Chris Kattan is currently shooting a three-part comedy miniseries in Mumbai, India, called Bollywood Hero, which IFC will premiere this August. So you can properly answer the question, Crazy, cool, or CRAZY?, I will copy and paste the entire press release…
"Kattan, who plays himself in this otherwise fictional comedy, is tired of being rejected as leading-man material in Hollywood. He burns his professional bridges in L.A. and ventures to India in search of a starring role in a Bollywood film. While in India, he encounters cultural differences and the realization that making it big in Bollywood is not a sure thing.
"After a chance meeting with Indian born film maker Monty Reddy, Chris heads to Mumbai to take the lead role in Peculiar Dancing Boy, the last script by Bollywood legend and Monty’s deceased father, Anil Reddy. Fresh off the plane, Chris is flung into a world of sibling rivalry, power hungry starlets and their astrologers, and a film that is not quite fully financed.
"In his quest to become Bollywood’s leading man, Chris becomes embroiledin his own ‘Richard Gere’ style kissing scandal, trawls the backwatersof India for his leading lady and is hoodwinked by a wily Indiangrandmother who, not speaking a word of English, mistakes him for hernew dishwashing boy. Facing culture clashes, language barriers andcomplex dance moves, Kattan will stop at nothing to fulfill his dream.
"Currently in production in Mumbai, India, the miniseries also stars Julian Sands (A Room with a View) and Neha Dhupia (former Miss India, Shootout at Lokhandwala). Several key crew members from Slumdog Millionaireare working on the project including, Tabrez Noorani, theline-producer, Raj Acharya, the 1st Assistant Director and UdayanBaijal, the 2nd Assistant Director. Longinus Fernandes, whochoreographed the celebrated Jai Ho dance sequence at the end Slumdog Millionaire, will create numerous dance numbers for the series. Singer-songwriter and composer Michael Penn (Boogie Nights) will write and produce three original songs for the series."
My thoughts: CRAZY. But you know, it’s way more interesting than appearing on a celebreality show, so you’ve got to give Kattan points for that. (And for giving Sands work — pretty sure he’s the reason I first discovered and loved period pieces). I wouldn’t say I’ve missed Kattan enough to make this appointment viewing, but if I were to stumble across it during a dance scene, I’d stop and watch and send ‘OMG on IFC’ texts to at least three people. You?
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As much as I want to jump on the India bandwagon and get pumped for another pseudo-scripted comedy, Chris Kattan is kind of okay. I’ll take a CRAZY on this one. Definitely sounds worth checking out, though.
It sounds like yet another HW attempt at BW that will = Epic Fail (see: Marigold, Chandni Chowk to China, even Love Guru to some extent) where BW is seen as the punchline, most likely making BW fans like myself want to rip his/her hair out. How hard is it for American audiences to get over the stereotypes–which films like this Kattan project perpetuate–and appreciate “real” Indian films instead of these cross-overs/mashups starring Hollywood’s D-list?
Oh, and the Slumdog choreography was sloppy and bland compared to Indian-produced films. So having that same choreographer is not a positive for me.
I am absolutely jumping out of my seat for this! I think Chris Kattan is hilarious and charming. Cant wait for this to come out in August! A novel idea.
So COOL it’s CRAZY!!!! Can’t wait to see Kattan again on a regular basis.