Bollywood Calling

English

2001

"Bollywood–India’s answer to Hollywood, producing an annual quota of masala films or what are better known as musical soap operas–is the backdrop for the bittersweet comedy, Bollywood Calling. Into the circus of Bollywood is thrust an unsuspecting Pat Stomare (Pat Cusick), an out-of-luck American B-movie star. This is the work of Subramaniam (Om Puri)–a producer who concocts the first pairing of an American hero with the legendary Manu Kapoor (Navin Nischol), an ageing Indian star. Manu and Pat play brothers who are ‘separated by destiny and united by fate’ in the old fashioned Hindi potboiler Maut (death) an action cum drama cum romantic extravaganza, with the young aspiring starlet Kajal (Perizaad Zorabian) playing the female lead opposite Manu. Bollywood Calling is an honest and hilarious, no-holds-barred look at the world of Indian filmmaking, as we follow Pat through his evolution from uncertain actor to competent Bollywood hero. Through his relationships with Manu, Subramanium and the beautiful Kajal, we take this journey with Pat and experience with him the colour, the confusion and the passion of Bollywood, all from an outsider turned insider’s point of view."

Audio Available in: English