New Delhi, May 13
The overseas small screen is
calling for Bollywood talent. From Priyanka Chopra, Nimrat Kaur and
Tina Desai to veterans like Anupam Kher and Shabana Azmi - Indian actors
are landing plum roles in international TV shows. And they're truly
loving it.
After creating waves globally with her singing talent,
former Miss World and B-Town's 'desi girl' Priyanka has crossed borders
for American TV drama "Quantico" and plays the lead role; Shabana has
come on board for British TV drama "Capital"; and Tina will be working
in American drama series "Sense8".
Actress Lillete Dubey, who has
even worked in foreign films like "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and
its sequel, has also jumped on the bandwagon by joining British drama
series "Indian Summers". This, after Nimrat Kaur found prominence as a
Pakistan ISI Agent in "Homeland".
"The scope for Indian actors is
widening everywhere in the world. The world is becoming a smaller
place. Actors are nowadays preferring to work in different places,"
Nimrat, who first found global acclaim with the "The Lunchbox", told
IANS.
Talking of Bollywood's male gang, there's the evergreen
Anil Kapoor, who has dubbed for a guest appearance for adult animation
show "Family Guy"; while his close friend Anupam will feature in
Netflix's series "Sense8". Even "Life Of Pi" star Suraj Sharma was part
of "Homeland"; and Rahul Khanna essayed a Russian spy in US TV show "The
Americans".
Lillete says "actors look for work outside as they get to work with different people and grow as actors".
"Actors
want to see how they will work with people outside their country. With
globalisation, I think people are more aware of actors' body of work,"
she said, adding that changing demographics are leading to a surge in
the number of Indian actors in foreign shows.
"There are stories
set in Britain and the US or any other country and Indians are a major
part of demographics of many countries. So people feel that they should
represent them as well. They can't take non-Indian actors for such
roles.
"Either the story and subject is set in India or they are
based abroad but represent Indian population of that country," Lillete,
whose "Indian Summers" is a drama on British colonial era, told IANS.
But
what's interesting is that the story lines of these shows are not
restricted to those about India, and instead, range from terrorism to
suspense.
Priyanka, who plays the role of a FBI trainee in ABC's
TV series "Quantico", mentioned that international projects help an
artist grow creatively.
"As an entertainer and actor, I'm
constantly looking for new challenges that push the boundaries of my
creativity and talent. This is a whole new experience for me and
something that I am looking forward to diving into," said Priyanka.
Anil,
who has done a voiceover in the show that revolves around the Griffin
family, has also been excited about his foreign TV stint, which comes
after he featured in the international show "24".
"Stepping into
the world of Family Guy #SuperExcited to be a part of the lovably crazy
Griffin family @FamilyGuyonFOX. Honoured to be a guest on #FamilyGuy
Thank you Linda and Steve. @FOXTV @FamilyGuyonFOX," Anil had tweeted.
Likewise,
Anupam has expressed how "terrific" is "Sense8", a 12-episode suspense
thriller series, around the connection between eight people from eight
different parts of the world.
Tina, who has also worked in Hollywood film "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", is thrilled to be part of "Sense8" too.
"I'm just thrilled to be a part of such a fantastic show and look forward to audience reactions," Tina told IANS.
Other
than these, a string of Indian origin actors like Kunal Nayyar, Dev
Patel, Parminder Kaur Nagra and Kal Penn have carved a niche for
themselves on international TV shows.
(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at [email protected])
