Flashback. Many years ago...

It's a sunny afternoon in Seattle, a rarity. I'm making spaghetti, and wrestling with a life-changing decision. And as I check the spaghetti to make sure it's done, my decision is made. I will quit Microsoft where I had worked as a Software Engineer for a number of years.

Fast forward some...

I'm sitting in a café at Union Square in Manhattan, my eyes expectantly pouring over the expression of my teacher sitting in front of me. He is going over my story synopsis for my final film project at the New York Film Academy. After what seemed an eternity, he looked up at me and said, quite seriously, "Nick, write about what you know." And he went back to attacking his now-cold plate of pancakes, while I sat there, disappointed beyond words.

Fast forward some more...

My friend Alan and I are pacing furiously on the lawn in front of my brother's house in Seattle near Greenlake. We are awash in a glorious orange from an even more glorious sunset. Alan, a writer himself, had come over to critique a script I had written. A dark script where the lead character's parents are gunned down in front of his eyes, following which he develops Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, becomes an alcoholic, and attempts suicide. Quite seriously Alan said, "it's a good script Nick. But what do you wanna say?" It was happening again, I thought. "What do I wanna say? I just wanna make a film, dude", I responded lamely. "True, but what kind of film do you wanna make?" "A… a comedy!", I said even more lamely. I knew in that moment that the script I was holding in my hands was dead. Atleast, until I had the emotional maturity to handle such material. And in that moment, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of my dead script, another idea came into my head. What if, this guy is living in the US, and his parents bring over a woman from India, hoping they'd hit it off, and get married? What if?

Fast forward all the way to today...

I'm sitting in the editing room with my editor working on a scene in my debut feature film, Indian Cowboy, where the lead character (by curious coincidence also called Nick), is confronting his mother about this strange young woman from India who has taken over his bedroom. Indian Cowboy was born out of that 'what if' a few years ago in Seattle.

Looking at the film now, I realize how much of my life is in there. Not necessarily in terms of characters or events, but in terms of the emotional texture, the ethics, the philosophy. Fragments of my life experience, tied together by my imagination. It took me a long time to learn that 'write about what you know' is not to be taken literally. 'What you know' is not just knowledge of the conscious, but the awareness of sub-conscious as well. The wealth of experience we have, not just from our life but from the other lives we come in contact with, and from the experience of the stories we have been told. Indian Cowboy is a personal film without being autobiographical.

The craft of screenwriting, and of digital storytelling requires training which I started at the University of Madison - Wisconsin, where I took classes on film theory exposing myself to Ray, Bergman, Kurosawa, Welles. Studio and film production classes where I made my first super-8mm film. And acting classes, which continued at UCLA, Lee Strasberg Theatre School in LA, and with Lynette Sheldon in New York.

After finishing the script I decided to first work on another feature film to get experience. At that time, American Desi was in pre-production in New York. I met up with Deep and Piyush. Having been trained as an Assistant Cameraperson at Panavision in Hollywood, I joined the Desi team as an AC. Those five weeks on American Desi were grueling and fun. I met some amazing people who've become good friends. Then it was time to enter pre-production on my own film.

I wanted to cast the film color-blind, nationality-blind, and accent-blind. Now, on stage, this type of casting has been happening for a while, and audiences have adapted and learned to accept it. But in film, the audience forms an instant perception, shaped by their own opinions and life-experience, about the character (actor) they see. Even before the character says a single word. For example in some of the test screenings we've had so far, some people found Nick (an Indian) and his mother (a Caucasian) visually-jarring. But other's who are used to interracial relationships, did not. Accent is another issue as well. For a contemporary story, such as mine, I wanted to subvert the whole idea of an 'Indian accent'. It still irks me when I hear the stereotypical 'Indian' accent used by many actors. India has in excess of two dozen regional languages and dialects each of which lends a unique accent to spoken English. In my opinion, either the role should require the authenticity of a specific accent from a specific area and of a specific time, or just don't bother with it. I didn't bother with it. I didn't want to provide something that sounds 'ethnic' for its own sake. I just don't like working on that level. Being an Indian actor working on material that was never written for one, all these are hot issues for me. Shakespeare probably never imagined that Petruchio could be played by an Indian actor, nor perhaps did Godot think the same of Estragon, but in my vision of the world, all that is required is that the actor embody the character's soul. Still, I really had no political agenda in this decision. I just wanted to cast the best actor for each role.

Indian Cowboy boasts an exciting cast of professional actors, including Sheetal Sheth (American Chai), Deep Katdare (American Desi), Jonathan Sale, Sundra Oakley, and Carla Borelli - a veteran of film and TV. And myself, in the role of Nick. The production ball started rolling when Anura Idupuganti, a NY-based producer joined the project. We were racing against the clock. Summer would soon be over, and I wanted to shoot in that season. Pre-production happened on a very compressed timeline. I worked with Production Designer Jory Adam on the unique look I wanted for the film. An incredibly talented designer, Jory brought a lot of ideas, enthusiasm, commitment and energy to the table. A blessing for any first-time director. Costume Designer Asiel Kneeland, and Sandra Weidner (Hair and Makeup) worked with me on the look of the characters. Cutouts from fashion magazines helped immensely to communicate ideas about costume and makeup.

I had very early on decided on using FUJI instead of Kodak since the strong greens, yellows and reds that I wanted to use in the film, really pop out with FUJI. Costume and production design centered around this color scheme. The fantasy cowboy sequences in particular were very saturated with color. A tobacco filter was used for these sequences to differentiate them further from the rest of the film. Cinematographer Learan Kahanov (who worked on Chasing Amy, a film by another New Jersey filmmaker, Kevin Smith) got a breakdown from me on the visual progression of the film including a tentative staging of the characters and a location-independent shot-list. Since I did not have the luxury of building sets to storyboard specifications, I only came up with a very flexible shot list that focussed on what the scene was about, the critical event in the scene, the transition points in the scene, inserts needed etc. I favor framing to the 1.85 aspect ratio, so we decided to use the edges of the frame, and try not to stay in the TV-safe area. I like the idea of visual repetition of shots with a difference that expounds a character's arc, and used that in a couple of places as well. All this preparation in visual terms was important, since on set I really wanted to focus on the actors.

As with all things on Indian Cowboy, everything seemed to fall into place (but only at the very last minute!) The night before the first day of the shoot finally arrived and just as I hit the sack, the dreaded phone call came. The G&E (Grip and Electric) truck's liftdoor wouldn't close. Which meant no truck. Which meant no lights. Which meant no shoot! Thank you, Mr. Murphy! Many frantic attempts later, Peter McGill (Best Boy) managed to work a miracle and got the liftdoor to work. And I heaved a sigh of relief.

The first day of the shoot. I drove over to the first location - an Indian video store - with my wife Anshu. I turned into the parking lot which the crew had taken over. The G&E truck that had given me nightmares, stood in the parking lot, liftdoor working away smoothly as the equipment was unloaded. The camera, an Arriflex, was being setup by the AC. The Loader, his hands stuck in the changing bag, was loading up the film magazines. And then it hit me. This was happening! This was the beginning!

Indian Cowboy has been accepted into the Independent Feature Film Market 2001 in New York City. And with this event, Indian Cowboy will take its first baby steps into the big, wide world. Where and how far it'll go, only time will tell.