Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Film makers and script-writers Meera Simhan and Ravi Kapoor whose feature film Miss India America, hits select theaters March 25, believe they are on the tipping point where Indian-American movies are poised to enter the mainstream with their authentic stories with universal appeal.
Their comedy deals with serious universal issues, for women in particular, like what’s it is to be very ambitious, or how to lose a battle or even a war, all with a light touch. Directed by Kapoor (‘Crossing Jordan’), and co-written by Kapoor and Simhan (‘Anger Management’), Miss India America has attracted some serious Hollywood names including Hannah Simone of New Girl, who is part Indian, and who, the directors say, is “very choosy” about the roles she picks. And she responded positively to Miss India America.
It stars Tiya Sircar (‘The Internship’ and ‘Star Wars Rebels’), Simone (‘New Girl’), Kosha Patel (‘Newsroom’ and ‘House of Lies’), and Simhan, as well as Bernard White (‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’).
Set in the world of South Asian American beauty pageants, Miss India America follows the travails of high-achiever Lily Prasad (Tiya Sircar) whose plan is to become a brain surgeon, marry her boyfriend, Karim, have kids and live happily ever after. But the “Lily Plan” goes awry when Karim runs off with the reigning Miss India National beauty queen. For one who has no concept of failure, Lily’s plan now is to win the upcoming Miss India National, get her boyfriend back helped by her best friend (Kosha Patel). All this despite the seemingly long odds and competition from the impossibly perfect Sonia Nielson (Hannah Simone).
In an interview with Desi Talk, Kapoor and Simhan said they wanted to make a social comedy, with a “lot of heart and good emotional content,” because the genre allows one to “explore serious aspects but in a way easier to swallow,” he says, “Such as ambitions – how far will we go to achieve them,” Simhan adds completing Kapoor’s sentence. The two who hail from U.K. are married and now live in California.
After playing to a sold-out crowd at Cinequest Film Festival, winning the 2015 Center for Asian American Media’s Narrative Jury Award, and receiving the Best Screenplay and Best Actress awards at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, Miss India America opens to what the directors hope is not just an eagerly awaiting audience of Indians and Indian-Americans but also the general public.
“As story-tellers, the whole point of the journey is for people to come along,” Simhan said. “For people to see aspects of themselves,” Kapoor joins in. The idea of telling more South Asian stories and of the world Indian-Americans grew up in, is already here and is driving directors to look at diversity, they contended. Which is why they avoided doing a story on questions already dealt with like, “Am I Indian or am I American?”
“Now it’s about universal themes such as how to deal with failure and how does one live in this world if one is very ambitious,” they said, but conceded only time will tell if this genre has a growth trajectory. “We feel we are hitting a tipping point. Films (on Indian-Americans) can be authentic to the world in which they are set and yet appeal to universal values,” like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and the television series, “Fresh Off The Boat.”
The two are already working on another feature film, based on Simhan’s life growing up in the 1970s in San Diego. The two have also co-authored a television pilot series and are putting out feelers to the industry.
Kapoor was born and raised in Liverpool, England and studied at the East 15 Acting School in London. After graduating he worked as an actor in England doing a mix of film, T.V (including a number of BBC dramas) and theater, all of which took him as far afield as Tokyo and Delhi. He has written and directed a handful of plays, including Oh Sweet Sita, which was performed in both London and Toronto, and O!Edipus which had a well received run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. He was series regular on ABC’s Gideon’s Crossing and then on NBC’s Crossing Jordan, for which he also directed. His short films, Victor Ramirez, Asesino, and The 5, have played at national and international film festivals winning a number of awards.
Simhan was born in London and raised in India and Southern California. Her one-woman stage show Miss India America toured nationally and was received well in several major cities in the U.S., and is the inspiration for the feature film.
She graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and was an actress for five years in England, playing lead roles in British theater and some roles on television. In the US, Simhan has guest-starred in Anger Management, Married, New Girl, Touch, Parenthood, The Mentalist, House, Heroes, Law and Order CI, and Numbers.
The post Miss India America: A Comedy With A Lot of Heart And Emotion appeared first on News India Times.