Being Desi in Hollywood: The struggles of Indo-Americans on the big screen
iView Author: Roshni Mulchandani (Fremont, California, USA)
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“Being Desi in Hollywood: The struggles of Indo-Americans on the big screen ”
Although Indians have a pretty significant presence in America that only continues to grow, our representation in the media is scarce — and leading characters (if actually given a leading role) are often cast in nothing but stereotypical portrayals. Out of the 203 movies Hollywood dished out in 2006, only a minuscule five of the flicks featured Indian actors in leading roles. Indian actors’ association with Hollywood dates back many years with veteran Bollywood actors such Shabana Azmi, Amrish Puri, Om Puri and Gulshan Grover making their presence felt in mind reverting and mainstream movies. While the young and thriving actors are doing their part to get noticed, local desi directors including Mira Nair, Gurinder Chadha and Deepa Mehta have and continue to make movies that cater to immigrant Indians who struggle to attain the “American Dream.” Cut to the present and Indian presence in America is felt in all job sectors. Indians are flourishing in software, medicine and even slowly entering politics, but they seem they seem to be lacking in media and on the silver screen. The future seems brighter though, with younger actors looking to break ground and erase all labels such as the stereotypical accented doctor or dorky college student. As the millennium began, the younger generation of Indian-Americans dove into the world of American movies. Now, Desi actors are trying to break existing stereotypes (avoiding roles such as cab drivers and convenience store owners) and creating a unique niche for themselves, which allows them to portray nearly anyone, even non-Indian characters.
Sarita Chaudhary
Mira Nair’s cross-cultural Mississippi Masala was one of the first movies in the eighties that started to cater to Indians. The movie also marked the debut of the talented Sarita Choudhary. Daughter to a British mother and Bengali father, Choudhary is anything but your typical average Indian girl. Known for her sexy pout and big deep eyes, she has worked in all facets of the media: television, cinema and theater. Proudly carrying her unconventional look, her stint with cinema started with Nair’s flick Mississippi Masala, where she played the role of a young Indian girl who falls in love with a black man played by Denzel Washington. Although the movie was not a mainstream hit, it was named an “international art house hit” and received much critical acclaim. She continued to work with her mentor Nair as she played a princess who is unable to seduce her husband in the notorious Kama Sutra. However, her career in acting came with its share of struggles too. While she gained recognition and fame, she was not receiving many offers for roles in upcoming movies. It was easier to be white or black during the nineties when most actors were cast depending on the color of their skin. She refused to be typecast and decided to break the mold by taking on challenging roles which were different from the usual Indian roles for which she was normally being cast. She was last seen in M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water, where both the actress and director came together to showcase their talents. After being in the industry for over 10 years, she believes that her time has just began and as more directors are casting actors irrespective of their ethnicity, talented Indians will emerge to demonstrate their flair for acting.
Mira Nair
Mira Nair was born to break all stereotypes that have been created towards Indians. Born and educated in India, she moved to the U.S. at the tender age of 19 and headed to Harvard with a scholarship in her hand. Her first release was cult classic Salaam Bombay, which is considered a controversial, yet moving film and is still recommended to film-major students. After that, she continuously spurted out hit movies such as the notorious Kama Sutra, Monsoon Wedding and her most recent book-turned-movie The Namesake. Her mission is simple, yet complex: to ensure local Indians don’t lose their identity and to bring the East to the West. Her movies have all been individually unique but each of them has told a different story about India. If the Kama Sutra was a historic tale about love and sex, then Monsoon Wedding told the story of an arranged marriage and family secrets that unfold. The Namesake was about a young boy who tries to assimilate between a being American while holding on to Indian roots. Nair, however, refuses to let go of the Bollywood touch and regularly includes the sing and dance shindig, which is a necessity of Indian cinema. Nair has no qualms of being deemed an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) filmmaker and actually takes pride in her status, calling New York her home just as much as Mumbai. She furthermore believes she is the link between Indian Americans, India and the culture they should never forget.
Naveen Andrews
In Kama Sutra, we also witnessed the unleashing of Naveen Andrews, better known as Lost’s Sayid Jarrah. Andrews hails from a South Indian family, but was born and bred in England. “Controversial” is a clear definition for the actor and his life. His repressive upbringing in the Methodist church and physically abusive childhood made him skeptical of his choice of careers as a youngster. At the young age of 16, he fell in love with his math teacher and their affair led to birth of his first son in 1992. A year prior to the birth of his son, he bagged his first role in Hanif Kureshi’s film, London Kills Me alongside Clint Eastwood. He later went on to receive his best role yet, as lieutenant Kip in The English Patient. Speaking in his British accent, Andrews condemns the idea of racial typecasting and is willing to “push the envelope to the maximum” to prove that Indians are more than taxi drivers. He hasn’t been afraid to take any risks and insisted on playing the role of an Iraqi during a time when America was at war and cast Iraq as a member of the “axis of evil.” Directors sing his praise in unison, and despite his prior addiction with drugs and alcohol, they are more than willing to go against the grain and sign him on for diverse roles. Living his life in true Hollywood style, he proudly walks down red carpets with his much older girlfriend of nine years and ignores the stares. A self-proclaimed “Bollywood movie hater,” Andrews admits however, he would still consider dancing around a tree or two.
Kal Penn
Not many know that Kal Penn is really a stage name and his passport reads Kalpen Suresh Modi. Penn is perhaps one of the most popular Indians in Hollywood today. Born in New Jersey to parents of Gujarati and Tamil heritage, Penn has firsthand experience of typecasting and breaking stereotypes. His filmography comprises of movies such as American Desi, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, The Namesake and the recent Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. He has also been seen in various television shows but is most well known for his role as Kumar from his Harold and Kumar sequel. In his initial days of auditioning, Penn was often asked why he was not wearing a turban, to which he would simply glare at the ignorant question. It took him a few years to stand firm and work with directors who were willing to take a chance on him and cast him in roles they saw fitting. Penn has no problem playing the “Indian guy” in movies but is looking for meatier roles that will expose his hidden talents. He constantly meets fans who tell him that they can see themselves in the roles he portrays, namely Gogul in The Namesake. Struggling to strike the right balance between his American and Indian identity is something Penn has had to deal with from a young age, but he found the balance in high school. Now, with several movies under his belt, Kal Penn knows he’s officially made it in Hollywood. Ask him “How?” He replies, “You can find pirated copies of my movies in Indian stores!.”
The talent is not lacking among young Indians. The problem clearly lies with the 3 million Indians in the U.S. who encourage their children to study science and put little to no emphasis on arts and acting. America generates a huge amount of Desi engineers and doctors, yet it took years before an Indian doctor was actually seen on the popular TV show E.R. Actors such as Chaudhary, Andrews and Penn and are looking to shoot the pigeonholes aside and work in roles that do not require them to act a certain way because of the color of their skin or their ethnicity. Directors such as Nair are willing to keep the culture alive by showcasing India at its finest to the West along with talented actors like these. It’s clearly only a matter of time before Desis will be not only acknowledged, but also appreciated by American cinema.
Unfortunately, Western cinema represents Desis as monkey brain-eating, snake soup- drinking people— think back to Amrish Puri in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Most Indo-American actors are simply asking for a fair portrayal of their characters instead of the usual doctor, taxi driver or geeky engineer. It took the makers of the popular TV show E.R. years before they finally casted an Indian doctor. Actors such as Chaudhary, Andrews and Penn are looking to overcome the pigeonhole and work in roles that aren’t determined because of the color of their skin, their ethnicity or their accent. With the help of directors such as Nair, locals are able to stay close to home and westerners are finally seeing modern, jet-age Indians. It clearly is only a matter of time before American film makers will finally realize that India does produce the maximum amount of movies in the world, which is an obvious indication of its boastful of its talent.
Tags: Clint Eastwood, Hanif Kureshi, Kal Penn, Kama Sutra, London Kills Me, Mira Nair, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon wedding, Naveen Andrews, Sarita Chaudhary, The Namesake, World Cinema
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For a long time Americans have enjoyed the comfort of their ignorance about outside world and the revolting portrayal of orientals in Hollywood only confirms that.
That bias although significantly lesser nowadays still exists and can be summed up by the astounding reaction that Slumdog evoked there with all it’s stereotypical plotlines.
having said that I don’t want this post to become another SD debate.
BTW Roshni you forgot Kal Penn’s current role in House MD which is quite a popular TV show in US.
Nice article, Though I guess there are a lot more actors of indian origin who have made a mark in the hollywood movies (like Ayesha Dharkar, Star Wars and many more). Would love to read more about them too.
PS: Kal Penn’s character in Namesake is Gogol (not Gogul), which has been taken from the author Nikolai Gogol.
not to forget that Kal Penn also featured in Superman Returns..
we are also breaking barriers in comedy. Asif Mandvi (the pizza guy from spiderman 2) is simply hilarious as the daily show correspondent. and of course, who can forget Russell Peters. the american version of ‘the office’ has a well-etched indian character played by Mindy Kaling, and that’s no surprise because she is also one of the main writers for the show. seriously talented, i won’t be surprised if Kaling ends up going the Tina Fey way. let’s see what Freida Pinto does. what a jackpot for her.
I always thought Kal Penn is Indian but was not sure of this name. Now the mystery is solved. Thanks
Btw he is definitely a star material.
what about the “bend it like becham” girl in ER ? She has been there for a few seasons. I assume if more and more indians watch tv in the US, maybe we will get more roles. I have seen a couple of other sitcoms where Indians play a meatier role but the sitcoms didnt go anywhere. BTW, there is a Indian guy in the really funny “big bang theory” sitcom.
The sad ( or good ? ) part is that the second generation indians are confused on their identity – they would rather be American which makes life easier. So this whole “indian” thing is a mute point. I think it is the first gen indians who are desperately looking for such figures to give ourselves some grounding outside india.
Unless the story centers around india, expecting more than a side role for Indians is unrealistic. We could be doing more roles behind the screen.
BTW, Ben Kingsley is Gujarati – changed his name to break into English theatre. I read this a few years back.
I recently had discussion on this subject with an Indian friend on a long drive back from New Orleans Mardi Gras weekend! We were talking in different context though…about our “game” in getting american girls. We discussed how the black people have come to dominate the popular culture with their songs, dress style, edgy energy, bad boy image and now with Obama as the president, their image has got the wholesome boost. On the other hand, the desis (specially the second generation ABCDs) haven’t been mixing around and influencing popular American culture as much. Most ABCD’s we knew date other ABCD’s. They hang around in large groups of ABCDs (btw, the term ABCD is used as an identifier here and not in a derogatory manner). On top of that whichever white/black people they mix with, they spread even more negative ideas about people from India. Seriously, ours must be the only community that looks down so much on the first gen immigrants from our own country. Hence Indians have triple whammy – suspicions about Hindusim (this affects at least those of us who are hindus), no presence in popular american media/culture and negative aspects spread by our own people about backwardness, poverty, conservativeness etc. On top of that our accent isn’t considered sexy. Wow, talk about stereotype related issues.
On a happy note, we talked about how we both had overcome all this and despite the odds stacked against us (because of the reasons mentioned above), we had been quite successful in our pleasure seeking exploits in the US…so there is hope after all…