Will Hollywood take to desi stars?

[Honeycomb]

I also hate to be a wet-blanket, but I think it won't happen any time soon. Personally I don't see why would they want to? The BW stars have everything they want and then some.
HW is in the selling game, they have zero imagination when it comes to casting actors of diverse origin, and casting directors will have to work hard to find them more than the stock roles of criminal/immigrant/shopkeeper. They won't care how big they are in their own country. Another disturbing matter is the fact that HW casting will cater to the tastes of the majority of people who pay for tickets - not the diverse crowds in the bigger cities like New York, Chicago and L.A, but the more homogenous populations in middle America, who have less of a tolerance for someone who speaks with an accent or looks ethnic.

By the way Javier Bardem, who is not a really a big star,(I'm not even sure he's quite a household name yet.. ) and in fact was made to speak with something resembling an American accent in "No Country For Old Men". If he spoke with his heavy Spanish accent he would've never made it.
HW will also make Australian, British and Scottish actors speak in an American accent because it's more "palatable" to the average viewer. Very few are left with their own accent nowadays.

[Dariya]

Big in Hollywood right now: Ryan Gosling, Micheal Fassbender, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Taylor Lautner, Bradley Cooper?

Okay, the fact that I'm only familiar with two of these is proof that I am not the authority on Hollywood male attractiveness  .  But I guess it's true that BW has lower standards for actors and (much) higher standards for actresses than Hollywood does. 

[Sanyogita]

Okay, the fact that I'm only familiar with two of these is proof that I am not the authority on Hollywood male attractiveness  .  But I guess it's true that BW has lower standards for actors and (much) higher standards for actresses than Hollywood does.  

HW definitely has much higher standards for actors, but I don't think that Bollywood has much higher standards for female beauty to be honest, I think it's just more demanding of female beauty. Any of the top Hollywood actresses under 35 would look just as good as a BW actress if they were elaborately styled with full glamour make-up, hair extensions etc and then shot in the style of a shampoo/ lingerie advert, where everything from the cinematography to the lighting was meant to make them look otherworldly glamorous.

There are some women like Deepika Padukone, Chitrangadha Singh, Aishwarya Rai and Shriya Saran who are exceptionally beautiful of course, but Hollywood has some women who are drop-dead gorgeous as well.

Plus, Bollywood will basically cast only models and beauty queens. So if Hollywood wanted to cast women in exotic sex object roles, they don't have to look to Bollywood to find these women, they can just cast Victoria's Secret Models, swimsuit models, supermodels, South American pageant queens and so on, the way BW usually does. It's not like there is a shortage of amazing looking women in the States. That's why I think that most current BW actresses won't be able to make it big in HW, because their looks are usually the only thing that they have going for them.

[Dil Bert]

Aren't 'exotic' women cast opposite African-American men occasionally?  Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes, Brian White and Mallika Sherawat, Wesley Snipes and various women.

[Manturo]

A Hollywood Agent Goes Bollywood
By SHIVANI VORA


As interest in Bollywood continues to grow in the United States, American talent agencies are taking note. Jai Khanna, a manager with Brillstein Entertainment Partners, is targeting talent from India, hoping to bring them into the American mainstream. Beverly Hills-based Brillstein’s client list, which already included heavyweights like Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler and Bill Maher, now boasts Irrfan Khan and Hrithik Roshan, and could soon welcome many more Bollywood names, if Mr. Khanna has his way.

Mr. Khanna’s client Mr.Khan has landed roles in Hollywood hits such as “Slumdog Millionaire,” and upcoming films “Life of Pi” and “The Amazing Spiderman.” Mr. Khanna, 41, who was born and raised in the San Francisco area, spoke to India Ink recently about his firm’s Bollywood plans, and the opportunities for Indian actors today.

Q. At what level do you think Bollywood actors can succeed in Hollywood? As lead roles? Playing ethnic roles?
A. Times have changed- these days, audiences want to see a great actor playing a convincing role in a compelling story. They don’t care about the ethnicity of the actor, and the industry has recognized this reality.

Indian actors have already experienced success in a variety of roles including lead, supporting, and bit roles. Of course, Irrfan Khan is no longer limited to ethnic roles, but others have also found success, especially in television. In television, some of the Indian talent has been cast in Caucasian roles, and have even been given non-ethnic names, such as [Indian-American actor] Aziz Ansari who plays a character named Tom on “Parks and Recreation” and Maulik Pancholy in “30 Rock” whose character name is Jonathan. Also, Parvesh Cheena from “Outsourced” booked a CBS pilot recently called “Friend Me” and his character’s name is Mike.

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/a-hollywood-agent-goes-to-bollywood/#more-31724

[Honeycomb]

Times have changed- these days, audiences want to see a great actor playing a convincing role in a compelling story. They don’t care about the ethnicity of the actor, and the industry has recognized this reality.

Well, I completely disagree with him and I still think that in the movie business it'll be much harder.  I agree that in TV things are a little more flexible since the shows are more of an ensemble cast and there's more room for diversity anyway. Archie Panjabi is currently the most successful Indian/British actress on TV and even won an Emmy for her role in "The Good Wife", yet she (and Alan Cumming, who is Scottish) speak with an American accent on the show.

[Darshana]

Not so sure, to me there has been a lot of change.  There is at least a list of non-white actors one can name easily, even me (I don't usually recognize the people on the covers of the gossip magazines in the supermarket!) -- Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Queen Latifah, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith . . . and in an earlier era there were a fair number of "foreigners," who spoke with foreign accents, who became stars -- leaving out Brits, we had Greta Garbo, Peter Lorre, Ingrid Bergman, that Egyptian man who hits women now that he's old . . . I think there's a place now for some Indians in some movies. 

I think the situation has been the lack of translator figures - this Indian-American man who is we--placed professionally is to me the only kind of person who might negotiate this.  Somebody has to really understand both film cultures, this guy seems like a real possibility.

[tikistitch]

I'm glad this thread revived: it's fascinating!  Though a little depressing (to me).

One of the reasons I started viewing BW cinema is that in the past I'd come upon an Indian actor (or actor of Indian heritage) in a foreign film or TV show, and then I would try to follow their career and....     Well, for example, Art Malik from The Jewel in the Crown: played an Arab terrorist in True Lies.     Does anyone else remember My Beautiful Landrette?  Daniel Day-Lewis went on to become one of our most celebrated actors, but as for the Pakistani actors...?  Or what about Bend it Like Beckham?  Anybody recognize the name Keira Knightley?  OK, what about Parminder Nagra (answer: she went on to play a doctor in some doctor show). 

I would be terribly annoyed to see Hrithik or Shah Rukh or Abhishek show up in an American film just to be Arab Terrorist #2.  I'd like 'em, you know, in a lead role.  Sort of like I'd like to see more of our own African American actors in roles that aren't Gang Dude #2, but that's another story.

[Manturo]

..., that Egyptian man who hits women now that he's old . . . I think there's a place now for some Indians in some movies.  

LOL. You mean Omar Sharif?

But seriously, I think it's a good experiment but the two things that fail to coalesce all the time are: good material and audience reception (read: $$$$$). That's the nature of entertainment.

[Darshana]

Yes! Omar Sharif!!

[filmcrazy]

Clearly, HW has not taken to desi stars. They make stray appearances in one or two films and then disappear. Television industry seems more open to international actors. Anil Kapoor, Parminder Nagra and Irfan Khan are great examples who are thriving in television. When people talk about international stardom, they come across as windbags to me. In some respects, almost all BW actors are international stars because Indian films are no longer confined to India. It is just that they have not made any inroads into the U.S.

Besides all this, BW actors are not going to audition for roles and wait in line to work with Spielberg or Tarantino. They consider that humiliating.

[radhika s]

Great Gatsby is set to release December 25th, 2012. Not sure how big Amitabh's role is in it, but we'll see.

^ I think it's only one or two scenes:(

Prem Rogue, It's already November, but I think I might've lost this bet therefore I publicly concede one month early...Thanksgiving is coming up end of this month and then Christmas right after that I can't imagine something is gonna SUDDENLY happen in the next five or six weeks, you know?

PM your address and I will send Blu Ray
I guess you are off the hook to find vegan donuts or vegan chocolates for me (which is fine as I can't eat them anyway on my horrid low-carb low-fat diet these days haha)

BUT I haven't given up, I must add a saving-face addendum to say that maybe these BW mofo let me down in the twenty twelve (damn them to hell haha!) but I will be placing new bets in the 2013 and 2014 and they had BETTER not let me down again next year because everyone deserves second chance but not two hundred second chance and at some point these folks have got to deliver omg or why I am a member of this forum even

I now clear the table and consider what bets I will place on my beloved BW in January *ponders furiously*
WHowever loses next year--and they WILL lose if there's any justice at all--is gonna have to send me vegan diet food wooo hooo
MODS plz delete all this if needed, no worries, I will find the PR on FB to pay my debts if so and no problem at all

[Barathi]

This still seems to be in the discussion stages but a start...

http://entertainment.oneindia.in/tamil/news/2012/kamal-hassan-barrie-osborne-lord-of-rings-096394.html

[Prem Rogue]

^ Rumors of projects like that pop up all the time and disappear. I'm skeptical.

[radhika s]

^ Ravina why you no tell me which movies you want...I have to send soon...I can't lay down another bet on my darling BW till I pay up on my last one

Is anyone going to see Gatsby movie for BigB cameo? [At least someone landed up somewhere in a HW movie even if just for a couple of seconds hehe]

Clearly, HW has not taken to desi stars. They make stray appearances in one or two films and then disappear. Television industry seems more open to international actors.

In some respects, almost all BW actors are international stars because Indian films are no longer confined to India. It is just that they have not made any inroads into the U.S.

^ WOuldn't it also be safe to say they haven't made inroads into Europe either? North America as a whole too, I guess, Canada would be same situation

Besides all this, BW actors are not going to audition for roles and wait in line to work with Spielberg or Tarantino. They consider that humiliating.

^ FilmCRazy, I wonder why this is. But hmmm, I also wonder if it's completely accurate, I mean if Tarantino looks for Middle Eastern or Indian looking thug character in one of his gangsters movies, and places a call to Imran Khan or Ranveer Singh for an audition, would they really not go? They'd politely decline and go back to their BW set...? I dunno, maybe someone like SRK wouldn't go, but then maybe he would, who knows. I have no idea what I'm talking bout here as usual

[Prem Rogue]

^ Ravina why you no tell me which movies you want...I have to send soon...I can't lay down another bet on my darling BW till I pay up on my last one

Ravina, HAHAHA   We still have a little time before the end of the year, so I'll let you know then. Who knows, after Life of Pi and Great Gatsby, maybe Irrfan and Amitabh will sign up to be in a NY buddy cop movie or something. Actually, why don't I write that???

[veracious]

Hilarious that you guys actually made a bet about this! And sorry to the loser.

I'm also highly pessimistic on this regard. It seems to me that Hollywood is a very self-centric industry, so in order to really make it, you have to make it in Hollywood films, or have a film so massive in success that it punctures the Hollywood conciousness (like wins an Oscar or something). Stardom abroad really means nothing, even in an industry as big as India's. Sad, but true. (A true, sad story - the biggest film star in Finland went to Hollywood, ended up as a body on CSI and a vampire that spoke Swedish on True Blood.)

I think what could conceivably happen is that some non-Indian director sees Indian films by a certain star, and then fall in love with said star so much they envision her or him in their next movie, and really champion to get that star cast. That could happen with a genre director, but again, it seems so very unlikely. Indian films are still the "goofy" step-child with those oh-so-strange dance sequences (in the eyes of Hollywood, that is) and Hollywood's casting practises still strongly prefer white people.

Meanwhile, Priyanka is trying her piggy chops at popstardom - I'm skeptic, and not just because I'm not a fan and her singing voice is nothing without the generous help of autotune. It's also that the pop market is pretty saturated with all these soddin' XFactor acts and whatnot. Who's going to hear from them in two years' time? If she becomes even a one hit wonder, I'll be shocked. (I was going to type up, "I'll eat my hat and watch all Anil Kapoor films", but then I remembered what happened to bets in this thread.)

[radhika s]

Hilarious that you guys actually made a bet about this! And sorry to the loser.

^ This loser is used to losing hahaha:p
[Seriously, I am total failure/idiot in real life, I was just hoping to bet on a winning puppet from Mumbai but those guys couldn't pull it off this year, it seems

(A true, sad story - the biggest film star in Finland went to Hollywood, ended up as a body on CSI and a vampire that spoke Swedish on True Blood.)

^ That is so funny!
And Probably same would happen for some BW people if they threw their hat in the ring and ventured over

Indian films are still the "goofy" step-child with those oh-so-strange dance sequences (in the eyes of Hollywood, that is)

^ Yea that's true...I was wondering the other day if Dreamum Wakeupum from Aiyyaa could be the next Gangnam Style but Surya might not be as sexy as Psy to western audiences (hehe)

Meanwhile, Priyanka is trying her piggy chops at popstardom - I'm skeptic, and not just because I'm not a fan and her singing voice is nothing without the generous help of autotune. It's also that the pop market is pretty saturated with all these soddin' XFactor acts and whatnot. Who's going to hear from them in two years' time? If she becomes even a one hit wonder, I'll be shocked. (I was going to type up, "I'll eat my hat and watch all Anil Kapoor films", but then I remembered what happened to bets in this thread.)

^ I'm gonna bet on BW again in 2013...a lot can happen in twelve months, maybe something spectacular is round the corner:D

[radhika s]

Ravina, HAHAHA   We still have a little time before the end of the year, so I'll let you know then. Who knows, after Life of Pi and Great Gatsby, maybe Irrfan and Amitabh will sign up to be in a NY buddy cop movie or something. Actually, why don't I write that???

^ Sounds good to me!:)

You know what my worry is you guys? Not that the movie stuff won't work out with Indian actors, no, I more worry abt the bad TV thing. That some dreadful program like Kardasian is going to come along starring an Indian family on reality show. Keep Up With Patels or Kumars or whatever. I'd be so embarrassed if that went on, I'd rather desi folks never hit the HW media scene rather than such stuffs--Plz don't let that ever happen omg haha nooooooooooooooo