Bollywood’s Foray Into Hollywood
Slumdog Millionaire, Hollywood actors are not only taking notice of the world’s largest entertainment industry Bollywood but are also queuing up to make a mark in the industry. Not many days ago, the trend was just the other way around when bagging an international project was the most prestigious feat. But it’s always been the character actors who were fortunate enough to work in Hollywood projects making them stalwarts. Now the times are changing. Even a nobody like Payal Rohatgi claims to have heard from the West. Nevertheless, we present a list of those Indian actors who made a distinctive mark in the Western circuit.
Sabu:
The son of a mahout or Elephant rider, Sabu Dastagir or Salaar Sabu Sheikh was the man who paved the way for Indian actors in Hollywood. He achieved the feat of doing nearly half a dozen Hollywood productions but the most significant one was The Thief of Baghdad where he played the lead role of Abu. He also played the role of Mowgli in 1942 film Jungle Book directed by Zoltan Korda. His other English movies include, Elephant Boy, Black Narcissus and A Tiger Walks.
Shashi Kapoor:
The third son of Raj Kapoor, the shy and stoutly handsome Shashi Kapoor was a rage not only in India but also in Hollywood. His romance with the West began in 1963 when he starred in Merchant-Ivory productions’ The Householder. He went on to do a few more English movies, In Custody, Conrad Rooks’ Siddhartha and British filmmaker Hanif Kureishi’s Sammy And Rosie Get Laid. But the most important Hollywood project of his career was Heat and Dust where he played the role of a Nawab in love with a British actress.
Amrish Puri:
The ultimate villain of Bollywood, Amrish Puri had many Hollywood fans and one of them being the Hollywood stalwart, Steven Spielberg. The filmmaker was so impressed by Puri’s histrionics that he roped him in for his Indiana Jones sequel, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom. He was the main villain of the film and played the character of a tantrik, Mola Ram. He also played an instrumental part in Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi.
Shabana Azmi:
Another Indian artiste who has been recognised and honoured internationally is Shabana Azmi. In fact, the New York Film Festival even featured a retrospective of her films recently. Azmi’s first major International project was John Schlesinger’s Madame Sousatzka (1988) alongside Shirley MacLaine. Next came City Of Joy (1992), followed by Blake Edwards’s Son Of The Pink Panther (1993) and Side Streets (1999), where she played Chandra Raj, an Indian living in New York fed up of her brother-in-law (Shashi Kapoor), a faded Bollywood star.
Naseeruddin Shah:
Presently, Nasseruddin Shah is going through one of the best phase in his career after Ishqiya and A Wednesday’s success. This talented actor made waves not only in India but also in the West by working in a Hollywood production which had no Asian crewmember except for him. The film was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen where he played the role of an Indian scientist, Nemo. A bearded man with supernatural powers Naseer played the role with attitude and was nothing less than the stalwart pitted against him, Sean Connery.
Saaed Jaffrey:
Another actor who stood his ground with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars was Saeed Jaffrey who had worked with frontline stars such as Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan. One of his most important roles was in Stephen Frears’s My Beautiful Launderette (1985), where he played Nasser, the owner of a beautiful launderette. In 1988, he was seen in The Deceivers alongside Brosnan; in 2001 in a British production In Between; and in 2002 he was seen in Day Of The Sirens
Gulshan Grover:
The self-proclaimed bad man of Bollywood Gulshan Grover is one actor who have equally contributed to both Hindi and World cinema. He has a long list of English movies to his credit, Monsoon and Rose, Marguerite, Jungle Book 2,In the Shadow of Cobra, Beeper, Eastside and many more. However, his role of an evil uncle in Jungle Book 2 remained etched in people’s mind. Now a well-known face in both Indian and Western circuits, Gulshan is all set to pen a script for a Hollywood movie.
Ompuri:
Perhaps the most prolific and well accepted Indian actor abroad is Om Puri, who played major roles in at least half a dozen International projects. It all started with his role as the impoverished rickshaw-puller in Roland Joffe’s City Of Joy with Patrick Swayze a decade ago. Then he landed roles in prestigious projects like the Jack Nicholson starrer The Wolf (1994) and The Ghost And The Darkness (1996) featuring Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer, Brothers in Trouble and My Son The Fanatic. A landmark film in his international career was East Is East (2000), which got nominated for the British Academy Awards. Om Puri is continuing his streak in Hollywood movies by bagging the title role in King Lear.
Kabir Bedi:
He may have never made it big in Bollywood, but still landed the title role in the Italian adventure movie, Sandokan (1977) about the life and times of a pirate who tries to free his homeland from the clutches of the East India Company. The success of this film gave him a firm push on to the International scene. Later, he was seen in the Bond film Octopussy (1983) playing a character called Gobinda. He also landed small roles in a few television and video productions, including popular soap The Bold And The Beautiful, in the US and the UK.
Satish Kaushik:
Another character actor Satish Kaushik found Hollywood calling after TV and theatre actor Pawan Malhotra refused the role of Chanu Ahmed in Sarah Gavron’s Brick Lane. While his bulky frame always left him stranded to play just the hero’s trusted accomplice in all his Hindi films, the same potbellied self helped him bag the lead role in Brick Lane.
Irfan Khan:
Irfan Khan ruffled more feathers in the West than in Bollywood. He is an apt example of talent being recognized in the West but neglected at home. He started his Hollywood innings with a lead role in a British film The Warrior. The movie stormed many international festivals and before any one could realize, he had signed some 4-5 Hollywood movies, which included Road to Ladakh, The Namesake, The Mighty Heart and very recently, the history making Slumdog Millionaire. Ironically, his liaisons with Hollywood helped him make headway in Bollywood.
Aishwarya Rai:
Aishwarya Rai is one actress who has more Hollywood films in her kitty than Hindi films. Initiating her journey in the west with Gurindher Chaddha’s Bride and Prejudice, Aishwarya has as many as 10 projects to her credit. While Provoked, Mistress of Spices and Pink Panther 2 have already made it to the theatres, films like Meryl Streep-starrer Chaos being directed by Coline Serreau, British Director Barton Randall’s I know a Place, Michael Douglas’ Racing the Monsoon are in the offing. She’s a regular at all Cannes Festivals and was in the jury forum once too.
Salman Khan:
Salman Khan may not be a great actor but his looks still make girls go weak in knees. And perhaps gauging this striking ability in Bollywood’s favourite brash Boy, William Carroll of Playing by Heart fame approached Sallu with Marigold. Though Salman accepted the offer, he didn’t like the experience and has decided never to feature in any Western project. It’s easy to give an interview in English, but mouthing English dialogues throughout a film is quite taxing, explains the heartthrob.
Anil Kapoor:
Anil Kapoor is actually the third mainstream Bollywood star to act in a Hollywood production apart from Aishwarya Rai and Salman Khan. A role that fell on his lap after being rejected by Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, made Anil Kapoor a known face in the Hollywood circuit. Today he’s doing a US TV series titled 24, courtesy the euphoria of Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire.
Mallika Sherawat:
Mallika Sherawat’s claim to Hollywood fame began with a small role in Jackie Chan’s movie Myth for which she garnered huge publicity. Since then rumours of Hollywood knocking at her door have been rampant. And one fine day, this damsel in flopping distress came out clean on her three upcoming Hollywood ventures; Jennifer Lynch’s Hissss, Bill Bannerman’s Unveiled and Drew Heriot’s The Aquarian Gospel. Maan Gaye Mallika-E-Azam!
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