Vivek
Oberoi Crosses the
Border
MUMBAI:
Film sensation Vivek
Oberoi is all set
to star in a multi-lingual
40-million-dollar
epic being directed
by British film-maker
Roland Joeff. The
Oscar-winning Joeff,
who hit the headlines
with 'The Killing
Fields' and 'The
Mission', handpicked
Oberoi as the lead
character for 'The
Invaders', an epic
set against the
backdrop of the
first Anglo-Maratha
war of the late
18th century, a
war the British
lost.
Oberoi plays Udaji,
a fictional character
portrayed as an
unsung hero, and
will be pitted against
a yet-to-be-named
Hollywood star.
"For me it's more
about the film,
for me it's about
working with a great
crew, about working
with people who
have such an amazing
vision and all the
equipmet and the
state-of-the-art
assistance to create
something magical.
I feel lucky and
privileged that
I would be a small
part of it," said
Oberoi at a press
conference held
in Mumbai.
'The Invaders' is
being produced by
an Indian company
and will be partially
financed by the
20th Century Fox.
It will be shot
over a six-month
period and will
also have another
major Bollywood
heroine in the role
of a valiant spy
girl in the Indian
camp. Incidentally,
this not the first
time that Joeff
will be working
in India. His touching
tale of a New York
surgeon's self-discovery
while working in
the slums of Kolkata
in the critically
acclaimed 'City
of Joy', based on
Dominique Lappier's
famous book, had
won him rave reviews.
Ajay Jhankar, who
conceived the film,
says film-making
has crossed international
boundaries with
changing times.
"These days, actually
in the days of globalization,
it (film- making)
is not Indian and
American and British.
It is becoming an
international activity,
it is a global activity.
If you see, even
in this film, there
are crew members
that are coming
from outside. They
are not from one
particular country,
they are from Europe,
from America, from
Latin America and
from India. So it's
going to be a combined
effort," he explained.
In recent years,
increased world
exposure and an
ever-increasing
number of expatriate
Indians have led
to greater awareness
of the world's largest
film industry. The
latest has been
actor Salman Khan,
who hit the headlines
after he was signed
for the Hollywood
production 'Marigold'.
The film, promoted
by Hollywood production
house Hyperion Pictures,
attempts to bring
Bollywood style
of story-telling
to a Western audience.
In 1998-1999, India-born
M 'Night' Shyamalan's
680-million-dollar
grosser, 'The Sixth
Sense', and Shekhar
Kapur's multi-Academy
Awards-nominated
'Elizabeth' created
a buzz in Hollywood.
In parallel cinema
as well, Venice
Film Festival 2002
bestowed its prestigious
Golden Lion Award
on Mira Nair's film
'Monsoon Wedding',
a frenetic comedy
set amid the pageantry
of a Punjabi wedding.
February 7, 2003
