Hollywood Casts an Eye Toward India

Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta and Gurinder Chadha have made names for themselves as film directors and now Hollywood is taking notice in a big way. The Hollywood Directors Talent Agency (HDTA), hoping to recruit and groom a new crop of film directors, is sending a team of talent scouts to Punjab.

“We hope to find a dozen Punjabi women who have the potential to become great directors,” said Joel Stein, president of HDTA. “There is obviously something about Punjabi women that makes them good at directing.”

Not to be outdone, a competing agency, the Hollywood Talent Directing Agency (HTDA), has created a scholarship at New York University’s film school for a Punjabi woman with directorial potential.

“We are sending application forms to every remote village,” said Sheila Price, president of HTDA. “It’s important for the future of the movie industry that we make every effort to discover the next Mira, Deepa or Gurinder.”

The three directors, known as the “Terrific Trio” in movie circles, all have roots in Punjab and have exposed Punjabi culture to millions of people worldwide.

“Just a few years ago, I knew nothing about Punjabi culture,” Price said. “Nowadays I can’t live without my Bhangra. And my husband can’t live without his tandoori chicken.”

Price said her agency has already been flooded with scholarship applications, including one from Mandeep Singh of Amritsar. Contacted by phone, Singh raved about his wife Manpreet’s potential. “She would make a great director,” he said. “She is always directing me.” Manpreet could be heard shouting in the background: “What about your mother? She is a better director than me. And she’s got experience saying “Cut!” – whenever she hands me vegetables.”

Meanwhile, the Punjabi Association of America is trying to persuade the “Terrific Trio” to collaborate on a movie. “They’ve done a good job working on their own,” said PAA executive director Harsh Randhawa. “But if we could get them all together, we might end up with the greatest Punjabi movie ever.”

If such a movie is ever made, Indian-American actor Ranjit Chowdhry would be a shoo-in for a major role. He has already appeared in Nair’s Mississippi Masala, The Perez Family, Kama Sutra, and My Own Country, as well as Mehta’s Fire and Bollywood/Hollywood.

“I owe a lot to Mira and Deepa,” Chowdhry said. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be half as famous as I am.”