Indians who made it big in the West

While actresses like Mallika Sherawat have been trying all their might to find success in Hollywood, it is only a handful of Indian artistes who have created a niche for themselves and are well-recognized in the west. Here’s a look at celebs who have made us proud in the west:

1. Aishwarya Rai Bachhan

Talking of celebs who made it BIG in Hollywood, Aishwarya Rai is somebody who definitely cannot be ignored! She started her career in English movies with the adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, titled ‘Bride and Prejudice’, directed by Gurinder Chada.
This has been one of her most successful English movies so far and she received rave reviews for her performance in the same. Out of the many movies that she did later, she played the role of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a woman subjected to domestic violence in ‘Provoked’. Her performance in the movie was immensely praised by all. She was last seen in the 2009 flick ‘The Pink Panther 2’. Apart from her career in the movies, Ash has been an international figure, representing L’oreal Paris in the Cannes Film Festival for the past ten years.

2. Gurinder Chada

She is a British director of Indian origin who began her career in the radio and as a news reporter later. From there, she went on to direct award-winning documentaries for the British Film Institute and BBC. Her first documentary, ‘I’m British but...’ was released in 1989. Her first feature film, ‘Bhaji on the Beach’ won numerous international awards including a BAFTA nomination for “Best British Film of 1994”. She then came out with the movie ‘Bend it like Beckham’ which was again a critical and commercial hit, topping the box office charts in the U.S, Australia, New Zealand etc. Her other feature films include ‘Bride and Prejudice’, ‘The Mistress of Spices’ and the latest one being ‘It’s a Wonderful Afterlife’, which brought together the mother-daughter duo of Sharmila Tagore and Soha Ali Khan for the first time.

3. A.R. Rahman

His first British movie was Shekhar Kapur’s ‘Elizabeth: The Second Age’. Thereafter, many of his songs appeared in films like ‘Inside Man’, ‘Lord of War’, ‘The Accidental Husband’, etc. However, it was in 2008 that he scored for his Hollywood film, ‘Couples Retreat’ that won him the BMI London Award for Best Score. Though he’d already won the hearts of many in the country, it was in 2008 that this musical maestro won international accolades for his work in the internationally acclaimed movie, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ for which, he grabbed a Golden Globe and two Academy Awards. Later, he also composed for the Danny Boyle movie, ‘127 Hours, in 2010.

4. Deepa Mehta

Deepa Mehta is an Indian born Canadian film director and screenwriter who started her career making short documentaries in India. Later when she moved to Canada, she launched herself as a screenwriter, writing for children’s films. However, it was only in 1991 that she made her feature film directorial debut with Sam & Me. It won Honorable Mention in the Camera d’Or category of the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. That was followed by movies like Camilla, Fire, Earth, Water, and Bollywood/Hollywood in 2002 for which she won the Genie Award for Best Original Screenplay. 

 

5. Freida Pinto

Before she made her feature film debut in the 2008 movie, Slumdog Millionaire, Freida Pinto anchored the international travel show, Full Circle, on Zee International Asia Pacific from 2006-08. At the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, Slumdog Millionaire won the Cadillac People's Choice and four awards at the 2009 Golden Globe Awards. She herself was nominated for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" at the 2009 BAFTA Awards. She won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture alongside other cast members from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’. Freida co-starred in Woody Allen's comedy-drama film ‘You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger’, with Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Anupam Kher and Naomi Watts, which premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. She is due to appear in the 2011 science fiction film ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’, the prequel to the ‘Planet of the Apes’ (1968), opposite James Franco. She will also appear in the 2011 fantasy-action-drama film, ‘Immortals’, in which she will play the role of the oracle priestess Phaedra.