FEW DIRECTORS CAN boast that the world premiere of their debut film was not only held in Hollywood, but was held in front of a full house in the film capital.
But such is the story of Komal Tolani, a Hong Kong-born, British-educated Indian, whose directorial debut, Sunset Bollywood, was unveiled at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles last month.
The festival, now in its third year, ran from April 20 to 24. Although it may not yet have the cachet of Cannes or Venice or even Sundance, it's at least in the city where potential distributors can stop by for a couple of hours and have a look.
For Tolani, having her film among the 30 accepted from about 200 submissions from around the world was a major accomplishment. The 26-year-old, who's produced documentaries for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel, says she's negotiating with a network to sell Sunset Bollywood to foreign markets, and that there's also strong Bollywood interest - even though the film will ruffle a few feathers.
Consider the subject matter. The film, which has also created a stir in Hong Kong (a screening to be held on Monday at the Hong Kong Arts Centre sold out quickly and organisers are trying to arrange more), profiles three one-time Bollywood stars whose careers have since sputtered and all but stalled.
Tolani, a film and television graduate from Bristol University, produced and co-hosted Sangam, a BBC radio show about the Asian entertainment scene. She says she got the idea for Sunset Bollywood while working as assistant director on the Bollywood feature Mahatma Versus Gandhi.