Chris Kattan’s three-part comedy musical miniseries, Bollywood Hero which also features Neha Dhupia, Rachna Shah and Pooja Kumar, based on a Dutch movie of the same name, begins its first broadcast today. The premise is a simple one – an actor, whose once promising career is beginning to fade into cameo and walk-on comedy parts, seeks to restart it by starring in a Bollywood movie called Peculiar Dancing Boy. “Chris Kattan wanting to be a leading man is a joke, and it’s a great way to poke fun of myself,” says Kattan, 38. “It’s not so much about finding a gig but good, respectful gigs.”
Chris sees the parallels all too readily with his own career adding a certain poignancy to the whole series where the lines between fantasy and reality become blurred in a way that would please the maestro, Gary Shandling. “My dream was to be more like Mike Myers,” Chris says, “I wished I could have shown elements in my career that were more grounded and more of my personality.”
Actress Neha Dhupia was pleased with her contribution to the series and enjoyed the experience. “We shot in and around Mumbai. Cameos by Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore were shot in Los Angeles,” she explains, “The series was shot in a very professional manner. Noorani, the director, was the line-producer of Slumdog Millionaire. The crew did not throw any attitude. There was no time wasted.”
