In The Darjeeling Limited three estranged brothers agree to meet and travel across India a year after their fathers death on a soul-searching train journey. The theme of the titular train is the elephant.
The entire sequence was shot on a real train leased from the Indian Railway. A few weeks in advance of the shoot it came to live in Bhagat ke Kothi in Jodhpur, an unused train yard.
Miniature, truck, stencil, signboard and lettering artists began painting directly on the train exterior once the engine and compartments had been painted in blue.
The motif is omnipresent both in the interior and exterior of the train. Each miniature elephant is one of a kind. The track perspective was intentional on the front of the engine to make you feel that the train was coming at you. We referenced a photograph of a real elephant and gave it to the truck artists
Director. Wes Anderson
Production Designer. Mark Freidberg
Art Director. Aradhana Seth
Set Decorator. Aradhana Seth & Suzanne Caplan Merwanji
Cinematographer. Robert D. Yeoman
