Latest / The Bridge by Sammy Chand / May 7, 2026

Transcript

May 7, 2026 · The Bridge by Sammy Chand

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: South Asian music and cultures can be.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Found around the world.
• 0:05
  Speaker 3: We tracked down the best and it presented here for
• 0:08
  Speaker 3: you on.
• 0:10
  Speaker 4: Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:16
  Speaker 5: This is Ruginder and you're listening to The Bridge with
• 0:18
  Speaker 5: Sammy John.
• 0:20
  Speaker 6: Hi.
• 0:20
  Speaker 7: This is Salim Merchant and you're listening to my brother
• 0:23
  Speaker 7: Sammy Chance's show called The Bridge on Ruckus Avenue Radio.
• 0:29
  Speaker 8: Get down top of the morning to you all. I
• 0:39
  Speaker 8: hope you're well.
• 0:43
  Speaker 9: Man.
• 0:43
  Speaker 8: This has been a fun week, and to quantify it
• 0:47
  Speaker 8: into words, it's been a lot of fun. It's been
• 0:52
  Speaker 8: American Dacy week here on the Bridge, and all week
• 0:55
  Speaker 8: long we've been joined by the stars that made that
• 0:59
  Speaker 8: film a cult classic. And today, folks, is what I
• 1:04
  Speaker 8: would call the culminating episode. So on Monday we had
• 1:08
  Speaker 8: the Ladies, Tuesday we had the Three Bad Dudes, Yesterday
• 1:13
  Speaker 8: we had the three Funny guys or the three good guys,
• 1:16
  Speaker 8: if you want.
• 1:16
  Speaker 10: To call it.
• 1:18
  Speaker 8: And today we turn it over to the star Deep Kadare,
• 1:22
  Speaker 8: who will be joining us today, who was also the
• 1:25
  Speaker 8: producer on the film, so he'll double his role in
• 1:29
  Speaker 8: terms of his conversation with us. We'll also be joined
• 1:35
  Speaker 8: today by the man himself, the writer, the director of
• 1:39
  Speaker 8: the film the man that came up with it all,
• 1:43
  Speaker 8: but Yush Pandia is joining us today on an exclusive interview.
• 1:50
  Speaker 8: I'm looking forward to talking to him and obviously, after
• 1:53
  Speaker 8: having talked to the entire entire team man, I've got
• 1:58
  Speaker 8: some questions for him, and not only questions, but also
• 2:03
  Speaker 8: flowers to give to him for just what he accomplished
• 2:07
  Speaker 8: on that project. And listen, nobody knows how these things go.
• 2:12
  Speaker 8: He'd probably be the first one to tell you that. Nevertheless,
• 2:18
  Speaker 8: it was done, and it was done well. We've got
• 2:22
  Speaker 8: a great episode for you today. We'll be joined by
• 2:25
  Speaker 8: doctor Roy. We'll be joined by Duita das Gupta. We've
• 2:29
  Speaker 8: got a great weekend episode to preview for you today
• 2:32
  Speaker 8: as well. Tomorrow we'll have our countdown show. Let's start
• 2:36
  Speaker 8: this off with Novender. Welcome to the Bridge.
• 2:40
  Speaker 11: Good job.
• 2:41
  Speaker 9: Hassina. Suva has many shum Hassina hippies in the Geina
• 2:52
  Speaker 9: Johm Hassina and Suva has many shum Hassina yepes in
• 2:58
  Speaker 9: the gem Hassina very h John Hassina Suba Hassine very
• 3:06
  Speaker 9: sharm Hassina Ipi Matala is in the Gay You don't
• 3:10
  Speaker 9: need them.
• 3:14
  Speaker 11: They kind of look in the game is only on
• 3:16
  Speaker 11: a super game? Is a Kurnel looking every long?
• 3:18
  Speaker 9: Nobody look this is a large Oh them if they
• 3:22
  Speaker 9: look kind of looking.
• 3:24
  Speaker 11: The kind of look in the game is on a
• 3:27
  Speaker 11: super Baby? Is a Curnel look in the play?
• 3:29
  Speaker 12: Nobody look at this?
• 3:30
  Speaker 11: The logeh Garnmar.
• 3:35
  Speaker 9: Hassin, Mom Hassina, Very, John Hassina, ib Matalapi is in
• 3:41
  Speaker 9: the gi You don't need the Psina Very h John Hassina, Subassin,
• 3:49
  Speaker 9: Very Sham Hassina, ip Matalapi is in the gate. You're
• 3:53
  Speaker 9: the only need then Nom Hasina very song What's Sina?
• 4:03
  Speaker 11: Is in the You're the only.
• 4:18
  Speaker 12: Game.
• 4:19
  Speaker 9: They're not in the engine, New Leo Kovarni, You want
• 4:24
  Speaker 9: me doogra belong in the Jarney game? Who they're not
• 4:31
  Speaker 9: in the engine, New Leo Kivarni, But you wan doyoga
• 4:37
  Speaker 9: belong your the Jarney, Jo Black, Hassina and Cosow Hasina,
• 4:45
  Speaker 9: Hed Knowed Joe ba O Buddon, John Passina, Very John
• 4:52
  Speaker 9: Hassina and Subassin Mary Shan Hassina ips.
• 4:58
  Speaker 8: The song is called Hassen one of his breakout singles.
• 5:01
  Speaker 8: Right there, I feel like he's had a bunch of bees,
• 5:04
  Speaker 8: and every time that he has one of these big
• 5:06
  Speaker 8: breakout singles, he's just opening himself up to a whole
• 5:09
  Speaker 8: new echelon of an audience. That's certainly one of those
• 5:13
  Speaker 8: songs that started to break him out into the much
• 5:16
  Speaker 8: more wider market beyond the Punjabi market. I would say
• 5:20
  Speaker 8: one of our favorite artists here on this show, no doubt,
• 5:23
  Speaker 8: shout out to Dovender. Hevender, you have another superstar here
• 5:29
  Speaker 8: on this show whose name is A. P. Delon. On
• 5:33
  Speaker 8: this one, he collaborates with superstar Shrea Gosho.
• 5:39
  Speaker 13: Uggi hu la logu bussy layo logu busy maryad ok
• 6:13
  Speaker 13: when tas Marina Una Donna bandon, what's the luck with
• 6:20
  Speaker 13: John the cascade on good Ma and the ragi pu
• 6:35
  Speaker 13: laya logu bussi grate CAMAI get married?
• 6:44
  Speaker 12: So do Mary and.
• 6:46
  Speaker 13: Pull lay alogu bussi grate Caramaki do genero married?
• 6:56
  Speaker 11: John Hell do Bert?
• 7:02
  Speaker 8: How say.
• 7:05
  Speaker 14: Nika Honey, don't help Johnny and Johnny he cokay Johnny.
• 7:13
  Speaker 15: Head Then it's.
• 7:17
  Speaker 14: Dug really silence some shu ya, thank you.
• 7:35
  Speaker 12: Oh ye love them don Mary?
• 7:47
  Speaker 11: When they all love the doctor said.
• 8:13
  Speaker 8: He he's got Tarataria running around that music video there
• 8:20
  Speaker 8: Ah the song feature Shrea Go Show. The song is
• 8:22
  Speaker 8: called Tody c Don. Looking forward to this episode, folks,
• 8:27
  Speaker 8: we'll be joined by Doctor Roy after this song. As
• 8:30
  Speaker 8: I mentioned to you, Deep and Bush joining us from
• 8:32
  Speaker 8: American Bassy.
• 8:33
  Speaker 6: This is gonna be good.
• 8:35
  Speaker 16: Take a big up Bundy ticker, dig in deeper seven
• 8:37
  Speaker 16: figure k w dichin like it's a stick up pick up,
• 8:41
  Speaker 16: pick up a ship up be.
• 8:42
  Speaker 17: Fucked my shirt up mange diket but he thre sprangish.
• 8:45
  Speaker 6: My last bit of hair lash?
• 8:47
  Speaker 8: But has that Naka Mason have last?
• 8:49
  Speaker 18: But I had yeah hash, I had a cash stas
• 8:52
  Speaker 18: we can imagine if I had lax it with you
• 8:54
  Speaker 18: have black Okay, I clap the pretty laughed up in
• 8:56
  Speaker 18: the pick a pick up Appa calling Chippold had chip
• 9:00
  Speaker 18: on the mincheppellan, But I mean commerce game player killer
• 9:06
  Speaker 18: in the in the Sacred Fi ficker Jo made a.
• 9:10
  Speaker 17: Kid that jacky Pegger click and litter kick and quick
• 9:15
  Speaker 17: Can I click a pick up the trigger can pick
• 9:18
  Speaker 17: and panor but idp rapping back a life my time
• 9:23
  Speaker 17: jackman back at my hurricane.
• 9:26
  Speaker 16: Bet he got a back like two mad and wale
• 9:29
  Speaker 16: and big up thicker, dig in deeper seven figure come.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Heat W tension like it's a stake up pick pick
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: puppa calling the chipol all day, the chip on the
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: yan hippell in er, I mean big.
• 9:41
  Speaker 19: Bigger barb and dragon cutt tickets. Can't the man your cantus,
• 9:52
  Speaker 19: you man, It can't jack to.
• 9:55
  Speaker 6: Some of.
• 9:58
  Speaker 19: U previous bottles a gargle teacher, passive to come by
• 10:02
  Speaker 19: mans old school, paraf my from my EXE, the other
• 10:09
  Speaker 19: unto matters.
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: Like a poor from many car.
• 10:15
  Speaker 19: Many pass probably group with the turn but brigging by
• 10:21
  Speaker 19: the family times, family game and the clap clap clap
• 10:28
  Speaker 19: facts or my rod use just moves called.
• 10:34
  Speaker 11: You got some one nine work for that.
• 10:36
  Speaker 17: Get a big up ticket, dig and deep a seven
• 10:38
  Speaker 17: figure come heat W tension like it's a.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Stick up pick Papa calling cheerful all dnapellan.
• 10:46
  Speaker 17: But I mean we can pick up passive bach and
• 10:48
  Speaker 17: the sup my sht up manget ticket by those Spanish man.
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: Set up commer cup game killer in the in the ticket,
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: Oh you lose her as the featured artist on the
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: Sie DeMont track right there.
• 11:04
  Speaker 20: Pick up.
• 11:06
  Speaker 8: About a fun week on the show of course, as
• 11:08
  Speaker 8: you guys know, I don't think we've squeezed so many
• 11:10
  Speaker 8: interviews into a whole week's worth of episodes right here.
• 11:14
  Speaker 8: It's been very interesting to talk to everybody, and I've
• 11:17
  Speaker 8: had a lot of fun doing so. I hope you
• 11:19
  Speaker 8: guys have enjoyed the interaction that we've had with so
• 11:23
  Speaker 8: many stars across our space. And make sure that you
• 11:26
  Speaker 8: stand by here for deep and beush to culminate what
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: was a very fun week here covering and paying tribute
• 11:33
  Speaker 8: to American basy the twenty fifth anniversary. Folks, Let's bring
• 11:38
  Speaker 8: in our own Doctor Roy to this party. How are
• 11:40
  Speaker 8: you Doctor Roy?
• 11:41
  Speaker 21: Hey, guys, this is doctor Roy with Today's Word on
• 11:44
  Speaker 21: the Avenue. In film and TV News, filmmaker far Khan
• 11:48
  Speaker 21: has come out in strong support of Jafar Jackson, calling
• 11:51
  Speaker 21: for an Oscar worthy win for his portrayal of Michael Jackson.
• 11:55
  Speaker 21: Defending the biopic amid mixed reviews, she praised his performance
• 11:59
  Speaker 21: as a standout despite the criticism. In media news, Global
• 12:03
  Speaker 21: star Brianca Jobra Jonas is set to receive the prestigious
• 12:06
  Speaker 21: Global Vanguard Honor, recognizing her twenty five year career bridging
• 12:10
  Speaker 21: Asian Pacific and Western entertainment industries. The honor celebrates her
• 12:15
  Speaker 21: impact as a true cross cultural force shaping global storytelling
• 12:20
  Speaker 21: in event news. Rihanna's India visit evolved into more than
• 12:24
  Speaker 21: just a high profile appearance. It became a cultural and
• 12:26
  Speaker 21: business moment tied to the expansion of Fenti Beauty and
• 12:29
  Speaker 21: Sophora India under Reliance Industries. Beyond the glamour, her participation
• 12:34
  Speaker 21: in traditional rituals with the Ambani family reflected a unique
• 12:37
  Speaker 21: blend of global luxury, cultural exchange and soft power. That's
• 12:42
  Speaker 21: it for today's Word on the Avenue until next time.
• 12:44
  Speaker 8: Thank you so much, doctor Roy. Thank you very much
• 12:48
  Speaker 8: for the Word on the Avenue. This next song we're
• 12:52
  Speaker 8: going to play for you before we bring in deep
• 12:54
  Speaker 8: is ah I maybe the most popular song and American
• 13:01
  Speaker 8: radio history when it comes to Punjabi music. Is that
• 13:05
  Speaker 8: a good way to put it? Maybe one of the
• 13:07
  Speaker 8: most popular Punjabi songs of all time. It Spunjabi MC.
• 13:12
  Speaker 8: The song is called Mondna me have to.
• 13:16
  Speaker 22: Put the din bucket a kla happen live it. To
• 13:20
  Speaker 22: get a kilarn me have to put the din backet
• 13:27
  Speaker 22: a kila happen Live it to get a kula.
• 13:30
  Speaker 8: I'm a cardina. Canna sit there on a don want
• 13:32
  Speaker 8: be not to put together?
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: Do won't do that?
• 13:36
  Speaker 22: Togetherether they rugge zula, turn to lenina hogs sm lenandhore
• 14:12
  Speaker 22: they ruget zuura lenana hogs sm lenarda ho sarmiga. Can
• 14:18
  Speaker 22: you don't pud samak I can be your don't beny
• 14:21
  Speaker 22: puddiho mon on be at.
• 14:24
  Speaker 11: The put together?
• 14:25
  Speaker 6: Who?
• 14:26
  Speaker 5: Who?
• 14:26
  Speaker 11: How you not to put together?
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: Who?
• 14:29
  Speaker 12: Who knows?
• 14:30
  Speaker 11: Who you at to put together?
• 14:44
  Speaker 22: How did did you under the malda the lad like
• 14:47
  Speaker 22: hondadas at that you underta mada like holdad he is
• 14:58
  Speaker 22: a lord? Hold be told me the gun you thought?
• 15:01
  Speaker 22: Hold on you told me the guy you thought? Now
• 15:03
  Speaker 22: turn to day's sony going now it won't be at.
• 15:06
  Speaker 12: The put together?
• 15:07
  Speaker 8: Who who no how are you?
• 15:09
  Speaker 11: It won't be not to put together?
• 15:11
  Speaker 8: Who who now are they are hot? It won't be
• 15:13
  Speaker 8: not to put together?
• 15:35
  Speaker 22: Don't be at the honeyot a minute that don't put
• 15:45
  Speaker 22: on the the da to honey up a minute that
• 15:48
  Speaker 22: maybe ya sh and you.
• 15:50
  Speaker 12: At the hoya.
• 15:52
  Speaker 22: Then you at the hoyas at guiana who I won't
• 15:57
  Speaker 22: be at the put together who Who.
• 15:59
  Speaker 12: How are you?
• 16:10
  Speaker 8: Punjab BMC, munde At and folks. My next guest here
• 16:16
  Speaker 8: was an American Dacy from day one, an MIT political
• 16:21
  Speaker 8: science brad who was working on Wall Street when he
• 16:24
  Speaker 8: co produced and starred as Krishna Already in the film
• 16:27
  Speaker 8: that Defined a generation. He went on to play the
• 16:31
  Speaker 8: villain Victram and Bombay Dreams on Broadway, executive produced Hiding Divian.
• 16:36
  Speaker 8: Today is a senior VP at the Related Companies in
• 16:39
  Speaker 8: New York City, actor, producer and executive in the heart
• 16:43
  Speaker 8: of American Dacy. Let's welcome Deep Kadari to the show.
• 16:48
  Speaker 8: Well stop, Deep, how are you today?
• 16:51
  Speaker 11: I'm doing well.
• 16:52
  Speaker 10: Thank you so much for inviting me to this program.
• 16:55
  Speaker 8: We've been having a lot of fun all week long.
• 16:58
  Speaker 8: We've been talking to the entire cast and we're culminating
• 17:03
  Speaker 8: it with you and get with but used today on
• 17:06
  Speaker 8: a Thursday edition of this week long honor that we've
• 17:09
  Speaker 8: done to the American Dacy film. Listen, you quite literally
• 17:14
  Speaker 8: are the American Bacy and it's been twenty five years
• 17:17
  Speaker 8: since this film has come out. Tell us your thoughts
• 17:21
  Speaker 8: around this man.
• 17:24
  Speaker 10: Wow, Well, look, it was an amazing experience to be
• 17:29
  Speaker 10: part of I think when we started on this journey
• 17:34
  Speaker 10: twenty five years ago, I was very much an American dacy.
• 17:40
  Speaker 10: I learned a lot about our culture was let's call it,
• 17:45
  Speaker 10: the Indian culture, as a product of working on the
• 17:49
  Speaker 10: film and working with all the fine actors and crew members.
• 17:54
  Speaker 10: And I think, you know, as I look back on it,
• 17:57
  Speaker 10: I look back recently saw the film, and I look
• 18:00
  Speaker 10: back at myself from back then, and I feel like
• 18:03
  Speaker 10: I've grown quite a bit as a result of having
• 18:07
  Speaker 10: made this movie and making all the connections that I
• 18:10
  Speaker 10: made with the Indian community in America the Indian community abroad.
• 18:16
  Speaker 10: I just feel like, not only was this an amazing
• 18:21
  Speaker 10: artistic experience for me, but it was really an amazing
• 18:25
  Speaker 10: growth opportunity for me as well as a person.
• 18:28
  Speaker 8: Right, that's incredible. Thanks for sharing that. By the way,
• 18:32
  Speaker 8: Let's go back to that moment. You know, you're working
• 18:36
  Speaker 8: at Wall Street and you are now thinking about doing
• 18:40
  Speaker 8: this film. You start to conceptualize things, You start working
• 18:45
  Speaker 8: with Purush on the actual project itself, raising the money.
• 18:50
  Speaker 8: What makes you take a leap of faith from your
• 18:52
  Speaker 8: day job to go pursue playing a second generation American dacy?
• 18:59
  Speaker 10: Yeah, sure, you know I was working in a finance
• 19:03
  Speaker 10: job at the time. That being said, I had my
• 19:08
  Speaker 10: real passion was to be an actor and to work
• 19:12
  Speaker 10: in entertainment. So though I had a background in finance
• 19:16
  Speaker 10: and was working at a bank at the time, I
• 19:18
  Speaker 10: always had aspirations of getting out of that workplace and
• 19:24
  Speaker 10: transitioning into entertainment. So, you know, I've known Puche for
• 19:29
  Speaker 10: several years, and when he approached me with the script
• 19:33
  Speaker 10: for American Dacy and described to me the character and
• 19:37
  Speaker 10: how he thought I would fit into it, I jumped
• 19:42
  Speaker 10: at the opportunity. I was already looking for some way
• 19:46
  Speaker 10: to transition into the entertainment business. And you know, back then,
• 19:52
  Speaker 10: for folks who may remember what the world looked like
• 19:55
  Speaker 10: pet then there were South Asians in the entertainment business,
• 20:01
  Speaker 10: but there were not that many, right right, And those
• 20:05
  Speaker 10: of us who were in it were competing for precious
• 20:08
  Speaker 10: few roles, and those few roles, in many cases were
• 20:15
  Speaker 10: not really meaningful media roles. They were you know what
• 20:19
  Speaker 10: we call under fives under five lines on television, or
• 20:24
  Speaker 10: you know, really ancillary roles taxicab drivers, that's sort of
• 20:29
  Speaker 10: a news stand owners. And there really wasn't not that
• 20:32
  Speaker 10: not that those roles aren't meaningful, but they were not
• 20:34
  Speaker 10: written to be meaningful at the time. And so this
• 20:38
  Speaker 10: script came along and I thought, Wow, Okay, look, why
• 20:41
  Speaker 10: don't we take this opportunity. Why don't I take this
• 20:45
  Speaker 10: opportunity to sort of show what I can do to
• 20:51
  Speaker 10: the rest of the world, because I'm not going to
• 20:53
  Speaker 10: be able to do it with the roles that are
• 20:55
  Speaker 10: being offered to me otherwise. So this could be a
• 20:59
  Speaker 10: great opportunity to sort of show myself off and also
• 21:04
  Speaker 10: connect with a community that I really hadn't connected with.
• 21:08
  Speaker 10: And what was really amazing, by the way, is that
• 21:12
  Speaker 10: I was also brought on as a producer, and I
• 21:17
  Speaker 10: had the distinct opportunity of being part of the casting
• 21:20
  Speaker 10: of the film. And many of the folks that you
• 21:23
  Speaker 10: see in the film were folks that I had met
• 21:27
  Speaker 10: or come across at auditions or in theater.
• 21:32
  Speaker 6: And things like that.
• 21:32
  Speaker 10: So it was a great opportunity for all of us
• 21:35
  Speaker 10: to work together.
• 21:36
  Speaker 8: Yeah, so listen, you played, you wore so many hats
• 21:41
  Speaker 8: in this project. You're, of course the lead actor, but
• 21:44
  Speaker 8: then you play the role of a producer, and that
• 21:47
  Speaker 8: in its own thing, is its own job in a
• 21:51
  Speaker 8: project and you manage both of these jobs together very well,
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: by the way, and you know, giving advice to the
• 21:58
  Speaker 8: kids out there right now, you know, what is it
• 22:00
  Speaker 8: that you would tell them that it really takes to
• 22:02
  Speaker 8: get a film across the finish line.
• 22:06
  Speaker 10: Wow, that's a loaded question. There's a lot of there's
• 22:10
  Speaker 10: a lot of components. First of all, you start off
• 22:16
  Speaker 10: with an idea, and you have to sell that idea
• 22:20
  Speaker 10: to a bunch of folks, many times who are not
• 22:23
  Speaker 10: in the entertainment business, who are just investors who want
• 22:28
  Speaker 10: you to present the idea to them in a traditional
• 22:31
  Speaker 10: investment you know, vehicle or package, and you know, in
• 22:37
  Speaker 10: the form of an offering them random or something that
• 22:39
  Speaker 10: they can understand. And I think, at least back then,
• 22:42
  Speaker 10: and I don't know exactly what it's like today, but
• 22:44
  Speaker 10: back then it have a little bit of a competitive
• 22:46
  Speaker 10: advantage over other producers executive producers who are out pitching
• 22:51
  Speaker 10: their projects to investors, because I in my day job
• 22:57
  Speaker 10: was putting together investor materials and I kind of do
• 23:00
  Speaker 10: what people who financed things in general look for. And
• 23:06
  Speaker 10: so we had a group of investors on the film
• 23:09
  Speaker 10: that were sort of family and friends, and they weren't
• 23:11
  Speaker 10: really looking for anything. They were looking to support, which
• 23:13
  Speaker 10: was amazing. But then we also had a group of
• 23:17
  Speaker 10: investors that I brought in that were finance guys, and
• 23:21
  Speaker 10: they had looked at movie projects before, but no one
• 23:25
  Speaker 10: was able to put those projects to them in a
• 23:28
  Speaker 10: form that they understood and demonstrate that there could be
• 23:31
  Speaker 10: a potential return of that their investment, that they were
• 23:34
  Speaker 10: ancillary benefits to doing this right. And so that was
• 23:38
  Speaker 10: the first hurdle, and I think we did really well there.
• 23:42
  Speaker 10: I think the other major hurdle to getting the film done,
• 23:45
  Speaker 10: and that you don't realize as an actor or producer,
• 23:49
  Speaker 10: is you can go raise the money, you could write
• 23:52
  Speaker 10: the script, you could find the amazing cast, you could
• 23:56
  Speaker 10: shoot the film, you could stay within budgets, and all
• 23:59
  Speaker 10: of that still leaves you with the job of marketing
• 24:03
  Speaker 10: your movie, because if people aren't told about the movie
• 24:08
  Speaker 10: in the right way, they won't go see it. And
• 24:11
  Speaker 10: for us at that time, we were very lucky to
• 24:14
  Speaker 10: have Caitech Pandia on board, who was very familiar with
• 24:18
  Speaker 10: how to go out and market films and had connections
• 24:21
  Speaker 10: with the major studios in Hollywood. But that was really
• 24:24
  Speaker 10: where it was a massive education for me, realizing that
• 24:28
  Speaker 10: you could do all the right things and make an
• 24:30
  Speaker 10: amazing movie, but if it's not marketed, well, nobody goes
• 24:33
  Speaker 10: to see it. And that was a big challenge that
• 24:36
  Speaker 10: we were able to overcome because of Caitetion's expertise.
• 24:38
  Speaker 8: Oh that's incredible, you know, as you know deep all
• 24:41
  Speaker 8: these projects of this nature, you know, especially when you're
• 24:45
  Speaker 8: starting out like most of us were on this project.
• 24:49
  Speaker 8: It took this kind of concerted effort of everybody pulling
• 24:54
  Speaker 8: in their resources, and I think with a team like
• 24:56
  Speaker 8: you guys had there around the film, it was almost
• 24:58
  Speaker 8: like a perfect combination of individuals, you know, looking at
• 25:03
  Speaker 8: the range of things you've done in your career, you know,
• 25:07
  Speaker 8: of course not only in your current capacity and what
• 25:09
  Speaker 8: you're doing in your life now, but taking the start
• 25:13
  Speaker 8: that you had with American Dacy in terms of the
• 25:16
  Speaker 8: on screen start that you had there, and then you
• 25:18
  Speaker 8: were able to kind of take this kind of character
• 25:21
  Speaker 8: that you're playing on American Dacy and like flip it
• 25:23
  Speaker 8: into like a villain on Bombay Dreams, which is like
• 25:27
  Speaker 8: a totally different thing. You know, tell us about that.
• 25:30
  Speaker 8: How was that transition?
• 25:33
  Speaker 10: Yeah, you know, the one thing that I really kind
• 25:36
  Speaker 10: of learned through the American Daisy experience that helped me
• 25:40
  Speaker 10: as an actor was I learned through the casting process
• 25:46
  Speaker 10: that the folks on the other side of the table,
• 25:50
  Speaker 10: the casting directors, the producers, the directors, when you walk
• 25:54
  Speaker 10: into a room the audition for a part, they want
• 25:58
  Speaker 10: nothing more than you to do well. They want to
• 26:02
  Speaker 10: stop the audition process. They want to say, we found
• 26:05
  Speaker 10: our guy, we found our gals. You know, they want
• 26:08
  Speaker 10: to find that person on the first audition that would
• 26:12
  Speaker 10: be ideal because then they can move on to the
• 26:14
  Speaker 10: making of it. And having been through that, you know,
• 26:18
  Speaker 10: strenuous casting process for American Daisy. I realized afterwards as
• 26:25
  Speaker 10: I started to pursue my acting career for the years
• 26:27
  Speaker 10: that I did that, hey, you know, don't walk into
• 26:31
  Speaker 10: a room and feel nervous as much. I mean, you
• 26:34
  Speaker 10: always have, you know, the butterflies and the stomach and
• 26:37
  Speaker 10: you really want heart see if there's nerves, but recognize
• 26:40
  Speaker 10: that people have already made a decision based on your resume,
• 26:44
  Speaker 10: your headshot and whatnot, that you could be right for
• 26:47
  Speaker 10: this role. They want nothing more for it than for
• 26:50
  Speaker 10: you to be right for the role. So go in
• 26:53
  Speaker 10: there and be right for the role and have the
• 26:54
  Speaker 10: confidence that you know, if you do well, you will
• 26:58
  Speaker 10: get the role. And that's something that they don't teach
• 27:01
  Speaker 10: you in acting school. A lot of folks don't really
• 27:05
  Speaker 10: relate to you, but you do, or I certainly did
• 27:08
  Speaker 10: learn that from being on the other side of that
• 27:10
  Speaker 10: of the acting table.
• 27:12
  Speaker 8: That's great practical advice. Nobody wants that process to go
• 27:15
  Speaker 8: on longer than it really needs to, so that's great
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: advice right there.
• 27:18
  Speaker 6: Deep.
• 27:19
  Speaker 8: For sure, a lot of young filmmakers out there, and
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: they may have maybe some more resources than we once
• 27:27
  Speaker 8: did at one point. But you know, as you look
• 27:30
  Speaker 8: at filmmakers out there right now and you see them
• 27:33
  Speaker 8: doing their thing, and if somebody comes up to you
• 27:36
  Speaker 8: now and they say, you know, Deep, I have you know,
• 27:38
  Speaker 8: the same budget. Let's just say that you guys had
• 27:40
  Speaker 8: back in the day and I'm about to go make
• 27:42
  Speaker 8: a film. What advice would you give them? How would
• 27:46
  Speaker 8: you you know, how would you have them navigate things
• 27:48
  Speaker 8: out there?
• 27:50
  Speaker 10: Well, the first thing I would say to them is
• 27:54
  Speaker 10: follow your dream, go for it, be persistent, don't give up,
• 27:59
  Speaker 10: make it okay, don't take no for an answer, figure
• 28:03
  Speaker 10: it out right that that would be the first level
• 28:05
  Speaker 10: advice that I would give, because I think it's important
• 28:09
  Speaker 10: for every one of us, filmmaker or not, in whatever
• 28:13
  Speaker 10: artistic mediums that we express ourselves in. It's important for
• 28:16
  Speaker 10: us to express ourselves. It's critical. And what we don't
• 28:20
  Speaker 10: realize oftentimes is by expressing ourselves in a medium like
• 28:23
  Speaker 10: film or television that's watched by other people, that can
• 28:30
  Speaker 10: really impact change and help other people and their lives.
• 28:34
  Speaker 10: And so many stories that I heard from people that
• 28:37
  Speaker 10: candidly surprised me after we made American Nacy, of people
• 28:40
  Speaker 10: saying like, wow, it was so great to see you
• 28:43
  Speaker 10: and on the screen going through some of the things
• 28:45
  Speaker 10: that I went through. This helped me get through college,
• 28:47
  Speaker 10: you know that kind of thing. So I'm very encouraging
• 28:50
  Speaker 10: of any artist out there who wants to pursue their dream.
• 28:53
  Speaker 10: I would say, go for it. The the you know,
• 28:57
  Speaker 10: the caveat em for the buyer beware piece that me
• 29:00
  Speaker 10: would say, you know, just be very careful that you
• 29:05
  Speaker 10: associate yourself with the right people, right because at the
• 29:09
  Speaker 10: end of the day, you don't want to be taken
• 29:12
  Speaker 10: for a ride. You don't want your product to be
• 29:16
  Speaker 10: compromised in some way that it becomes something that you
• 29:19
  Speaker 10: didn't want it to be. So surround yourself with people
• 29:22
  Speaker 10: that you trust, who share your artistic vision, who are talented,
• 29:27
  Speaker 10: and don't settle for anything less. It's very important, and
• 29:31
  Speaker 10: you know, today, in today's day and age, I think
• 29:35
  Speaker 10: in many ways, not always, but in many ways, filmmaking
• 29:38
  Speaker 10: has become a little easier from the medium standpoint. You know,
• 29:42
  Speaker 10: when we made American Day, See, we had a thirty
• 29:45
  Speaker 10: five millimeter camera, okay, and we had a limited amount
• 29:48
  Speaker 10: of take because the film costs a lot of money.
• 29:52
  Speaker 10: Today people are making films on their iPhone and they're
• 29:56
  Speaker 10: really high gralic. So in some ways the access to
• 30:00
  Speaker 10: filmmaking is better, I guess, in some ways than it was.
• 30:06
  Speaker 10: So I think it becomes doubly important that when you
• 30:09
  Speaker 10: have access to those resources, that you make sure that
• 30:12
  Speaker 10: you surround yourself with people that share the same vision,
• 30:16
  Speaker 10: that are creative, that are talented, so that you ultimately
• 30:19
  Speaker 10: end up with the best product.
• 30:20
  Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, well put deep. First of all, thank you
• 30:25
  Speaker 8: so much for joining us today. It's been an absolute
• 30:28
  Speaker 8: delight talking to you from not only the perspective of
• 30:31
  Speaker 8: the lead actor. You know that is embedded in all
• 30:35
  Speaker 8: of our memories here from this film, but also giving
• 30:38
  Speaker 8: us that producer perspective on this.
• 30:40
  Speaker 10: Thank you so much for this Deep Absolutely, it's been
• 30:43
  Speaker 10: my pleasure.
• 30:45
  Speaker 8: Awesome Deep thanks so much. Stand by everybody. We'll be
• 30:48
  Speaker 8: right back with Pyush Pandia.
• 31:05
  Speaker 23: Kamata. That thing hand game, very bad teenage and talk
• 31:14
  Speaker 23: about it.
• 31:18
  Speaker 12: It's something.
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: I don't.
• 31:32
  Speaker 8: I don't think.
• 31:41
  Speaker 23: Kim Riaa that thing, Hannah Gamy, but teenage and Gamm.
• 31:54
  Speaker 12: It's something.
• 32:00
  Speaker 4: Infes. Yeah, I'm worry about that for some job. I'm
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: marry that that.
• 32:37
  Speaker 12: What's what's going you that have?
• 32:41
  Speaker 11: What's Charlie child?
• 32:52
  Speaker 12: Yeah?
• 32:53
  Speaker 11: Mayas don't.
• 32:59
  Speaker 10: I am.
• 33:04
  Speaker 12: Against fun?
• 33:26
  Speaker 11: Uh Yeah.
• 33:47
  Speaker 8: Before we bring in our next guest, I just want
• 33:49
  Speaker 8: to be clear about something. I was looking up a
• 33:51
  Speaker 8: huish bonding on the internet and I came across an
• 33:54
  Speaker 8: I T specialist who I'm sure was a really swell
• 33:56
  Speaker 8: guy by the way, but he's not the topic of
• 33:58
  Speaker 8: our discussion today. Who we're talking about today is the
• 34:02
  Speaker 8: director writer himself, Bush Dinker Pondia, and a little bit
• 34:07
  Speaker 8: about him before I bring him in. He was born
• 34:09
  Speaker 8: in Fultan, Maharashtra, raised on Long Island, a Rutgers computer
• 34:13
  Speaker 8: science grad who studied filmmaking at NYU and decided to
• 34:17
  Speaker 8: bet everything on a story that nobody in Hollywood was
• 34:20
  Speaker 8: even asking for. He wrote it, he directed it, he
• 34:24
  Speaker 8: self funded it alongside his brother Getish, and twenty five
• 34:27
  Speaker 8: years ago he gave us American Dacy, the film that
• 34:31
  Speaker 8: launched the generation of South Asian American actors and a
• 34:34
  Speaker 8: genre that probably didn't exist before he picked up the camera.
• 34:37
  Speaker 8: And just so we're crystal clear, the film itself has
• 34:42
  Speaker 8: become really a cult classic in our space. It's time
• 34:47
  Speaker 8: for us to introduce Buchdnker Pondia to the show. What's up, Busch?
• 34:51
  Speaker 8: How are you today?
• 34:52
  Speaker 5: I'm doing good, Jammy, how are you?
• 34:56
  Speaker 8: First of all, I wanted to stop you and thank
• 34:58
  Speaker 8: you very much for you know, allowing me to have
• 35:01
  Speaker 8: so much fun on this show all week long, helping
• 35:04
  Speaker 8: me and conspiring with me to put all of these
• 35:07
  Speaker 8: folks together all week.
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: Thank you, Busch.
• 35:10
  Speaker 8: It was great, And I wanted to first of all
• 35:12
  Speaker 8: congratulate you on twenty five years of clearly what has
• 35:17
  Speaker 8: been an amazing film in our scene.
• 35:20
  Speaker 6: Well, thank you, thank you, Sammy. I mean, I'm I'm
• 35:23
  Speaker 6: glad you did this.
• 35:23
  Speaker 5: I'm very appreciative. You know, this is this twenty five
• 35:26
  Speaker 5: year so I thought, you know, we should definitely celebrate
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: all the work and all these guys did, the actors,
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: the crew, and you know, to me, it's just about
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: celebrating what we did in the fans. So and I
• 35:38
  Speaker 5: really appreciate you, you know, giving us this platform and
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: time and celebrating with us because you are part of
• 35:43
  Speaker 5: the American Dacy family.
• 35:44
  Speaker 8: For sure. Certainly got to feel like it this week, indeed,
• 35:48
  Speaker 8: and it was great to talk to everybody now twenty five.
• 35:52
  Speaker 8: I've kind of started off every interview this week by
• 35:55
  Speaker 8: kind of throwing this at everyone, which is twenty five
• 35:58
  Speaker 8: years buch. How does it feel?
• 36:02
  Speaker 5: It's I mean, it's it's great to reach a milestone
• 36:06
  Speaker 5: like this, you know, whether it's a birthday or a
• 36:07
  Speaker 5: wedding anniversary or a movie anniversary. You know, twenty five
• 36:10
  Speaker 5: is it's a milestone, and it's you know, it's amazing.
• 36:14
  Speaker 6: You know, it's been a great ride.
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: I mean twenty four years ago, we had a great
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: time when the movie came out. The reception was amazing.
• 36:22
  Speaker 5: We got to travel the world.
• 36:23
  Speaker 6: To show it, you know, in the UK and India
• 36:25
  Speaker 6: and Australia, and you know it was it was an
• 36:27
  Speaker 6: amazing ride.
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: And even you know, a couple of weeks ago we
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: had the reunion screening of you know, we had it
• 36:33
  Speaker 5: converted to four K digital because nobody has projectors anymore,
• 36:37
  Speaker 5: and my reels were useless. But even when people came
• 36:41
  Speaker 5: out and there were a laughs and there's a lot
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: of love. So I'm just grateful and just overwhelmed.
• 36:48
  Speaker 8: Let's let's go back to the genesis of this thing.
• 36:50
  Speaker 8: You know, you're sitting with a as people remember it
• 36:54
  Speaker 8: to be. Before the year two thousand. It was candlelight
• 36:57
  Speaker 8: and pencil and paper and nothing else. So you were
• 37:00
  Speaker 8: left at your own devices here of coming up with
• 37:03
  Speaker 8: this film. And take us to that moment when you
• 37:07
  Speaker 8: start scribbling a bunch of South Asian names down on
• 37:09
  Speaker 8: the piece of paper and saying, yes, this is the story.
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I mean the film is loosely autobiographical.
• 37:19
  Speaker 6: You know, my real life was a lot more boring
• 37:20
  Speaker 6: than this.
• 37:21
  Speaker 5: But you know, in screenwriting class they tell you to
• 37:24
  Speaker 5: use you know, elements of your life or things.
• 37:26
  Speaker 6: You know very well.
• 37:27
  Speaker 5: And you know, this was an experience that I had
• 37:30
  Speaker 5: recently gone through. I grew up in Long Island in
• 37:32
  Speaker 5: the seventies and eighties, and there were really no Indians
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: out there. I like to joke, you know, between kindergarten
• 37:39
  Speaker 5: of twelfth grade there were only two Indians in our
• 37:41
  Speaker 5: school and that was me and my brother. And then
• 37:45
  Speaker 5: I ended up going to Wretcord University in a computer
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: science major, which is a pretty high South Asian population, right,
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: So I was kind of that fish out of water,
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: exposed to culture that was a lot very quickly, and
• 38:01
  Speaker 5: so I just kind of drew on that as as
• 38:03
  Speaker 5: my experience and just writing because I lived it.
• 38:07
  Speaker 8: Yeah, what what compelled you to go throw down a
• 38:11
  Speaker 8: quarter of a million dollars on a dream like this?
• 38:13
  Speaker 8: At that time? That was quite a bit.
• 38:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I mean, okay, So my love of music
• 38:21
  Speaker 5: and movies comes from my father. You know, he was
• 38:24
  Speaker 5: a very big you know, he instilled that in me.
• 38:27
  Speaker 5: You tell me stories about going to see.
• 38:30
  Speaker 6: Movies during his college days and.
• 38:33
  Speaker 5: And it trickled down to me, and I know, I
• 38:35
  Speaker 5: love music and I love movies. And at the time,
• 38:38
  Speaker 5: you know, I didn't really see our representation. Yeah it
• 38:42
  Speaker 5: was it was not there, and I wanted to see it,
• 38:45
  Speaker 5: and one day I saw this movie house party who
• 38:49
  Speaker 5: didn't play and it was an amazing you know, the
• 38:53
  Speaker 5: funny movie, a lot of great music, and it gave
• 38:56
  Speaker 5: me a window into a world I had no access to.
• 38:59
  Speaker 5: And I said, I want to do something like this.
• 39:01
  Speaker 5: I want to give people a view into a world
• 39:04
  Speaker 5: that they may not have access to. And that's our world.
• 39:07
  Speaker 5: And you know, I was fortunate enough. You know, my
• 39:09
  Speaker 5: brother was also into the entertainment business, marketing, and all
• 39:13
  Speaker 5: that was over, yes, yep.
• 39:17
  Speaker 6: And and and I met Deep.
• 39:22
  Speaker 5: And he was pursuing acting, and you know, three of
• 39:24
  Speaker 5: us came really good friends, and we're talking all the
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: time and meeting and I said, you know, all three
• 39:28
  Speaker 5: of us are trying to climb up different ladders.
• 39:31
  Speaker 6: It's going to take us.
• 39:32
  Speaker 5: We will be old men by the time we get
• 39:33
  Speaker 5: on the top. So why don't we just pool our
• 39:36
  Speaker 5: resources and just focus our energies on one project. And
• 39:41
  Speaker 5: that's what led to this film, was this is the
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: story I'd written. And you know, Deep was obviously perfect
• 39:45
  Speaker 5: for the role. He had a very similar upbringing that
• 39:48
  Speaker 5: I did, so you understood the character I had written,
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: and obviously added his experiences to it. To really, you know,
• 39:54
  Speaker 5: make make character come alive.
• 39:57
  Speaker 6: And we just worked together.
• 39:59
  Speaker 5: You know, we found these actors and we found crew,
• 40:02
  Speaker 5: raised money from friends and family. I mean they were investors,
• 40:06
  Speaker 5: but really they were donators because nobody expected money back.
• 40:09
  Speaker 8: Sure, sure, but you know, you just touched on this.
• 40:15
  Speaker 8: You put together a room full of actors, let's just say.
• 40:20
  Speaker 8: And you know at the time, these were you know,
• 40:24
  Speaker 8: extremely talented folks in their moment and were clearly great
• 40:29
  Speaker 8: fits for your objective here. But at what point did
• 40:33
  Speaker 8: you look around and say, wow, this is a really
• 40:36
  Speaker 8: great group of people. And not to say that you
• 40:39
  Speaker 8: sat back and say they're going to go on and
• 40:41
  Speaker 8: do wonderful things. You know, no one could quite you know,
• 40:44
  Speaker 8: suggest such a thought. But was there ever a moment
• 40:47
  Speaker 8: when you looked around and say, wow, this is kind
• 40:49
  Speaker 8: of special here.
• 40:50
  Speaker 6: Who we have absolutely?
• 40:53
  Speaker 5: I mean, I mean you've seen that the actors that
• 40:56
  Speaker 5: were cast, but there were many many good South Asian
• 40:59
  Speaker 5: actors in audition, and I was overwhelmed. I didn't expect
• 41:04
  Speaker 5: this much response that, wow, there are this many good
• 41:07
  Speaker 5: talented actors out there, and you know, we should be
• 41:11
  Speaker 5: making more films.
• 41:12
  Speaker 6: And you know, I like to think I got the
• 41:13
  Speaker 6: cream of the crop.
• 41:14
  Speaker 5: Yeah, but there's you know, there's a lot of talent
• 41:17
  Speaker 5: out there, and then nowadays there's exponentially more than what
• 41:20
  Speaker 5: we had nineteen ninety nine, right right, You know, this.
• 41:24
  Speaker 8: Is I remember this film at the time being one
• 41:28
  Speaker 8: of the first few films that came from our community
• 41:31
  Speaker 8: like this but then got the attention of mainstream media.
• 41:34
  Speaker 8: And that had a lot to do with, of course,
• 41:36
  Speaker 8: the resources of as you said, the three of you
• 41:39
  Speaker 8: guys pulling together all of these wonderful resources. Of course
• 41:42
  Speaker 8: Gates being such an important figure in this as well.
• 41:46
  Speaker 8: You know, I remember there was a time when Variety
• 41:50
  Speaker 8: magazine in two thousand and one had some words about
• 41:53
  Speaker 8: the film and called the journist let's just say, you know,
• 41:56
  Speaker 8: you know, twenty five years later, you you I'd like
• 41:59
  Speaker 8: to say, you've proved them wrong. And in the sense
• 42:01
  Speaker 8: that the community has really kind of galvanized around what
• 42:06
  Speaker 8: this film was. What are your thoughts on that? What
• 42:09
  Speaker 8: were your thoughts like as far as some of the
• 42:11
  Speaker 8: gatekeepers that were there back then and now having you
• 42:15
  Speaker 8: you know, gone through this story of twenty five years
• 42:17
  Speaker 8: of this film being framed as a very successful film,
• 42:21
  Speaker 8: do you ever reflect back on that time and say, wow,
• 42:23
  Speaker 8: we did get resistance. We did get people that were.
• 42:26
  Speaker 6: Like, what is this?
• 42:28
  Speaker 5: Oh yeah, I mean the first resistance I got when
• 42:31
  Speaker 5: I showed the script to people like why don't you
• 42:33
  Speaker 5: just make to the book? Yeah, I'm like, well, I'm
• 42:35
  Speaker 5: not a novelist, right right, I kind of my My
• 42:40
  Speaker 5: love is in film cinema. So that's the only thing
• 42:43
  Speaker 5: I can think of it. I can't think of it
• 42:44
  Speaker 5: as a short film. I can't think it was a book,
• 42:46
  Speaker 5: or we didn't have podcasts back then, but that's really
• 42:51
  Speaker 5: my one focus was a film. And even after we
• 42:55
  Speaker 5: made it, you know, we actually, you know, with help
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: my brother who had connections in Hollywood, you know, we
• 43:01
  Speaker 5: showed it to every studio, Paramount, Warner Brothers, dream Works.
• 43:06
  Speaker 5: I mean, we got up really high and we're able
• 43:09
  Speaker 5: to at least show the film to people, decision makers.
• 43:12
  Speaker 5: But this was nineteen ninety nine, and they.
• 43:15
  Speaker 6: All love the film.
• 43:16
  Speaker 5: It's it's a cute story, it's a funny story. We
• 43:19
  Speaker 5: don't know how to make money off this, and it's
• 43:21
  Speaker 5: a business, you know, it's not just art.
• 43:23
  Speaker 6: It is a business.
• 43:24
  Speaker 5: And I don't fault though for that back then, Yeah,
• 43:27
  Speaker 5: nothing like this hadn't made, so we kind of understood.
• 43:30
  Speaker 6: We were kind of bummed out. But and then you know,
• 43:33
  Speaker 6: we went and showed it.
• 43:35
  Speaker 5: You know, the Eros Bollywood distributor took a chance on us, right,
• 43:40
  Speaker 5: he said, you know, I'm going to put you in
• 43:41
  Speaker 5: forty screens simultaneously around the US and Canada. And we're like,
• 43:46
  Speaker 5: whoa really yeah and I and then as they say,
• 43:51
  Speaker 5: the rest of history was they kind of get that
• 43:53
  Speaker 5: ball rolling.
• 43:55
  Speaker 8: The film comes out, it's certainly.
• 44:00
  Speaker 6: On you look back.
• 44:03
  Speaker 8: Do you ever take a step back and maybe try
• 44:07
  Speaker 8: to contextualize your film as perhaps the beginning of a
• 44:10
  Speaker 8: new genre? A lot of films came out afterwards, and
• 44:14
  Speaker 8: that kind of you know, maybe describe this condition in
• 44:18
  Speaker 8: one way, shape or form. There was a handful of
• 44:20
  Speaker 8: movies that came out right around that time afterwards. Yeah,
• 44:25
  Speaker 8: do you do you ever feel like this was the
• 44:28
  Speaker 8: beginning of a genre that may even persist even till this.
• 44:31
  Speaker 5: Day, Absolutely, absolut I mean, I know there's a bunch
• 44:36
  Speaker 5: of films were I would like to think all of
• 44:37
  Speaker 5: us kind of were having the same ideas and putting
• 44:41
  Speaker 5: our ideas into motion.
• 44:43
  Speaker 6: Of thame time and I.
• 44:45
  Speaker 5: Think there's a huge, huge opportunity for this genre. There's
• 44:48
  Speaker 5: so many good stories that can be told like this,
• 44:51
  Speaker 5: and it's just and it's tough. It's very tough to
• 44:54
  Speaker 5: have money for a film to get made properly. But yeah,
• 45:00
  Speaker 5: I mean, I think the potential is huge. And now
• 45:02
  Speaker 5: we have you know, streaming platforms and you know, distributions
• 45:06
  Speaker 5: can be global. We were just lucky to be playing
• 45:08
  Speaker 5: one theater in America, but the opportunities are there, and
• 45:12
  Speaker 5: I think, you know, if we can continue it, I mean,
• 45:17
  Speaker 5: we could be a really major force in cinema here
• 45:20
  Speaker 5: and around the world.
• 45:21
  Speaker 8: Yeah, Beautsha, I wanted to ask a question on behalf
• 45:27
  Speaker 8: of the audience. It's you know, you make this film
• 45:33
  Speaker 8: and then you step away to never make another one.
• 45:36
  Speaker 8: Have you ever thought about American they see too? Or
• 45:39
  Speaker 8: did you ever think about doing something else?
• 45:40
  Speaker 10: Ever?
• 45:40
  Speaker 8: At any point?
• 45:43
  Speaker 6: Absolutely?
• 45:43
  Speaker 5: I mean I wanted to make this a career. I mean,
• 45:46
  Speaker 5: I didn't do one film just for the sake of
• 45:48
  Speaker 5: doing one film, but as I said, to raise money
• 45:51
  Speaker 5: and to make real money. I mean, this was made
• 45:53
  Speaker 5: on a very shoe string budget. Literally nobody got paid
• 45:56
  Speaker 5: anything for like buying film and renting cameras and just
• 45:59
  Speaker 5: the bare bones and minimum. I didn't want to keep
• 46:03
  Speaker 5: doing that unless I win the power Ball. But yeah,
• 46:07
  Speaker 5: to make things on a on a reasonable budget, a
• 46:09
  Speaker 5: decent budget, you know, even to dare to dream to
• 46:11
  Speaker 5: do something amazing costs money. And you know at the time,
• 46:16
  Speaker 5: and it's been hard to raise money for that. Yeah,
• 46:20
  Speaker 5: I think people still look at it as a wrist
• 46:22
  Speaker 5: even though you know, we proved we could make money.
• 46:26
  Speaker 5: I'm hoping it will change. I think we need kind
• 46:28
  Speaker 5: of an angel. Uh, you know, I can in tech
• 46:32
  Speaker 5: industry we have the angel investor and someone who believes
• 46:34
  Speaker 5: in like backing good quality product because I think that's
• 46:39
  Speaker 5: what that'll take us to the next level.
• 46:41
  Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, we we we hope that we're inspiring
• 46:45
  Speaker 8: some young person out there or someone out there to
• 46:49
  Speaker 8: go take some sort of executive roles somewhere and open
• 46:52
  Speaker 8: up but genuinely open up the flood doors for the
• 46:54
  Speaker 8: for the entire community. You know, which which which begs
• 46:57
  Speaker 8: the question you if you were to make American? They
• 47:00
  Speaker 8: see two right now, what's different? What's different in the
• 47:03
  Speaker 8: second one?
• 47:06
  Speaker 5: Well, I mean I have to say I actually wrote
• 47:09
  Speaker 5: a sequel twenty three years ago. Oh okay, I mean
• 47:14
  Speaker 5: right off that I kind of get the juices were flowing.
• 47:17
  Speaker 5: So I did write something, but you know you would
• 47:20
  Speaker 5: have probably it would have to be updated because.
• 47:23
  Speaker 6: The times have changed in twenty three years. But I
• 47:27
  Speaker 6: think you know, a good story is a good story
• 47:29
  Speaker 6: is a good story. Yeah, and yeah, you're right. I
• 47:32
  Speaker 6: mean if somebody, I mean, the pieces of the puzzle all.
• 47:36
  Speaker 5: Here, writers, directors, actors, musicians, technicians, all talented salization people
• 47:42
  Speaker 5: are all sitting here. It's just somebody has to be
• 47:45
  Speaker 5: able to put those pieces together. Yeah, and then the
• 47:48
  Speaker 5: magic will happen.
• 47:51
  Speaker 8: Buch first of all, wanted to thank you for today
• 47:54
  Speaker 8: joining me. It's been a wonderful conversation. I do have
• 47:57
  Speaker 8: one last question for you on a general level, just
• 47:59
  Speaker 8: to in terms of the film and and overall, but
• 48:02
  Speaker 8: I obviously wanted to take this time to congratulate you
• 48:07
  Speaker 8: for the twenty five years of this story, but most
• 48:09
  Speaker 8: importantly for all the impact that you made across the board,
• 48:12
  Speaker 8: not only in talking to all the different members of
• 48:15
  Speaker 8: the cast here during the week, but just in terms
• 48:17
  Speaker 8: of what you did culturally and socially and you know,
• 48:21
  Speaker 8: everything on that level. So yeah, congratulations and thank you
• 48:26
  Speaker 8: for that.
• 48:26
  Speaker 6: Thank you, thank you. No, I appreciate it. I appreciate it.
• 48:30
  Speaker 8: One final question, you know, I would like to say
• 48:34
  Speaker 8: that the song that you added there in the final
• 48:37
  Speaker 8: credits of this film, to me was the cherry on
• 48:39
  Speaker 8: top in terms of the entire film. Tell us about
• 48:46
  Speaker 8: tell us about what you're about. Yeah, tell us about
• 48:52
  Speaker 8: you know, tell us about, of course our song Karmacy
• 48:56
  Speaker 8: Passage to India. You know, the movie ends, and of
• 48:59
  Speaker 8: course the credits start rolling and you hear this beat
• 49:02
  Speaker 8: come in and then you hear me rapping this to
• 49:05
  Speaker 8: me is you know, that's one of my favorite memories
• 49:08
  Speaker 8: of ever putting that song together, is that sequence of
• 49:10
  Speaker 8: the film closing and then the credits rolling and then
• 49:13
  Speaker 8: passage to India. Right, tell us about that moment. How
• 49:16
  Speaker 8: did you come across that song if you do remember it?
• 49:18
  Speaker 8: Tell us the story of that song entering the film.
• 49:21
  Speaker 6: Yeah.
• 49:21
  Speaker 5: No, So, I mean, obviously we met, and you know,
• 49:24
  Speaker 5: we were we were looking for people to give us music.
• 49:26
  Speaker 5: You guys gave us a bunch of songs, and I
• 49:29
  Speaker 5: really liked that song. And you're right, it literally is
• 49:33
  Speaker 5: a cherry on top because I like, you know, nobody
• 49:38
  Speaker 5: really reads the credits anymore, you know, and I really
• 49:41
  Speaker 5: wanted people to. You know, they'll usually put like instrumental
• 49:44
  Speaker 5: music as people are walking out, and I'm like, you know,
• 49:47
  Speaker 5: all these people in the credits worked so hard for
• 49:49
  Speaker 5: this movie. I want people to stay and may not
• 49:53
  Speaker 5: read all the names, but at least acknowledge them.
• 49:56
  Speaker 6: And the work that they did.
• 49:57
  Speaker 5: And I needed a song that would keep people in
• 50:00
  Speaker 5: in in the theater and after the Gerba, which ends
• 50:06
  Speaker 5: the movie, which is the story, I feel this song
• 50:09
  Speaker 5: is like I don't want to leave the theater right now.
• 50:12
  Speaker 5: It kept everybody there and it helped me. You guys
• 50:15
  Speaker 5: helped me to honor all the people who worked on
• 50:17
  Speaker 5: the film. So I appreciate that.
• 50:20
  Speaker 8: That's awesome.
• 50:20
  Speaker 6: Thank you, Peuch.
• 50:21
  Speaker 8: That was awesome, And it's an honor to be in
• 50:23
  Speaker 8: that film still to this day, and and that's that's
• 50:25
  Speaker 8: really cool, uh, mister puch Bandia an honor. Thank you
• 50:29
  Speaker 8: so much for joining us this week on the Bridge.
• 50:32
  Speaker 8: Thank you so much, Ammian, Thanks Buche. That was great,
• 50:37
  Speaker 8: What a great interview, What a great couple of interviews.
• 50:41
  Speaker 8: I'll be back after this to close out the show
• 50:44
  Speaker 8: with you.
• 50:44
  Speaker 24: Guys, Jny the lock co Parney, you're calling on the
• 51:03
  Speaker 24: lock Coney, tell if you're connected? Everybody there to get there,
• 51:11
  Speaker 24: the telehann jast the got there the Telehanni mody, what's
• 51:32
  Speaker 24: the piece liked catt it get the guitar and coll
• 51:39
  Speaker 24: jumper air part shall be I upper Sadia shall be
• 51:44
  Speaker 24: I upasoriad. He'd be happy there got the head he
• 51:49
  Speaker 24: had to put with their anything you didn't that, honey,
• 51:53
  Speaker 24: to need?
• 51:55
  Speaker 8: Didn't that anything new?
• 51:58
  Speaker 24: The part emma morning, the air in the cap, the
• 52:04
  Speaker 24: gut there the tell, can't the gut there?
• 52:09
  Speaker 8: Honey money.
• 52:19
  Speaker 12: Check you out your.
• 52:31
  Speaker 8: What you the thrown up when I put.
• 52:32
  Speaker 11: You and then put the pun the sun Jo, Honey, I'm.
• 52:37
  Speaker 8: Telling that in you bad that can look back? You
• 52:43
  Speaker 8: bet that that look bad.
• 52:44
  Speaker 24: B I'm telling you stub me pitiable.
• 52:49
  Speaker 8: Can you get them?
• 52:50
  Speaker 10: Hi?
• 52:50
  Speaker 11: You buddy?
• 52:51
  Speaker 19: What I would.
• 52:55
  Speaker 8: Would the boy and I I got every Hey, make
• 53:14
  Speaker 8: sure you guys tune in for tomorrow's Top twenty countdown show.
• 53:18
  Speaker 8: What's going on. I'm not gonna tell you what the
• 53:20
  Speaker 8: number one song is, but this was number two last
• 53:23
  Speaker 8: week and there will be some movement as we say, yeah,
• 53:29
  Speaker 8: this song right here is Adjet Singh. He gets together
• 53:33
  Speaker 8: with great other artist named Shaker of Gianni. The song
• 53:37
  Speaker 8: we have here is called in I'll be back with
• 53:39
  Speaker 8: my closing remarks.
• 53:41
  Speaker 11: Then o sky by, then.
• 53:54
  Speaker 25: Get to any car sheverbody, sorty jugg see call you
• 54:03
  Speaker 25: coo see someday scene for the shop base.
• 54:08
  Speaker 11: So you see whom jesse Jina.
• 54:14
  Speaker 23: Ran usk jac to Bardy.
• 54:23
  Speaker 7: Ran nine, No, my god, car radicle shorty Isibindi your sager,
• 55:05
  Speaker 7: supercagous body, Chana Judas sham see hohou Doba chham s
• 55:24
  Speaker 7: hur Doribat supervo You kana.
• 55:36
  Speaker 15: Whose gazy na get harmo?
• 55:49
  Speaker 8: She said, what did you say collaborating with shik Gianni
• 55:55
  Speaker 8: on that song called Renna? Just like that, Folks, we've
• 56:00
  Speaker 8: come to the end of four days in one film,
• 56:04
  Speaker 8: and a twenty five year journey that started long before
• 56:06
  Speaker 8: any of us knew what we were really watching. This
• 56:09
  Speaker 8: week on the bridge, we sat with the two leading
• 56:11
  Speaker 8: ladies who anchored the film, Broverbedi and Suneita Bottom. We
• 56:15
  Speaker 8: laughed with the three so called villains who stole every
• 56:18
  Speaker 8: scene that they were in a Nil Kamar, Sunjit Da
• 56:21
  Speaker 8: Silva and Sanil Malhotra. Weaned the three boys who turned
• 56:25
  Speaker 8: a college movie into a generational language cal pen Rizwan
• 56:29
  Speaker 8: Manji and of course alodin Ula and Tonight, we closed
• 56:33
  Speaker 8: it where it had to be closed with the two
• 56:36
  Speaker 8: men who built this house from the ground up. Deep
• 56:39
  Speaker 8: Kadari the star, the producer, the Wall Street kid who
• 56:43
  Speaker 8: bet his savings on a story that mattered. And Piyush
• 56:46
  Speaker 8: Dinkar Pandhia the director, the writer, the visionary who picked
• 56:51
  Speaker 8: up a camera in nineteen ninety nine and gave an
• 56:54
  Speaker 8: entire generation of Brown kids in America a mirror that
• 56:58
  Speaker 8: they had never been allowed to look into before. Twenty
• 57:01
  Speaker 8: five years ago, American Dacy was an indie film with
• 57:03
  Speaker 8: two hundred and fifty k budget, no industry safety net whatsoever.
• 57:08
  Speaker 8: Today it's a cultural document. It is the reason a
• 57:11
  Speaker 8: thousand South Asian American kids picked up a camera, walked
• 57:15
  Speaker 8: into an audition room, wrote a script, started a band started,
• 57:19
  Speaker 8: a label, started a radio show. It's the reason a
• 57:23
  Speaker 8: kid in Fresno and a kid in Edison, and a
• 57:25
  Speaker 8: kid in Toronto and a kid in London all quote
• 57:27
  Speaker 8: the same things, all quote the same lines, the same
• 57:30
  Speaker 8: beats in the same field. For one hundred minutes entirely seen.
• 57:34
  Speaker 8: This is what one film did, This is what these
• 57:37
  Speaker 8: artists did, and this is what honored this week. To
• 57:40
  Speaker 8: deep Borva, Piuche, Juanita, Kyle risjuan A loadin a nail,
• 57:44
  Speaker 8: Sunjit and Suneil, thank you, thank you for your work
• 57:47
  Speaker 8: and thank you for your courage back in two thousand
• 57:49
  Speaker 8: and one. And folks, we're gonna end out this show
• 57:54
  Speaker 8: just like the closing credits of that film with my
• 57:57
  Speaker 8: own song when I was in Kharmacy with a one
• 58:00
  Speaker 8: called Passage to India. I have a great day. Everybody,
• 58:03
  Speaker 8: see you tomorrow. Passage to India.
• 58:06
  Speaker 26: There come the rucker's for yours coming on down. We're
• 58:08
  Speaker 26: gonna do you go on this Western hemester. We come
• 58:10
  Speaker 26: from California, A do the San Francisco Baye tricking the
• 58:12
  Speaker 26: hand l y A t A he Please to.
• 58:16
  Speaker 8: Ruckers watch it go as we go classic to India
• 58:18
  Speaker 8: to bring it to your room. Not I can this
• 58:20
  Speaker 8: rap back slap of buckers on my moc with mom from.
• 58:22
  Speaker 20: My now side.
• 58:23
  Speaker 26: We're riding on the strike nego swap as he's a
• 58:25
  Speaker 26: KD were twisted like delivery, so attention everybody can junction
• 58:29
  Speaker 26: one to all ladies slip pass.
• 58:30
  Speaker 8: My expedition goes past ancient traditions with a.
• 58:32
  Speaker 26: Violin and so roar from making to repetition the streets
• 58:35
  Speaker 26: of Ballet all the way to en why van Hoover
• 58:37
  Speaker 26: up to the undone.
• 58:38
  Speaker 8: So now you know why we want a passage to India.
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: You just done.
• 59:01
  Speaker 8: To eat the yell.
• 59:02
  Speaker 12: That's job d d the ding die.
• 59:06
  Speaker 18: We're answering like Indians taking the passage to the NBA
• 59:09
  Speaker 18: the new millennium.
• 59:10
  Speaker 8: From ballet the net and you wonder where these heads
• 59:12
  Speaker 8: are coming front armast.
• 59:13
  Speaker 18: He's dropping up from Bolli with film stars to our
• 59:15
  Speaker 18: ambassadors and the village just fighting right against got.
• 59:18
  Speaker 8: The second village is the image.
• 59:19
  Speaker 20: Is taken by taking the twenty theilgrimage to every temple,
• 59:22
  Speaker 20: boss church, and you have you relation the people praying
• 59:24
  Speaker 20: were putting.
• 59:24
  Speaker 8: You want a musical train like Jules Burn. We're cleansing
• 59:27
  Speaker 8: the world the eighty days. We're making that way the city,
• 59:29
  Speaker 8: the city.
• 59:30
  Speaker 10: So I catch it later.
• 59:31
  Speaker 8: I taking my last step on the high pics of
• 59:33
  Speaker 8: the ham Malayas that.
• 59:36
  Speaker 20: Come on, come on, we're pasty too, and they.
• 59:57
  Speaker 12: Passage.
• 59:57
  Speaker 10: Maybe