A film with meryl streep: Ashok Amritraj

Hollywood producer Ashok Amritraj is here on what he calls ‘one of his annual visits’ to the country. The filmmaker — best known for films including Premonition, Bringing Down The House, Bandits, Antitrust amongst others — is currently busy with his upcoming film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, starring Nicolas Cage.  In a tete-a-tete with DNA he reveals that there were indeed plans to get the Hollywood star here:

There’s buzz of actor Nicolas Cage coming down as part of the promotional activities for the sequel of Ghost Rider. So are the plans still on?
We were indeed planning to get Nick to India sometime early this year, but since the film is releasing in several countries including the US and UK, he got busy with the promotions there, and the dates just couldn’t be worked out. He too was keen to come to India, he’s heard much about it, but it didn't work out this time.

How was it working with him on the film?
Well, it was amazing to see what he brings to the table. The film is not an easy one and apart from the special effects, it involves a lot of action, but he did it all on his own. In fact, all the actors Idris Elba, Christopher Lambert… were all great to work with too.

Are you looking at making any film here?
As of now no, but if something interesting comes up, I'd love to, for sure.

Any actor you are looking forward to working with here?
You know, I just don’t work that way. For me, I am open to working with any actor, who fits the role. It's the film and the character that decides the actor and not the other way around.

What about in Hollywood?
Meryl Streep. I’d really, really love to do a film with her.

India's been increasingly making its presence felt in the West, especially in the film industry…
In comparison to a few years ago, yes, there’s more awareness. The awareness of India overall has increased rapidly over the years, so today people are more aware of the film industry here too. But when it comes to their films or business, they are still very diaspora-centric. Danny Boyle’s Slumdog (Millionaire) is what really put the spotlight on Indian actors. It worked for all its actors.

Is there more interest in Bollywood and the actors there?
Just being seen on the red carpet doesn’t really translate into much you know. It’s not like filmmakers are creating roles to accommodate any Indian actor as such. I think there's still time for that. But having said that, the fact is that they rarely even create roles for the big stars there. So, creating visibility is not necessarily making it big there. But at the end of the day, it's really an individual call. You can be Clint Eastwood or Kim Kardashian  (laughs). Both are seen on the red carpet, but well… (smiles).