In London on Monday October 28 , Amitraj spoke to www. Probably the most powerful person of Indian origin in the entertainment business, he started out poor and hungryβ¦for success, and as a consequence has some amazing stories to tell. Amitraj somewhat repayed the compliment paying tribute to India, saying he still felt Indian and that everything he did still had something of an Indian stamp on it. Poitier became the first black actor to win an Academy Award in , at a time when prejudice was still rife.
He is a very impressive man β his career and his breakthroughs in breaking the mould. I was an Indian tennis player trying to break through, who knew nothing. I just wanted to be in the film business, in Hollywood. Breaks are just a fantasy. Amitraj grew up in Chennai in a high-achieving tennis family but the way forward after tennis did not seem clear. He had landed up in LA playing tennis very successfully in the World Team Tennis Championship, but he was desperate to get into the film business and had little real idea of how.
He survived by making small films β many of which went straight to video at the time but then in something happened. His love affair with film began in Chennai Madras it was then watching movies at the Sapphire Theatre there.
Danes is terrific, carrying the movie on her slender shoulders, displaying that ennui of good-looking female shop assistants that is so recognisable in large, slightly elitist retail stores everywhere β go look, please. It is expected to release in The way you tell a story is the most important thing.
Writers need to be paid more in India and given a lot more attention. He said growing up in India has stayed with him and has helped him to negotiate the pitfalls Hollywood inevitably offers. Eschewing a possible love marriage to any of his early American girlfriends, he married Chitra through the traditional way and now has two children. As a South Indian catholic, he said he has remained faithful to the values he inherited and paid tribute to his parents at the dinner. Integrally I am Indian.
