With this set of pictures, I want to explore the fine line that exists between what is real and what is constructed. I made these pictures on a Bollywood film set in Maharashtra. The intention of the director was to recreate an Angolan hamlet in India. Shooting in Angola was too risky because of its tumultuous political situation.

It was a surreal setting. There were black Portuguese actors who played the lead parts and a motley crew of extras – students from Pune university, Colaba locals, tourists, Siddhis from Gujarat. Thrown together only because they shared a race, they were meeting each other for the first time in an obscure village in Maharashtra.

It was an action sequence that the cinematographer had chosen to shoot only in the ‘magic hour’ (that window of beautiful light right after sunset). The actors and extras would rehearse the choreographed action stunts through the day to shoot only for a few minutes every evening. This went on for a few days. Eventually there was a sense of community that grew between the cast members, the kind of camaraderie that develops on film sets from hours of waiting around together. A real feeling was rising in a completely artificial, constructed situation.

This sequence eventually got edited out of the film, but I still had my negatives. I printed some of the images and showed them to people, and saw with great delight that I could deceive people into thinking I had in fact been to Africa to make these pictures. Did I have to tell them the truth? I decided I had to, so I put the images together in such a way that it leaves you wondering about their authenticity. There are some references to the filmic reconstruction, but they are fleeting.