So who is looking forward to the September 5 release of the Uma Thurman and Colin Firth-starrer The Accidental Husband?
A recent e-mail alerted us that one Rajat Kumar of New Jersey works on the movie. We sought, and failed to find, any listing of the name in the credits of the film, but there's this picture of Kumar with the statuesque sword-wielder who killed Bill and assorted others in the Quentin Tarantino martial arts double-bill. And -- ah, serendipity, how we love you -- we also spotted a treasure trove of desi talent dotting the credits of Husband.
Here you go: New York-born Himad Beg, who had a walk on role in the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, and who will appear in the upcoming New York I Love You; Devika Bhise; Jay Charan, who you might have spotted in the role of a teller in the Spike Lee bank heist caper The Inside Man, starring Clive Owen and Denzel Washington; Sarita Choudhury, whose last appearance in a major film was in the 2006 M Night Shyamalan turkey Lady In The Water; Kevin Dhaniram; Sandhya Jain, who makes her Hollywood -- or any other wood, actually -- debut; Ajay Naidu, who has an impressive nine movies in various stages of production after his appearance in Loins of Punjab and who is engaged to actress Heather Burns, his high school sweetheart; Pooja Narang, who choreographed the Manish Gupta-helmed Karma, Confessions and Holi that has erstwhile Bollywood star Rati Agnihotri in the lead and also features tempestuous supermodel Naomi Campbell, former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, former Mrs Shekar Kapur Suchitra Krishnamoothi and actor Robert De Niro's adopted daughter Drena De Niro; and Raj Vasudeva.
If that reads like enough talent to outfit a medium budget Bollywood offering, the storyline is straight out of the Hindi film playbook. Not to spill spoiler beans, but Thurman plays a radio talk show host who makes a fetish of being sensible and mature, and is duly in a relationship with the very conventional Firth.
Then she finds that she is married to a friendly neighbourhood fireman she doesn't even recall meeting -- and, as her wedding approaches, finds to her horror that said bloke, with his trademark joie de vivre is actually very attractive. How to resolve the tangle? Who to get the girl? Wait and see; also wait and see which Bollywood director is the first to get 'inspired'.
Oh, and while on desi spotting, did those of you who saw Christopher Nolan's very dark The Dark Knight for the nth time notice Sanjay Madhav, who plays a Senator? Madhav is part of an increasing breed of young actors getting a foothold in Hollywood (vide his appearances in, among others, the Albert Brooks-helmed Looking for Comedy in A Muslim World) while looking for a toehold in Bollywood (if you took the trouble to see the eminently forgettable Rama Rama Kya Hai Drama, you might have spotted him).
No Indian American, incidentally, is contesting a Senate seat in the upcoming election -- but hey, first we fantasise, then we realise, no?
