Will Hollywood take to desi stars?

[wannabe]

This article actually touches on a couple of other existing threads -- how well do BW actors speak Hindi and the kind of accent they have in English -- but I figured it deserved its own thread.

As for who will actually make it in Hollywood -- of all the actors mentioned here, I think John Abraham has the best chance, for two reasons.  His fim "Water" is more of a mainstream "Hollywood" film than all the others -- even though it's a Canadian film, Deepa Mehta has more name recognition and track record in Hollywood than the others.  The second reason is that his name is easy to pronounce for the Hollywoodites! 

http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/mar/21slide1.htm

[Darshana]

As universal as I think the appeal is of the Bollywood actors, I also think that finding places for them in English-language movies is not at all easy.  Once they are not in Indian movies, they are "foreigners," and have to be cast as foreigners.  (On the stage though they could be in the kinds of classical things that are often cast without regard to nationality or color, like Shakespeare or ancient Greek drama.)

I can see Abraham as a regular on a cop show, either a major or side character, who is a bachelor and often gets mixed up with females encountered in the course of the episode.  As talented as Saif is, and as easy as his English is to understand - he accents syllables in the way we're used to - I have trouble thinking of a spot for him, though I hope somebody will. 

[GreenBear]

If Hollywood was still making those delightful, dressed-up screwball comedies of 1930s and 1940s, I could see Saif in them. But as it is, I agree that John Abraham has the best shot. Someone like SRK, while I love him more than any other Bolly actor, I cannot imagine in a Hollywood production at all, though if he got a proper script, I could see him blowing off everyone else in the cast from the screen.

[jemeznj]

Of course there are actors with strongly foreign English accents who have made it big in Hollywood - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean Claude Van Damme, Jackie Chan, Jet Li. But they have crossed over from foreign martial arts genre films that were already successes in America in their own right. And once film-makers are sure that the audience wants to see them they can be bothered to think up storylines which put 'foreigners' at the centre or sometime just explain away the accent in the case of the first two. Or just have the accent with no explanation as in Conan the Barbarian which was all just weird anyway.(Actually was Arnie a martial arts star before he made Hollywood films? I have no idea how he made it into the American film business!) So I'm sure if a couple of Bollywood films made it big in America, stars like Saif or John Abraham  would soon get some specially scripted offers. Otherwise I guess not because they can't just be slotted in to a typical Hollywood script.

[stuartmqnz]

I think that the odds are always much better for desi actors and actresses to be accepted into British productions, like Provoked, simply because desis have a higher profile in the UK, and the British film industry is more tolerant of ethnic diversity than HW.

[Darshana]

I think that the odds are always much better for desi actors and actresses to be accepted into British productions, like Provoked, simply because desis have a higher profile in the UK, and the British film industry is more tolerant of ethnic diversity than HW.

interested in what you say about British film industry's tolerance of ethnic diversity - this is not something I know much about.  Can you say more of what you mean?

My guess would have been - Britain makes more TV stories and movies with Indian characters in them, either stories about Indians in the present or past, or stories about raj history.  The US makes some stories about African-American and Hispanic people, and stories with African-American or Hispanic people in them in setting like police stations of hospitals -- anyhow, what are the examples of diversity you're thinking about?

Do you think that, as a percentage of screen time given to faces of color, Britain comes out ahead?

[tabula rasa]

stuart - Agreed. There's yet to be that hugely successful Indian film that runs surprisingly well on it's own merit and word of mouth, to merit a worthy dekho of Indian stars by HW producers

[Darshana]

This is such a different topic I'm putting it separate:

best Hollywood exposure I can think of for SRK is one movie in which he plays an Indian movie star.  Lots of possiblities for a plot - easiest is a fish out of water plot, where he goes to the US to do some kind of acting job and then some kind of conflict occurs - maybe crime/danger/action variety rather than romance, since he's not going to kiss anybody.  

Or he's an Indian movie star & goes to the US for some reason to do with personal life - find a lost relative, try to look after a sick relative, try to save a friend who's in trouble - something hero-ish.

[stuartmqnz]

Do you think that, as a percentage of screen time given to faces of color, Britain comes out ahead?

Strictly anecdotally, I would guess "yes". Britain has a very large black population (NOT African-American, obviously). Afro-Caribbeans nand their children have settled in the UK, and are a very large minority group, although I would not be surprised if South Asians are more numerous. So the UK has a lot of African faces on TV as well as Indian ones, and also because many British screen actors also do stage work (there is less separation than in the US), there are many non-white RADA graduates doing Shakespeare and other classics on stage and taking prominent, positive roles on TV.

[corbie]

Arnold was a body builder and he had won Mr Universe or Mr World or something like that and was already famous. I believe his first movie was about a body builder. Stay Hungry if I remember right. I just looked it up, Hercules in New York. He was so cute in Conan. One of my favorite movies.

[NaijaChiqa]

I think that the odds are always much better for desi actors and actresses to be accepted into British productions, like Provoked, simply because desis have a higher profile in the UK, and the British film industry is more tolerant of ethnic diversity than HW.

interested in what you say about British film industry's tolerance of ethnic diversity - this is not something I know much about.  Can you say more of what you mean?

My guess would have been - Britain makes more TV stories and movies with Indian characters in them, either stories about Indians in the present or past, or stories about raj history.  The US makes some stories about African-American and Hispanic people, and stories with African-American or Hispanic people in them in setting like police stations of hospitals -- anyhow, what are the examples of diversity you're thinking about?

Do you think that, as a percentage of screen time given to faces of color, Britain comes out ahead?

I think Britain has less segregation so you have a lot of movies and television shows with characters from minority ethnic groups interracting with white people. So it's not necessarily a story about Indians/Africans/Chinese etc, but a just a story with characters of different shades. Quite often, the person's race isn't referred to (unlike in American television/movies) and he or she is just like every other character.

[stuartmqnz]

So it's not necessarily a story about Indians/Africans/Chinese etc, but a just a story with characters of different shades. Quite often, the person's race isn't referred to (unlike in American television/movies) and he or she is just like every other character.

Thanks, that's the sort of thing I was trying to convey. Cheers!

[Prem Rogue]

Even black actors don't exactly have it easy in HW.  Imagine how much more difficult it would be for an Indian actor to get a good role.  A superstar like SRK would be a nobody in HW, and he'd have to essentially start over to prove himself.

[tabula rasa]

Even black actors don't exactly have it easy in HW.  Imagine how much more difficult it would be for an Indian actor to get a good role.  A superstar like SRK would be a nobody in HW, and he'd have to essentially start over to prove himself.

well which is what Ash did. She stated early on in that sphere she's a total newcomer, starting over.

[chandranc]

Oh, I'm sorry i don't have much sympathy for hollywood not taking in crossover stars from india. they dn't take over crossover stars from any other language film too easily. Ask Jackie chan..or chow yun fat what kind of trouble they've had doing hollywood films.

ask lean paul leaund or jean reno..or belmondo..or toshiro mifune about crossovers.

or marcello maostrianni ..

even if we agreed that times are a changing and hollywood needs popular stars from other language industries, why John abraham? why arjun rampal?

why not the biggest and the most popular ones of them all...shahrukh khan...salman khan..aamir khan?

why pick relative novices(not that john is a relative novice, but he doesn't speak the language of money as well as some of these others can..) for a crossover when it's pretty easy to get a good looking bod in california, if that's what you want.

NO star is going to work as crossover targets unless they can bring a big enough audience with them for them to be immediately marketable.

[carla]

I don't see any Indian film actor becoming a Hollywood star.  They might get a role here or there, but there's just very limited interest in Hollywood in making stars of foreign actors, especially foreign non-white actors.  I don't think that Hollywood would view an Indian star as the least bit marketable.

American television is a lot more amenable to casting actors who are not white and actors with accents - but in ensemble casts, not as stars - for desi actors, Parminder Nagra's role in "ER" leaps to mind, and also Ravi Kapoor on "Crossing Jordan."  Both these actors, though, while of desi extraction, were born and educated in the UK - so their speech would be viewed by the network powers that be as more familiar and palatable to mainstream American audiences than an Indian-born, Indian-accented actor.

At any rate, I can't imagine why a desi film star of the caliber that has been thrown around on this thread would have any interest in acting in an ensemble cast in an American TV show. 

[crazyone]

I'm more concerned about the fate of Indian-American actors looking for roles in Hollywood than I am about successful Indian actors crossing over to Hollywood when they have a strong foothold in their own industries. 

[Prem Rogue]

I'm more concerned about the fate of Indian-American actors looking for roles in Hollywood than I am about successful Indian actors crossing over to Hollywood when they have a strong foothold in their own industries. 

That's definitely a more troublesome area.  There's the occasional Harold and Kumar or some side role like Kevin Gnapoor in Mean Girls, but roles for South Asians actors in the US are limited.  And I don't want to see another ABCD-themed movie 

[lauren]

when i first started watching BW i would always wonder, "these actors are great! how come HW hasn't come calling for them yet?" but as time goes by i realize it must be very difficult to make the jump from the indian film industry to the american one, especially when there doesn't seem to be a market for that genre. some "foreigners" do make it big in the industry, but its usually because HW associated them with something that was popular, ie jackie chan and bruce lee were popular because martial arts was something new and exciting to the US. and in jackie's case, his style of using the objects in the room to aid/stylize his fighting was something new to americans. but sadly, BW and indian culture doesn't have much prominence in the US. and then when a south asian film is made it is usually, ABCD/ fish out of water types. after a while, these get old and whats more frustrating is that they typically don't do well mainstream because many times these movies cater to south asians specifically, in regards to the jokes. members of this forum won't have a problem with that, but i always have to explain things when watching American Desi or Where's the Party Yaar with friends. 

i do agree that it weould be easier for a BW star to make it into the British film industry. i don't know much about british films but i AM always noticing that south asian artists like Jay Sean and others turn out songs that make it on mainstream national charts, not just south asian charts. and then i was reading on the Bluffmaster website that one of the songs, Buro Buro, which is in Farsi, made it into the top 20 all over europe! i have also been told by south asians who have lived in england that england is a diverse place and the people are very tolerant of diversity.

[Dil Bert]

I think Britain has less segregation so you have a lot of movies and television shows with characters from minority ethnic groups interracting with white people. So it's not necessarily a story about Indians/Africans/Chinese etc, but a just a story with characters of different shades. Quite often, the person's race isn't referred to (unlike in American television/movies) and he or she is just like every other character.

Is that really the case, or are the class cues more subtle -- accent, for example?  And if they don't refer to race they seem to be the only film/TV industry which doesn't.  Certainly HK films do, for ex.

Did anyone mention SF shows/movies offering fine roles to those any color?

[chandranc]

Is that really the case, or are the class cues more subtle -- accent, for example?  And if they don't refer to race they seem to be the only film/TV industry which doesn't.  Certainly HK films do, for ex.

Did anyone mention SF shows/movies offering fine roles to those any color?

but don't you like have to have warts...or horns up the back of your head...or a proboscis to actually land a good role?

[NaijaChiqa]

I think Britain has less segregation so you have a lot of movies and television shows with characters from minority ethnic groups interracting with white people. So it's not necessarily a story about Indians/Africans/Chinese etc, but a just a story with characters of different shades. Quite often, the person's race isn't referred to (unlike in American television/movies) and he or she is just like every other character.

Is that really the case, or are the class cues more subtle -- accent, for example?  And if they don't refer to race they seem to be the only film/TV industry which doesn't.  Certainly HK films do, for ex.

Did anyone mention SF shows/movies offering fine roles to those any color?

Well, I watch more British television shows than movies and I will say that on many of them, the minority character(s) is really not that distinguishable from the other characters based on race or even class... and speaking of accents, an Indian person from the East End sounds just like a white person from the East End. 

Not to say that there is never ever a reference to race, but quite often, that person's race doesn't really play a part in his/her storyline.

Think of a movie like "Love Actually." Chiwetel Ejifor's character could have been played by anyone of any race and it wouldn't have a made a difference to the story. Granted, his role was small but still.

Not to say that there is no racism in British Cinema, but you are more likely to find a non-white person play a part that wasn't specifically written for his/her race in Britain than in America.

[los angeles]

I think HW totally will, entertainment like everything else has become so diverse now. People like Irfan K and Anil K have both already participated in lots of HW projects, as has Aish. I think it will be even more in the future (I'm waiting to see a project with SRK on this side of the ocean. Why hasn't he been in something already?!) And many others as well.

[Prem Rogue]

I don't see a lot of Indian stars becoming popular in Hollywood (sorry, SRK fans) but they'll take roles in Western projects every now and then.  Irfan Khan has a role in the next Spider-man film, for instance.  Indian-American actors, however, have more of a future IMO.

Every comedy on NBC's Thursday night line-up has at least one Desi actor:

30 Rock - Maulik Pancholy
Community - Danny Pudi (half-Indian, half-Polish)
The Office - Mindy Kaling
Parks and Recreations - Aziz Ansari
Outsourced - everyone except for the three white people on the show

[filmcrazy]

I don't think so. Desi stars may get some roles but I don't see them becoming big stars. Anil Kapoor is the only one who has made a mark in the U.S. He may actually be the one to get substantial roles in the near future. I have not seen 24 or Slumdog but he seems to be getting things right. Many of the stars are also not going to make the effort to start from scratch in another industry when films are being made around them in India. Most of them will go the Aish route in terms of grabbing eyeballs with some projects and then going back when things slow down. They would have to move to LA or something to really make use of opportunities. Anil keeps shuttling between the U.S and India and is pursuing things very seriously by going for auditions and meeting different directors to get roles.

The other interesting thing I have observed with desi actors is thier disdain towards auditioning and networking to get roles. They equate that with "begging" for work. I don't see anyone like SRK going through this kind of a grind to get work in HW. People almost hold such practice in contempt but HW seems to operate on the basis of picking the best actor for the character. Even the best actors audition for roles abroad. I think the professional attitude is also an impediment for Desi stars. Even Mira Nair complained about Rani's lack of commitment to rehearsals when she wanted to cast her for The Namesake.