Times Square had probably never seen a sight like this – the invasion of the ‘Bollywood Hero’ flash mobs! A bus rolled up and out poured dancers and musicians who broke into frenetic, in-your-face Bollywood dance. As huge crowds gathered around to watch, a viral video promoting it was shot. Pooja Kumar, one of the two lead actresses in the three day mini-series which aired on IFC, predicts, “It will go down in the history books – when Bollywood came to 42nd Street!”
‘Bollywood Hero’, which takes comedian Chris Kattan on a quest to become a filmi leading man in India, is a virtual mix of east and west in terms of collaboration. The series, which is executive produced by Chris Kattan and Snackholic’s Ted Skillman and Belisa Balaban, is co-produced by Sabrina Dhawan.
The mini series was filmed in Mumbai and actually has five full-fledged Bollywood musical numbers, while the soundtrack features Javed Akhtar, Shiksta, Shreya Goshal, and the Bombay Dub Orchestra. Several crew members of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ were also part of this team, including Longinus Fernandes, who choreographed the Jai Ho number. An interesting trending aspect is IFC’s partnership with Saavn, a media company focusing on Bollywood entertainment.
Dhawan helped develop the series, serving also as an informal translator of Indian culture, helping to anchor the comedy show in believable reality. She says, “For me, one of the really fun parts was that it all came together, that IFC bought it and its being televised.”
So while this fun mini series may be over, the larger, deeper mini series continues with several cliff hangers: Will Indian-American consumers become a big slice of the pie for mainstream advertisers, with more content being targeted toward them? Will there be many more such collaborations, with talent from both cultures? Will Americans develop a sweet tooth for desi entertainment and will Bollywood become big in America? Stay tuned!
