Rawson Marshall Thurber is happy with Hollywood getting influenced by Bollywood, and infusing Indian elements to its storyline. The American filmmaker says the foreign film industry has moved into an “exciting” phase after opening doors to diversity, and hopes he gets to work with Indian actress Priyanka Chopra soon.
After making a successful debut with 2004 film DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, Thurber went to make films like We’re the Millers and Central Intelligence. At the moment, he is working on a new project Skyscraper, which stars Dwayne Johnson.
While working on Skyscraper, Thurber has stumbled upon a common link connecting him with Chopra.
“The movie that I’m making right now is Skyscraper with Dwayne Johnson. Beau Flynn is the producer, and he was also the producer of Baywatch and Priyanka was in that... I hope I’m lucky enough to get to work with her,” said Thurber.
Chopra scaled new heights after landing into the foreign television space with Quantico, which turned out to be the road leading her to Hollywood. Her debut film Baywatch failed to make a mark at the box office, but Chopra got noticed for her act as the female villain Victoria Leeds.
Bollywood’s ‘desi girl’ now has big projects like Isnt It Romantic? with Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine and A Kid Like Jake, also starring Jim Parsons, Claire Danes, Octavia Spencer, Ann Dowd and Michaela Watkins, in her kitty.
From Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan to Nimrat Kaur, Indian actors are making strides in the West.
Thurber says there is a better understanding about Indian cinema in his side of the world due to the exchange of talent.
“Absolutely... There is no doubt [that the understanding of Indian cinema has increased over time with Indian stars heading to west]. I have to say that I am literally under educated about Indian cinema and Bollywood at large, but I do think that Indian cinema and Bollywood are definitely more present in Hollywood filmmaking than it has ever been,” said the 42-year-old.
