” according to Google India marketing director Sandeep Menon. “India stands at a unique moment in its history: a time of great change sparked by technology. With the smartphone revolution transforming every aspect of our lives, from the mundane to the profound, we are very excited to partner on this project,” he added.

If the footage, which has to be uploaded on the project’s website within a week of filming, makes it to the final cut, the participant will earn a co-director credit on the film, as has been the case with earlier editions of the series.

Mehta will direct the project, while Scott and Kashyap will serve as executive producers. Leading filmmakers R. Balki (Shamitabh) and Zoya Akhtar (Dil Dhadakne Do), along with Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth) are creative consultants for India in a Day, which is scheduled for release in 2016.

“It doesn’t matter how small or personal it is — from riding a bike to calling your mum,” Scott said. “It just simply needs to bear witness to what life is like in today’s India — that’s magical enough.”

“Film anything, but most of all, make it personal,” said Kashyap, who is currently in Busan serving jury duty in the New Currents section of the Busan Film Festival. “Make it your point of view. Tell us what you love, what you hate, what worries you, what you hope for, what you want to change.”

Added Mehta: “I hope people take this opportunity to be honest, fun and revealing … To dispel the myths of India — or confirm their truths. It will be a thrill to discover.”

Previous editions of the series have included Britain in a Day, directed by Morgan Matthews (A Brilliant Young Mind), Japan in a Day, directed by Philip Martin (The Forger) and TV helmer Gaku Narita (Miss Pilot), Christmas in a Day, directed by Macdonald, and Italy in a Day, directed by Gabriele Salvatores (The Invisible Boy).

Japan in a Day consisted of footage shot by people on March 11, 2012, to mark the one-year anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami  that struck the country’s Sendai region.

Matt Damon stars in Ridley Scott’s new film ‘The Martian.’ Watch Damon talk about the premise of the film below.