Waiting for the next Indian crossover film

The Oscar season is fast approaching in Los Angeles. Film screenings for members of the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which awards the Oscars are already being scheduled.

The Academy Award for Best Picture of 2003 will be chosen from a list of 254 feature-length films.

According to Academy rules, to qualify for consideration a feature-length motion picture must have a running length of more than 40 minutes and have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.

The films must open in a commercial theater, for paid admission, in Los Angeles County between January 1, 2003, and midnight December 31, 2003, and run for seven consecutive days.

However films submitted in the documentary, foreign language, animated feature and short films categories have different eligibility requirements and are viewed and selected by special voting panels of Academy members.

The 76th Academy Award nominations will be announced at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater on January 27, 2004 and the Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2003 will be presented on February 29, 2004.

This year surprisingly there is no official entry in the foreign language category from India.

Two years ago, following the success of "Lagaan" in India and Europe and its subsequent nomination for the Academy Awards in the foreign language category, world filmdom began expecting a crossover film "� defined as a film made in India with Indian talent which finds global audiences "� from India.

The crossover idea is not new for Indian filmmakers. Dev Anand's "Guide" had an English version for the international market which was co-produced and written by Pearl S. Buck and directed by American director Ted Danielewski.

Yet another serious endeavor at reaching out to the international market and using Indian film stars was film director and writer Krishna Shah's "Shalimar."

Shah was the first Indian to write and direct a feature film in Hollywood and he was the first Indian to direct a play on Broadway.

He was also the first Indian to be a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as the first Indian member of the Directors' Guild of America. "Shalimar" ended as a box office dud.

Shah modestly says: "The fact is that Satyajit Ray who created true crossover movies, came before me; and even before them were Himanshu Roy and Devika Rani who, as early as in 1926, created four international co-productions and released them all over world."

Will 2004 bring the much awaited crossover film from India?

Today in Hollywood young Indian filmmakers are launching crossover projects co starring Hollywood and Indian film stars and planning to make films that will travel worldwide.

Los Angeles-based Sushil Tyagi, executive producer and president of Tricolor Films, is the man behind "Hari Om," the Indo French film directed by Bharat Bala.

Produced in association with Tips Films, the English language film which wrapped its Indian shoot on November 22 stars Jean Marie Lamour ("Swimming Pool"), Camille Natta along with Vijay Raaz ("Monsoon Wedding").

"Hari Om" is the story of a happy-go-lucky rickshaw driver, Hari Om (Vijay Raaz), content with the status quo until the day trouble, in the form of a mob, seeks him out and turns his life upside down.

Into the mix comes a beautiful French tourist Isa (Camille Natta) who wants to test her fiance's (Jean Marie Lamour) romantic worth, and unintentionally puts Hari Om's own world in jeopardy by making him understand how to love. Shot in Rajasthan by Angus Hudson, the film's music is scored by A. R. Rehman.

Says Tyagi: "We are clearly focused on the global market with this film."

Another Los Angeles based film producer Dileep Singh Rathore who produced the internationally acclaimed feature film "Maya" has announced plans to make his next feature "Opium Royale," about a maharaja who refuses to join the Indian union in 1947.

"Opium Royale," set in India of 1947, unfolds as a surrealistic charged comedy of manners playing out against the backdrop of the birth of a nation. The film is to be directed by Digvijay Singh and scripted by Naman Ramachandran and Digvijay Singh.

India-born Hollywood film producer Deepak Nayyar has blended mainstream Indian films with the classic Hollywood musical in Gurinder Chadha's "Bride and Prejudice."

Starring Aishwarya Rai and one of Hollywood's rising stars Martin Henderson, the film is based on Jane Austen's central story of a mother and father with unmarried daughters and no dowry to help entice rich husbands. Shot in the UK and India, the film is likely to debut at Cannes 2004.

Other Generation Next Indian filmmakers in Los Angeles, including Piyush Dinkar Pandya, Krutin Patel, Vikram Yashpal and Somnath Sen, are busy mounting feature films set or shot in India with the world as their market.

The crossover theme is key to their product and also in the marketing and promotional strategy. It's only a matter of time before an Indian crossover film dominates the Academy Awards and travels worldwide.

Bhuvan Lall is the president and CEO of LALL Entertainment, a company based in Los Angeles and New Delhi. He can be contacted at lallentertainment@hotmail.com