H’wood Calling

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When the posters with the looks for the leading actors of the Baz Luhrmann film The Great Gatsby were released recently, fans of Amitabh Bachchan were shocked that there were none of the legendary actor alongside the film’s other faces, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Toby Maguire. Bachchan Senior, who plays Mayer Wolfsheim (a Jewish character Gatsby’s author F. Scott Fitzgerald depicted as having shady business dealings), didn’t seem put out at the “exclusion”. He said his part was too small for him to deserve a solo poster.

Of course, a solo poster was unveiled for Bachchan saab soon after. And the actor didn’t make a hullabaloo this time either. “The poster of Great Gatsby (was) something I thought to be too presumptuous, but Baz Luhrmann insisted that it be done. So there,” the actor tweeted. Mr Bachchan’s downplaying what is in effect, a big-ticket Hollywood project is surprising. But it is what some of Bollywood’s most talented actors are doing. In stark contrast to starlets who’ve tom-tommed every bit role they’d had in an overseas film as evidence of having “bridged the divide”, actors like Irrfan Khan (Mighty Heart, The Amazing Spider-man, Life of Pi), Tabu (Life of Pi, The Namesake), Shabana Azmi and Om Puri (who will both be seen in The Reluctant Fundamentalist) and Anupam Kher (Silver Linings Playbook) do everything they can to publicise their films, but don’t oversell their own involvement in them.

It could be their natural humility that makes Bollywood’s best not talk much of their Hollywood forays. Or it could be that they’ve learned the hard way that projects that are talked about a bit too much, often end up not going anywhere. Bipasha Basu’s Singularity (starring Josh Hartnett) struggled to find a theatrical release, Aishwarya Rai’s The Last Legion, with Colin Firth, was critically and commercially a damp squib, while Mallika Sherawat’s myriad projects fizzled out without a trace.
Perhaps that’s also why actors are exercising caution about the Hollywood offers they do take up. Irrfan, for instance, has turned down projects that would have seen him work with Colin Farrell and Clive Owen. Industry sources said the offers were lucrative ones, but Irrfan wouldn’t commit the time for roles he felt weren’t substantial enough.
“I do get a lot of big Hollywood commercial films but then I don’t do everything that comes my way,” Irrfan explained. “If I have to be committed to a film, it has to be convincing enough for me to invest that kind of time in it.”
Irrfan’s stance was reflected in the way in which he extensively promoted Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee, and low-key appearances he made for The Amazing Spider-man. “I don’t believe in making empty noise. I want to be sure that a film has my contribution before I talk about it. I hardly had a role in Spider-man. I don’t cheat my fans,” he says.
Such honesty is also reflected in Anupam Kher’s comments regarding his role as Dr Patel, therapist to the protagonist played by Bradley Cooper in the Oscar-nominated Silver Linings Playbook. The actor said accepting a role in Silver Linings was about more than just the obvious. “Sometimes when you work in a film like this, it feels you are representing your country,” he said.
He added that the greatest satisfaction in taking up the role was the approbation of his co-actors, who included Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. “Maybe it was not so difficult to get a sense of awe from them that I have done so many — 450 — movies. But to earn their respect, I had to be good at my job,” he added.
Industry watchers point out that while it may give actors creative satisfaction or a prestige high to work in international productions, they’re well aware that back home, it isn’t going to make much of a difference in the popularity stakes. “The fans who will make a note of a star’s Hollywood projects would be a small percentage compared to those who’re more concerned with what they’re putting out in Bollywood,” says one critic.
Anil Kapoor says he tries not to make a big deal of his Hollywood projects, which have included Slumdog Millionaire, a guest appearance in 24 and a cameo in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. While he faced backlash for agreeing to the blink-and-miss part in MI, the fact is that Tom Cruise did come down to promote the film in India, no doubt because of Anil’s India connection. “If you are a good actor, you’ll leave a mark even in a two-minute role in a film. Bollywood or Hollywood — if you’re secure and confident about yourself as an actor, you don’t need to scream for attention or worry about how much screen time you are allotted,” the actor says.
He admits that the need for publicity should be balanced with overexposure in the media. “Publicity is important but I follow the old school style of film-making. Aggressive self-promotion simply isn’t my style. I keep meeting and interacting with Hollywood filmmakers and actors, there is always a possibility of working together. But I never ask them about the length of my role or how they’re going to promote it. I’ve done enough work to gain respect,” Anil says.
There’s a sign that the new breed of talent too might just take a leaf out of these eminent actors’ books. Abhay Deol, for instance, has recently started dabbling in Hollywood — in a behind the scenes role. He is associate producer for Love Lots, an iTunes-based film on the US and he described how he was roped into the project: “Rob Felt is the director, Josh Green the producer. While I was in the US, they approached me and I felt like being one among them. It was not a conscious decision. I did not go there with the intention of joining the project.” Abhay says he wants to “collaborate all over the world” and adds, “If I get an opportunity and I like the script and the director, then I would like to do a Hollywood film too.”
If he does choose to go to Hollywood, Abhay will have some great examples to follow.

Inputs from Reena Kapoor and Joginder Tuteja