'Leela is a Hollywood production with the soul of a Hindi film'

Abhijeet Chatterjee

Lemon Tree Films, a Hollywood based production company, launched its maiden film, Leela, with a muhurt ceremony on December 30, in Madh Island, Bombay.

Dimple Kapadia plays the lead role. The film co-stars Vinod Khanna and Gulshan Grover.

Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh and Shantanu Moitra (composer of Shubha Mudgal's album, Ab Ke Sawan) have composed the film's music. Gulzar has penned the lyrics.

The opening shot of the film was canned just after the muhurt while the rest of the film will be picturised in America in a 4-week schedule in March 2001.

Leela is the story of a teenaged boy, Kris - an Indian-American immigrant, trying to balance himself between two vastly opposite cultures.

It also tells the story of a liberal Indian woman struggling to come to terms with the true meaning of independence in a foreign land.

The film is produced by young Indian-American, entertainment professionals, Kavita Munjal and Anjalika Mathur.

It is the directorial debut of Hollywood-trained director, Somnath Sen, who has also written the screenplay. Sen has already worked on several Hindi films, like Raja Hindustani and Kareeb.

Talking about the film, Anjalika Mathur said, "America is ready for the Indian view of cinema. It's time they know how Bollywood is able to churn out the largest number of films in a year successfully!"

Kavita Munjal, confident of the financial viability of the project, adds, "The young generation is flocking to see Hindi blockbusters. India is the flavour of the day in America now."

According to director Somnath Sen, "Leela is a Hollywood production with the soul of a Hindi film." Sen claims that the team is venturing into an uncharted territory in cinema.

Incidentally, the soul of the quintessential Hindi film was evident at the launch of the Hollywood film when Vinod Khanna arrived a full two and a half hours late for the muhurt. If this isn't Bollywood, what is!