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It is said that in addition to talent, hard work and perseverance, luck also plays a big hand in a person's success. Rahul Rai, the lead actor in "When Harry Tries to Marry," was lucky enough to be in "the right place at the right time."
A student in the Performing Arts Program at Pace University in New York, Rai, who is a part-time dancer, met director Nayan Padrai while he was doing a gig in the city for the "Slumdog Millionaire" celebration party. The debutant director was impressed enough to ask Rai to audition.
"Our Harry had never read or auditioned for anything before,” Padrai says in his production notes on the film’s website. “He came, read and conquered our hearts with his innocence and earnestness.”
In the film, Rai plays Harish Shankar, better known as Harry, a 22-year-old student living in New York City, who has his whole life, including his marriage, planned out. But the meticulous and romantically driven Harry has forgotten a minor detail –his bride. His parents had a failed “love” marriage, so Harry decides that he’d rather play it safe, follow tradition and seek an arranged match.
Padrai, also the co-writer and producer, describes the film as a cross-cultural romantic comedy about a guy who tries to take the risk and the romance out of marriage by going on the ultimate blind date – one arranged by his family in India.
Harry enthusiastically looks for an arranged association with a cultured Indian bride, in this case the calm and sober Neeta Shah, played by Freishia Bomanbehran.
But his best buddy, Louis, played by Osvaldo Hernandez, tries to talk Harry out of his notions of an arranged marriage. Then there is Theresa, played by Stefanie Estes, who shares a similar background as Harry and doubles as his object of affection, complicating his dreamy marriage ideas.
Add to this mix his father, Dev, a lingerie designer played by Tony Mirrcandani, and his fashionista mother, Geeta, played by Zenobia Shroff who seems to prefer Western sophistication over Indian traditions, and you have a comedy that sees Harry's transformation.
“Working in the film has opened new career paths for me,” Rai told Desi Talk. He agrees that his dancing background is a plus, and he is not averse to trying his luck in Bollywood after establishing himself in the United States.
His parents, Dr. Dinker Rai and Shakila Rai, are from Mangalore. They came to the U.S. in the early 1970s and have been here ever since. The actor was born and brought up in the U.S.
The film has already created a buzz within movie circles, winning nominations at the Austin Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival and the London Asian Film Festival. At the London festival, the movie won the "Audience Award for Best Film," "Best Crossover Film" and the "Best New Talent" for Rai.
Released in select theaters April 22, the film is co-written and co-produced by Padrai, along with Sheetal Vyas, Ritu Ahuja, Bhushan Thakkar and Ralph Stein, under Padrai’s 108 Production banner. A New York premiere was held at the Landmark Sunshine Theater in Manhattan on April 20.
Padrai, who was born in Bombay, grew up in Queens, moving to the borough when he was 9. He attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan as an undergraduate and studied acting in the city.
After working for a New York-based South Asian advertising agency for nine years and spending two years living in Mumbai scouting out resources for a film project, Padrai left his job to make the film.
“When Harry Tries to Marry” was written between 1998 and 2000 by Padrai and Stein. 05/01/11
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