Sets Appeal

For Khan, there’s no room for mistakes with this film. His audience will not be the same all-adoring one he’s nurtured since he was 24. This is Hollywood, baby. And with all due respect to Aishwarya Rai, he is the first Bollywood actor to star in a mainstream American film.

Marigold is the story of a failed American actress who gets stranded in India, and is forced to work in a B-grade Bollywood film to get back home. Khan plays an Indian prince, Prem, who moonlights as a choreographer.

A ‘‘breezy romantic comedy with music’’ is how director Willard Carroll describes it. The 48-year-old film-maker, best known for his Sean Connery-Angelina Jolie starrer Playing By Heart, confesses he’s a closet fan of Bollywood melodrama. But he’s trying to make Marigold real for the American palate. He got hooked after chancing upon Abbas Mustan’s Salman starrer Chori Chori Chupke Chupke four years ago. “I have this desire to introduce Bollywood to the American audience. I wanted to make a spectacle, with song and dance, energy and razzmatazz.”

Carroll’s done his homework. He’s made certain that Khan sheds a couple of tears in the film: ‘‘They tell me that a Salman film doesn’t work if he doesn’t shed tears. I am not taking any chances,’’ he says.

The one thing Salman won’t do, even for Hollywood? Kiss. He will act in a sync sound set-up—for the first time in his life—and mouth dialogues in American English. But he’s refused to lock lips with Larter. Apparently, Khan outlined his no-kiss policy well before signing the film. ‘‘He told me that’s the one thing he wouldn’t do. In turn, I told him he won’t remove his shirt in the film. Though he pleaded for the sake of his Malaysian audience, I was firm,’’ laughs Carroll.

The $8-million film is being co-produced by Hyperion and Entertainment One. Carroll feels that out of all Indian actors, Khan will work best for the American audience. In fact, he’s convinced he can do a Hugh Grant. ‘‘He is good with women in films and is a perfect blend of charm and humour,’’ he says. But Khan is happy being Khan. ‘‘I don’t compete with anyone but myself,’’ he declares.