UK firm’s film on Indians in call centres

‘‘The film will take a serious look at the cultural differences between Britain and India. But it’ll also be a celebration of those differences,’’ Suzanne Mackie, head of development at Harbour Pictures, said on telephone from London.

The film has been inspired by a growing trend of British companies such as Prudential and BT Group moving a part of their back-office operations to India. These include customer relations, which are served by call centres. India’s huge pool of skilled, English-speaking graduates, who are willing to work at a fraction of wages abroad, have spurred global companies such as Citigroup and AOL-Time Warner to set up back-office centres in the country.

Employees at call centres are often given British or American names, taught to speak with the relevant accent and even given crash courses in the pop culture of the two countries. Clients are thus led to believe they are speaking to someone a few miles away instead of halfway across the globe. The British film seeks to tap the potential humour and pathos of such situations.

‘‘How can you teach someone British popular culture? It’s a funny arena for misunderstandings and that’s where the humour for the film will come in,’’ Mackie said. London-based actor and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar, who featured in the British television comedy show Goodness Gracious Me and writes and acts in The Kumars at No. 42 is working on the script for the movie.