BOLLYWOOD CALLING
(1999, color, 100 minutes)
DATE: Saturday, November 3. TIME: 3 p.m.

SYNOPSIS: Bollywood- India's answer to Hollywood, producing an annual quota of 'masala' films or what are better known as musical soap operas is the backdrop for the bittersweet comedy "Hollywood Calling." Into the circus of Hollywood is thrust an unsuspecting Pat Stormare (Pat Cusick), an out-of-luck American H-movie star. This is the work of Subramaniam (Om Puri), Subra for short- a producer who concocts the first pairing of an American hero with the legendary Manu Kapoor (Naveen Nischol), an aging Indian star. Manu and Pat play brothers who are 'separated by destiny and united by fate' in the old-fashioned Hindi potboiler Maut ('The Death') an action-drama-romantic extravaganza, with the young aspiring starlet Kajal (Perizaad Zorabian) playing (he female lead opposite Manu. Through his relationships Manu, Subra and the beautiful Kajal, we take this journey with Pat and experience him with the color, confusion and the passion from Bollywood. all from an outsider-tumed-insider's point of view.

DIRECTOR: Atlanta-based Nagesh Kukunoor, a chemical engineer by profession, gave up his lucrative career and wrote. produced, acted and^tirected in 'Hyderabad Blues', a film that took him back to his unpbringing in India. The filmi went on to become India's largest-grossing low budget English language film. 'Rockford'. his sophomoric venture, follows the same style offilmmaking: empathetic stories that are 'real' and 'everyday'. "Hollywood Calling" is Kukunoor's most ambitious project to date. Whileed in USA, Kukunoor has said that his films will relate to the India he knows and remembers.

CAST: Om Puri is one of India's finest actors, whose successes in both commercial and arthouse cinema is. His elegant performances have extended to international films like "City of joy", "My Son, the Fanatic" and "East is East". Navin Nischol. a film star of the 1970's continues to he a staple of both Indian cinema and Television. Pat Cusick has a wealth of experience in advertising films and independent cinema. He came to India for the first time to appear in "Bollywood Calling'.