NEW YORK: More than 150 people gathered at the Dream Downtown Hotel during Columbus Day weekend to glean “insider” information about directing, producing, writing, and financing Bollywood films from A-list Indian filmmakers Imtiaz Ali, Zoya Akhtar, and Anuraadha Tewari. Presented by New York and Mumbai-based Molecule Communications and Dar Motion Pictures (a division of DAR Media Pvt. Ltd.) and supported by Vikram Chatwal, the two-day educational conference titled ‘Ticket2Bollywood’ was themed Bollywood: Beyond the Song and Dance. The event provided a platform for aspiring and established actors, directors, and producers to determine how they could potentially break into Bollywood.
“So many Bollywood directors are choosing to shoot their films abroad, whether in New York or other major cities around the world,” says Ajay Shrivastav, Director of Molecule Communications. “These filmmakers are always looking for local talent, production crews, writers, directors, and music composers to give their films an international flare and perspective. Bollywood has truly gone global, and the main agenda for this conference was to make the general public aware about how much the Indian film industry impacts the world’s economy.”
The roster of powerhouse Bollywood “household” names at the conference included:
• Imtiaz Ali: Nominated for Best Director for recent super hit Rockstar (Ranbir Kapoor) and 2007’s Jab We Met (Shahid Kapur & Kareena Kapoor). Ali also directed Love Aaj Kal and Socha Na Tha. Most recently, Ali wrote the script for Cocktail (Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone).
• Zoya Akhtar: Filmfare Award for Best Director for Zindagi Na Milege Dobara (Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif). Also directed Luck by Chance (Konkana Sen Sharma) and writer of soon-to-be-released Taalash (Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, and Kareena Kapoor).
• Anuraadha Tewari: Gold Medalist for Direction from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, and script writer of Fashion, Jail and Heroine.
Local New York talent who participated in the conference included: music composer Wayne Sharpe, DJ Rekha, Vikram Chatwal, Nandana Sen and Melanie Kannokada, just to name a few.
India Post News Service
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