T-TOWNERS GO INTERNATIONAL

T-TOWNERS GO INTERNATIONAL

Gen Next stars are going places their predecessors only dreamt about

Karthik Pasupulate

Siddharth has two, Shriya Saran is doing one and now Rana has just officially announced another. Just in case you are wondering, we are talking international films here. Clearly the younger generation is looking to go as far and wide as possible, going beyond the limitations of language and geography. Siddharth is all set to play the mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujam in a biopic to be directed by Roger Spottiswoode, besides playing one of the lead roles in the Deepa Mehta-directed "Midnight's Children", based on writer Salman Rushdie's book with the same name. Shriya Saran is also a part of the film and the actress also has two Hollywood films — "Cooking with Stella" and "The Other End Of The Line" — already to her credit.
Now the latest to join the bandwagon is Rana Daggubati. The actor is all gung ho about landing his first international project, "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" ("AMLOR"). Apparently "AMLOR" is based on the Aamir Khan-starrer "Raakh" directed by renowned independent filmmaker Aditya in 1988. "The film is inspired by "Raakh", but it is not a remake or an adaptation. Set in Los Angeles, the film is the story of a young Indian businessman, who moves to LA to get into the real estate business and gets sucked into the city's underbelly, setting a chain of events leading into a vortex of violence. It is a truly international film," says Aditya, talking about his flick.
Explaining the motivation for experimenting with independent cinema, Rana says, "When I heard that it was going to be an independent international project, I did not know what to make of it. Gradually I have figured out how things work. The creative satisfaction that I get from doing something out of the box is what drives my decision to do it. Aditya had the bound script ready 10 months before the film and we are going to do preparatory workshops two months before we start shooting the film in December this year," he adds
Sunitha Tati, who has worked as the executive producer for films like "Dollar Dreams" and is co-producing "AMLOR", says, "The Indian audience today is a lot more exposed to international cinema and has acquired a taste for quality cinema. With new revenue streams opening up for such film's there is definitely a market there. The young crop of actors are much more in tune with the trends in international cinema and that helps," she says.
Firoz Engineer, vice president, of a celebrity management firm in the country, feels it definitely helps their brand value. "Celebrities going international only offers an additional platform that a brand can utilize as it gives the advertisers the leverage to market them to the diasporas around the world. It's more about the global Indian market which have a higher dollar power, so works well for both the brands and the artistes," explains Firoz, adding, "The Indian stars are no longer happy playing the stereotyped Indian character just to be a part of an international flick. They are looking at how meaty their role is and doing stuff that appeals to them creatively."

Shriya Saran

Rana Daggubati

Siddharth