Quantico of Solace? A Quantum of Bollywood in Hollywood

While Game of Thrones fans worldwide are currently electrified by the new poster of the upcoming sixth season of the show, Bollywood fans have been focusing on the news that Neil Nitin Mukesh, a rising star of the Indian silver screen, will be joinng the GoT cast. Mukesh will appear on the deadly and unpredictable show courtesy of Greg Powell. Powell, an action director known for his work on projects such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, also worked with the makers of this year’s Bollywood hit, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Powell in fact worked with Mukesh in that film, and while preparing the sword-fighting scenes was reportedly impressed with Mukesh’s physical skills (although this may not help Mukesh’s character survive the Game of Thrones…). Mukesh will thus become another of the few better known Bollywood actors to appear in an American movie or TV show.

This year, however, belongs to Priyanka Chopra, a leading Bollywood actress who plays agent Alex Parrish in the Quantico series. While Mukesh will most probably get a supporting role in Game of Thrones, Chopra plays one of the leads in Quantico. Before the show’s first airing in September it was the former Miss World’s face that was chosen to promote the series on billboards across the U.S., and these were quickly and widely shared on Indian websites and social platforms. Chopra’s appearance has thus become a quantum of solace – or perhaps a Quantico of solace? – for those hoping to see more Indian faces in American movies.

Another recent American show to include an Indian star was 24. Season eight, aired in 2010, featured the character of Omar Hassan, the president of the “Islamic Republic of Kamistan” (you know, the one bordering Kyrzbekistan). That role was played by seasoned Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor, who, despite his long list of local credits, had to wait for his role as a TV show host in Slumdog Millionaire (2008) to win recognition in the West. Kapoor also went on to appear in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. As for 24, after playing in the American series, Kapoor took it home and adapted it, producing the Indian version (which aired in 2013). This time, however, Kapoor reserved the lead role for himself. (For symmetry, Kiefer Sutherland should now play a secondary character in the Indian 24 and indeed there is some gossip that he may actually do that.)

It is hard not to notice that top Bollywood actors and actresses have so far been receiving mostly supporting roles in United States. Amitabh Bachchan, the most popular North Indian actor ever, appeared in Great Gatsby, albeit to play a Jewish-American character whom we do not encounter much anyway (either in the novel or on screen). Moreover, many Western (American and European) movies in which actors from India have been more visible were stories that demanded a partially Indian cast or were Western-Indian co-productions. For instance, Anupam Kher has more experience with Western movies, but some of them include films such as Breakaway and Bend it Like Beckham. However, Kher also appeared in ER, Silver Linings Playbook (and, even more originally for a Bollywood actor, in Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution). Not long ago Kher was also seen at a shoot in Toronto alongside Gerard Butler.

Similarly Irrfan Khan has appeared in The Namesake, Life of Pi and Slumdog Millionaire, but was also recently seen in Jurassic World. Irrfan Khan’s career, however, is unusual: It took off in India thanks to a movie made (nominally, at least) in the West: The Warrior. In practice The Warrior, was shot in India in the Hindi language, and told a story set in the Indian historical landscape, directed and written by Asif Kapadia, a British citizen of Indian origins.

Among older examples there is Indiana Jones and the Temples of Doom, which starred, among others, the late Amrish Puri. Here again, though, the story was set in India. Priyanka Chopra’s role is therefore a step forward for Bollywood on Hollywood’s soil, in the sense that she plays a lead role in a show that is not essentially “Indian.”

Other signs of cooperation are visible. The powerful Indian company Reliance has invested in DreamWorks, while Disney has made acquisitions in India. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles-India Film Council has been formed. This year, Bollywood director-producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra saw his dream materialize when Broken Horses, his first Hollywood movie, hit the screens. And then there is Wesley Snipes, who claims to be a friend of Shahrukh Khan and is reported to be considering giving Priyanka Chopra a role in one of his projects.           

However, the question remains: What character will Neil Nitin Mukesh play in Game of Thrones?