India was not in fashion in Hollywood 30 years ago: Amritraj

From being a tennis star, to a successful Hollywood producer, Ashok Amritraj has chronicled his journey in an autobiography, which he says will give an insight on how to make it big in the US film industry.
The 57-year-old film producer says 30 years ago when he decided to begin his career in Hollywood, people seemed to be oblivious to the existence of India.
"I entered Hollywood 30 years ago. At that time there were no Indians there. India was not fashionable. Studio executives could barely pronounce my name. So, it was a different time than what it is today. The image has changed drastically," Amritraj told PTI in an interview.

"My book 'Advantage: Hollywood' is more for the next generation. It is a good read for Asia, for middle east. Kids often ask me about how to make it in Hollywood. It is an answer for them," he said.
Amritraj said he decided to write this autobiography after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's three years ago and he began taping his father's conversations to make him remember things.
"I did not write this book to make any revelation as such. I think I have revealed all that years ago. About three years ago my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and was forgetting things. I used to take a tape recorder and record dad and mom."

Amritraj said recording his parents' memories made him inclined to write about his own life, which he claims was a painful process.
"While doing that I realised that we are what our parents bring us up to be and writing about my journey from Chennai to Wimbledon and eventually to Hollywood began to make sense as this was an interesting story. That is when it all started and two years ago I decided to write it. Now my appreciation for writers have gone up a lot. It was a painstaking process," the producer said.