Click to play videoLondon: India-born filmmaker Bharat Nalluri's Hollywood production, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day has become a sleeper hit in the US. CNN-IBN correspondent Akanksha Banerji got Nalluri talking about his feature film directorial debut, inspiration from Bollywood and more.
Akanksha Banerji: Your film has just released in US to rave reviews. So has life changed this last week?
Bharat Nalluri: I've been making films for the past 20 years - films and drama and TV - it doesn't seem to have changed. Everyone tells me it will change but I do not think so.
Akanksha Banerji: The star cast is very important for the film. Francis and Amy Adams are increasingly becoming big stars in their own right. How was it working with them?
Bharat Nalluri: I would say it was very difficult and it was really tortuous and I had to pull it out for them (laughs). These guys are real professionals and have been doing it for a really long time. They know the business much better than I do so in a way I look to them a lot for how things will run and how they should be done.
Akanksha Banerji: What exactly is the Bollywood influence specifically to this film?
Bharat Nalluri: There's a lot of music in this film. There are 12 songs.
Akanksha Banerji: What are your all-time favourite Bollywood films?
Bharat Nalluri: Nowadays, someone like Satyajit Ray because I have gone back to film schools and discovered him. You realise he is the man everyone in the world has emulated. Kurosawa looks to Satyajit Ray, everyone looks to him because he invented this new world of filmmaking
Akanksha Banerji: What are the movies you remember from your childhood?
Bharat Nalluri: From my childhood? Pakeezah, Sholay and Amar Akbar Anthony were my parents' favourite. The last one that had a big impact on me - and that I thought was very international, and was happy it could find an international market - was Lagaan. It was a fantastic movie and that I thought was Bollywood coming of age.
Akanksha Banerji: What about a Bollywood script?
Bharat Nalluri: Oh yeah, if it comes along, I would love to.
Akanksha Banerji: What kind of response are you hoping to get from India?
Bharat Nalluri: It's interesting because it's un-Indian in many ways. It's 1939 Britain, the characters are very British or very American. But underneath it, the central story is very Bollywood. It's very Indian. It's very complex emotionally and has music and dance. I think it might strike a chord. I am hoping people understand and realise that it's a universal story and can enjoy it. I think they will.
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