When Indian stars went global

The year 2010 saw Hollywood opening its door for Indian talent in a big way with actors like Anil Kapoor, Tabu, Bipasha Basu and Irrfan Khan landing meaty assignments in the West.The biggest surprise came from Ang Lee, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of ‘Brokeback Mountain’. Lee spent months auditioning over 3000 young men to zero in on a 17-year-old Delhi school boy Suraj Sharma to play the lead in Yann Martel’s Booker-prize-winning book ‘Life of Pi’.Sharma is not the only Indian talent in the Twentieth Century Fox movie. Actor Irrfan Khan, now one of the regulars in Hollywood, will play elder Pi.Irrfan was also part of Fox’s multiple Oscar-winning film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, which again starred a host of Indian actors and helped them reach international heights. The actor is also in talks to play the villain in ‘Spider-Man’ franchise. Irrfan recently finished his role in US TV drama ‘In Treatment’.Actress Tabu, who played Irrfan’s wife in Mira Nair’s ‘Namesake’, is playing his mother in ‘Pi’ while ‘For Real’ star Adil Hussain, who also stars in Italian filmmaker Italo Spinneli’s movie ‘Gangor’, will play her husband.
It may have been a disappointing year for Bipasha basu in Bollywood with her films ‘Pankh’ and ‘Lamhaa’ failing at the box office but the actress rounded off the year well by bagging her first Hollywood project.The Bengali beauty will romance ‘Pearl Harbor star Josh Hartnett in her first international film ‘Singularity’, which has been directed by ‘City of Joy’ filmmaker Roland Joffe. The new film will see Bipasha playing an Indian she-warrior, named Tulaja.Apart from Bipasha, the film also stars ‘Dev D’ actor Abhay Deol with clutch of renowned Hollywood stars including ‘Star Treck’ actor Chris Pine, Bond girl Olga Kurylenko and Christopher Egan among others.Anil Kapoor is finally reaping the benifits of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. The star, who became an internationally known face, following his turn as a mean show host in the Danny Boyle film has bagged a role opposite Tom Cruise in ‘Mission Impossible 4′. The actor is reportedly playing a baddie alongside ‘The Girl With Dragon Tattoo’ actor Michael Nyqvist, who plays the main villain.The fourth installment includes ‘Hurt Locker’ actor Jeremy Renner as Cruise’s partner, Paula Patton, Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg.Celina Jaitley did not have much to do this year in Bollywood but but the actress managed to score an international project. Jaitely will play mystical warrior princess Sheherzade in historical epic ‘The Quest of Sheherzade’, based on legendary ‘1001 Nights’.'Hisss’, Bollywood Bombshell Mallika Sherawat’s second Hollywood venture after her bit role in Jackie Chan’s ‘Myth’, failed to get audience love despite her bare-all scenes.But the actress, who spent a year hobnobbing with Hollywood crowd, managed to nab another international project. Mallika will star in ‘Love Barack’, which is based on the US President Barack Obama’s political campaign.Newcomer Tina Desai, who stars with Anupam Kher in ‘Yeh Faisle’, could well be next Freida Pinto. The young model has landed a role opposite ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ actor Dev Patel in ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’.A large portion of the film was shot in India. The movie, starring Hollywood A-listers like Julie Christie, Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, and Peter O’Toole, is about a group of British senior citizens who travel to India.