Aspiring director? Ashok Amritraj has ticket to Hollywood

Hollywood-based Indian producer Ashok Amritraj has shifted his focus to India and he is currently in Mumbai to find a director through his talent hunt reality show, "Gateway".

Amritraj, who churned out hits like "Raising Helen" and "Walking Tall" under his banner Hyde Park Entertainment, has collaborated with PIX, the English movie channel from SET India, for the show that will go on air Nov 4.

"This is for me a way to give opportunity to an Indian talent to show his creativity to the world. The winner would be given a chance to direct a film in Hollywood. And it will be distributed by Hyde Park Entertainment and Sony," Amritraj told IANS on phone from Mumbai.

The talent hunt is applicable only for aspiring directors and not established ones.

"My company Hyde Park Entertainment has been making movies for the last 20 years. We had a terrific time making films. I have been thinking about this reality show for a while but a year ago I discussed it with Sunder Aaron (business head at PIX) and here we are."

"Gateway" is PIX's maiden local production of a television series and it has started all India calls for entries in any format from Aug 1. Aspiring filmmakers can send films that are not more than two-four minutes long to the PIX.

Said Aaron: "We will take entries till Sep 15. After that we will review all and make a final list of 50 directors and interview them in the next selection round. On the basis of the interviews we will finalise a list of 18 contestants."

The final contestants will be brought to Mumbai to participate in the show, which will have 13 episodes.

Aaron said: "Every week we will have a couple of celebrity judges from different fields but Ashok will be the main judge. There won't be any public voting. But people can blog and discuss the show on the website."

There won't be any cash prize for the winner.

"No money can buy this kind of opportunity. So far, there haven't been any film which could be actually called crossover. But that doesn't mean that there aren't talented directors in India. The country surely has good talents," said Aaron.

Amritraj said Indian films have not gained the desired popularity among Western viewers because they concentrate on India specific stories.

"We have a respectable NRI audience for such films. But we have yet to make films like 'Life is Beautiful' and 'Amйlie'," said Amritraj who gives importance to screenplay.

So will he give a chance to established Indian directors to make a film in Hollywood? "Whosoever brings the right screenplay will get a chance to make a film."