Believe it or not, international film production offices are making inquiries for setting up projects in India which will top Hollywood actors.
One such project Darjeeling Limited may not have been a box-office stunner across the globe but it did garner respectable reviews. Currently Danny Boyle is shooting Slumdog Millionaire at the ND Studio in Karjat.
Over the years, Hollywood has used India as a location. But today, the studios as well as independent producers there are looking for scripts which are typical Bollywood with songs, dances and action.
Three's company too
Three of the actors who are open to Bollywood-style projects are Keanu Reeves who has visited the country earlier. Jeff Goldblum ( The Fly, Jurassic Park ) and Christopher Walken (seen as the slick, bad guy in a horde of movies) are also open to accepting an India-based project if the script is right.
This sudden India movie boom comes in the wake of the rising popularity of mainstream Bombay movies in various parts of the globe --and not merely with the NRI audience.
In Germany, Poland and France, Bollywood is 'happening' and has been appreciated for its 'emotional content that is missing in Hollywood's special effects extravaganzas.
Back to the future
In the past, Antonio Banderas and Richard Gere had expressed an interest to work with Shekhar Kapur but nothing came of that. Michael Douglas also paid the mandatory visit to check out the possibility of a co-production but there has been no follow-up action.
Similarly, UTV may have flaunted Will Smith at public event but any news of a business or a movie project tieup remains in a limbo. Hearteningly, of late theinterest in India projects is coming fromtheUS rather than from India.
Back to the future
In the past, Antonio Banderas and Richard Gere had expressed an interest to work with Shekhar Kapur but nothing came of that. Michael Douglas also paid the mandatory visit to check out the possibility of a co-production but there has been no follow-up action.
Similarly, UTV may have flaunted Will Smith at public event but any news of a business or a movie project tieup remains in a limbo. Hearteningly, of late theinterest in India projects is coming fromtheUS rather than from India.
Frequently, actors like Brad Pitt and Mel Gibson have said that they would love to do a typical Bollywood movie. Now that may be an exaggeration but the upside is that at least Bombay' s entertainers are not being scoffed at any more. On the contrary, it would seem that Hollywood wants a piece of the action.