Indian-American star Sendhil Ramamurthy says he loved working with Vidya Balan in "Do Aur Do Pyaar" and hopes the film brings many more opportunities from Bollywood, an industry he stayed away from due to language barrier and familial responsibilities.
In "Do Aur Do Pyaar", Ramamurthy stars as Vikram, an NRI photographer who falls for Vidya Balan's Kavya, a married dentist. The film, directed by Shirsha Guha Thakurta, is earning praise for its depiction of an urban marriage where a long-time couple seeks love outside of the relationship.
The actor, 49, last worked in a Hindi production in "Shor in the City" in 2010. He said his absence from Hindi cinema was not driven by "a lack of desire".
"I didn't want to be away from the children for far too long and be so far away where I couldn't fly home on a weekend. I hope to be doing a lot more because my kids are teenagers now and it's not cool to hang out with your dad. So I'm much more open to the prospect of coming back and doing more work in India," Ramamurthy told PTI in an interview.
Best known for his film and TV projects such as "It's a Wonderful Afterlife", "Heroes", "Covert Affairs", "New Amsterdam", "The Flash" and "Never Have I Ever", Ramamurthy said language was also an issue that kept him away but with the global proliferation of platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney everywhere, the opportunity for crossover has never been better.
"I want to do more work in India, but previously, there was always this language barrier that I couldn't overcome. I had very realistic or low expectations, depending on how you look at it. I felt like it was a bridge too far and I can maybe dip my toe in, but then I'm going to have to dip right back out because there's not going to be an opening for me," he said.
"Do Aur Do Pyaar" happened by chance for Ramamurthy with one of the film's producers, Tanuj Garg, reaching out to him with the script. Garg was also involved with "Shor..." and "It's a Wonderful Afterlife". The character of Vikram was tweaked to make him an NRI after Ramamurthy came on board.
"I sat down and read the whole thing in an hour and a half and then I went back and read it again just because I thought, 'Can it actually be this good? Did I miss something?' I just read the Vikram-Kavya scenes again and realised that he doesn't say a whole lot. He has to convey everything with looks and gestures and I thought, 'that's such a great acting challenge for me'."
Working with Balan was the cherry on top but Ramamurthy did his homework by connecting with the director via zoom to understand her vision for the film, which is a remake of American film "The Lovers".
Balan, he said, was pure joy to work with.
"She's Vidya and I didn't know what to expect from her. I went in kind of expecting the worst like, 'What if she's like a big diva and all of this attitude and everything'. And then she disarmed me from the second I laid eyes on her. She just came up, gave me a big hug and I just felt okay... I was in an environment where I could give my best performance," he recalled.
Ramamurthy said the ease shown in the interaction between their characters was a direct extension of the comfort he shared off screen. The "Sherni" star even helped him out in a key emotional scene.
"Her natural instincts are some of the best I've ever worked with," he recalled.
Calling himself a fan of romantic comedies and relationship dramas, the actor said he loved the "understated" nature of the story and how there was room for actors to improvise.
"I thought this is the perfect storm of things -- a great script, I get to work with Vidya Balan, and this director has a great eye so it was actually a very easy yes," he said, also praising co-star Gandhi, though they appear together in just one scene.
As someone who found success at a time when representation was not even a buzzword in Hollywood, Ramamurthy said he is just grateful for the "incremental gains" that South Asians artists have made over the years.
The actor, who most recently starred in Mindy Kaling's Netflix drama "Never Have I Ever", is hopeful that the next generation will have an easier journey.
He said the high school drama, headlined by a South Asian star like Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and featuring an Indian family at the centre of the story, broke through the "dam" to go mainstream in the West.
"Obviously in India, it's the norm but in the US, even in the UK, to have a big mainstream hit like that, where it's centred on South Asians, to be a part of that has been one of the great joys of my career. I hope that it has opened many doors for younger people and older people."
The actor, who was born in Chicago to Indian parents and raises two children with actor wife Olga Sosnovska, said there were many actors before him who didn't even have the opportunities that he had.
"It is those incremental gains that I'm grateful for. If I've had any part in more gains, then I'm very proud to have been a part of that. There's still a long, long way to go but we're getting there. It takes time. We're more than moving in the right direction right now."
According to Ramamurthy, there are many South Asian actors in the United States who would love to come over to India and work.
"I hope there's a way that we can kind of cross pollinate... Let's face it, at the end of the day, it is a business but the business can be so great. If you've got that cross pollination, look at the audience that you get access to."
Produced by Sameer Nair, Deepak Segal, Garg, Atul Kasbekar and Swati Iyer Chawla, "Do Aur Do Pyaar" also stars Ileana D'Cruz. The movie is currently running in theatres.
Next for Ramamurthy is an animated series for DreamWorks Animation and another romantic comedy.
"I'm going to be shooting it in Colorado, US. I love romantic comedies," he said.
