How the West was won
When Hollywood signs Indian actors, it’s because the industry needs them
It’s surprising that in 2022 people will still ask questions like: “Why does Dhanush need to do a small supporting role in an American film?” The star of Tamil cinema, who has two National Awards under his belt and a fan base that grows each time he adds a Bollywood release to his filmography, plays a no-nonsense assassin on the trail of Ryan Gosling’s on-the-run CIA operative in The Gray Man (now streaming on Netflix). It is a ‘small’ part if you measure it strictly in terms of screen time, but more than likely Dhanush signed on because he recognised the opportunity to be a part of something that would no doubt be watched by a significantly larger audience than Indian films typically reach out to. And because, who wouldn’t want to do a cool action movie with the guys who made the Avengers films?
That said, let’s just make it very clear—The Gray Man benefits as much from Dhanush being in it. Why? In interviews with Indian journalists over the last few weeks (whose snatches you may have caught on YouTube or Instagram), the film’s leads Gosling and Chris Evans have waxed eloquent about Dhanush, the “badassery” he brings to the role, and his professionalism. Yet the answer lies in the way that the film’s directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, introduced him on stage at the Los Angeles premiere: “This gentleman has taken over Twitter for the last, like, five months. Ten million mentions in four months. This might be that guy on the planet who you may not know, but should know the most.”
Casting coup
There is no question that Dhanush is an incredible actor. But for streaming services like Netflix, putting a popular Indian actor (any popular Indian actor) in one of their tentpole properties is first and foremost a shrewd business strategy—it presents a real shot at expanding the streamer’s subscriber base in one of the fastest growing and most densely populated markets.
It is no coincidence that Netflix wooed Alia Bhatt to join Gal Gadot and Jamie Dornan for another of their big titles, Heart of Stone. Or that Amazon courted Priyanka Chopra to take one of the leads in Citadel, an ambitious Prime Video global series helmed by the Russos.
Then there is the matter of representation. For some years now Hollywood has been under pressure to address the embarrassing lack of diversity in its films. Thankfully, the studios appear to have realised that it’s no longer okay to cast Indians only in token roles as doctors, IT professionals, or gas station attendants. Christopher Nolan, no less, wrote a small but key role for Dimple Kapadia in Tenet. The actress played an arms dealer of Indian origin, and although the joke was that she spoke more in interviews while promoting the film than she did on-screen in Tenet, it was a watershed moment for Indian actors everywhere. There have been other recent instances too: Farhan Akhtar in Miss Marvel, Ali Fazal in Death on the Nile, Suraj Sharma in How I Met
Your Father. Each has been a big win for representation.
But it would be churlish to talk about Indian actors working in the West without mentioning those that did it before diversity became the buzzword. Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Tabu, and so many others.
Blended and blessed
Priyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone were fortunate to have been there at the cusp of change, which in no way undermines the tough balancing act they pulled while juggling work in India and America.
Deepika made Toronto her temporary home while shooting xXx: Return of Xander Cage with Vin Diesel. The actress took six months off from her Bollywood commitments at the peak of her career to shoot her first big American studio movie. Over a meal at Soho House in Toronto on a day off from the set, Deepika told me how the experience was enriching. She spoke of stepping outside her comfort zone, of working with a cast and crew she hadn’t known before, of imbibing the sort of discipline that was expected even from the biggest stars, and of sharpening her cooking skills after getting sick of takeaway and microwave dinners.
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HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS APPEAR TO HAVE REALISED THAT IT’S NO LONGER OKAY TO CAST INDIANS ONLY IN TOKEN ROLES AS DOCTORS, IT PROFESSIONALS OR GAS STATION ATTENDANTS
The same year I caught up with Priyanka Chopra in Miami where she attended the premiere of the Baywatch film she made with Dwayne Johnson. PC had more or less moved to America by then, so she was already pursuing a full-time Hollywood career, but landing the chief baddie role in a seminal project like Baywatch was a big deal. The film tanked, but if the deafening cheers she got when she showed up on South Beach were any indication, it was evident that the Americans were ready to welcome this saucy, exotic Indian who had already picked up their twang.
Expect to see more Indian actors show up in big international films and shows in the years ahead. Some will be cast because those filmmakers know exactly what they’ll bring to the part—like Amitabh Bachchan, who was roped in by Baz Luhrmann to play a formidable Jewish gangster in The Great Gatsby—while others will be recruited so Hollywood can absolve itself of the guilt of being infamously insular for the longest time. Either way, it’s a win-win for actors.