India is the New Flavour in Hollywood, Says R Madhavan

Mumbai: Actor R Madhavan says filmmakers in West have realized the potential of Indian actors being able to take a film to wider audience which is why they want to rope them in Hollywood films. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan and others have been part of Hollywood films. Now, Madhavan is set to do 'Night of the Living Dead: Origins', produced by Simon West of 'Con Air' and 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' fame. It is a remake of 1968 zombie film 'Night of the Living Dead'. "India has become the flavour in Hollywood. They (filmmakers) suddenly realized that Indian actors get more eyeballs than Hollywood actors," he said in an interview.

"So, if they have an Indian actor in their TV series for example, it gets watched in Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Africa, South Africa much more than if American actors are there," he explained. "Like by having Mr Amitabh Bachchan in 'The Great Gatsby', the number of people watching the film online or offline increases 25 times, that is where the money is. So now they are including Indian as well as Chinese actors, which is a very smart thing," he said. The 43-year-old actor said he is doing a film in Hollywood just to experience working in a different set up.

"Night of the Living Dead' is a classic American film, it is like 'Sholay' with a foreigner. Simon and me got along well. We did a screen test and next day I got the film," Madhavan said. He will play the role of a U.S. marine officer who gets caught up in a zombie attack in New York City. While Indian actors are often criticized for doing a small role in Hollywood films, Madhavan made sure not to end up doing the same. "I told them very clearly that if you are giving me a small role like of a doctor, etc then I will not do it, I don't need to do it. I was clear I will not do a small role. But they said it is one of the main leads, there are four lead actors in the film," he said.