Pursuing with enthusiasm featuring Sri Kishore

Have you ever wondered how long would it take to prepare a movie? For Sri Kishore, it took seven years from the budding story of the movie to its official release. Looking at all these, Sri said with a smile: "Not easy". Sri Kishore is a native Indian and the director of the first Hong Kong-produced Bollywood movie. He never set a foot outside India as a young man, let alone coming to Hong Kong to make movie. Although he has been fascinated with the art of film since he was a child, he chose to study electrical engineering at university to meet his parents' expectations. He never thought he would have the opportunity to work as a production assistant in Indian TV station after his graduation. This rare opportunity had reignited his movie passion. He then studied some film-related courses. At the same time, he also began to produce some low-cost movies in India, hoping to combine the theory and experience to establish his own movie language.

"Life is like a play". In 2008, Sri, who was originally a film director, was introduced by a friend to Hong Kong and worked as a dance instructor. Although dancing has nothing to do with making movies, he has not given up on his movie dream. He intended to use the money he earned in Hong Kong as a dancing instructor to fund his movies. Sri who is both a film director and a dance instructor began to travel frequently between India and Hong Kong. With his tremendous efforts, he produced three Indian movies and some short movies during his one-year stay in Hong Kong. One day, an idea suddenly came into his mind: "Since I am in Hong Kong, why not try to make a movie in Hong Kong?" But he quickly gave up the idea, murmuring to himself: "Hmmm, I don't even know any Hong Kong local production team..." Sri had been struggling with the idea for some time, but he finally made up his mind and determined to go ahead, "I must make a personalized movie in Hong Kong!" This is exactly how the first Hong Kong-produced Bollywood movie "My Indian Boyfriend" was born.

Sri does not understand Chinese. His interaction and memories with his wife, who was still his girlfriend at the time, became his source of inspiration - his movie is about an Indian boy who has moved to Hong Kong and falls in love with a Hong Kong girl. Cultural differences have created a lot of misunderstandings for the couple. Not to mention that their relationship is not supported by their parents and some others. Despite all the difficulties, only true love can overcome the obstacles. The movie’s atmosphere is relaxed and full of joy, thanks to the singing and dancing scenes throughout the movie, which are the unique features of Bollywood movies that Sri wants to present to the Hong Kong audience.

The tone of the story was established, and the filming experience was sufficient, but there were not enough funds to start the production. He recalled: "It is difficult to make a movie, but it is even more difficult to make a movie in Hong Kong." The cost of movie production is remarkably high in Hong Kong. Even if he planned to invest all his savings, it was still not enough. Sri still chose to proceed with his movie plan despite the outbreak of Covid and all the uncertainties. He spent two to three hours every day writing the scripts and sharing his stories with different people, trying to build his own network, talking to as many people as possible. He believed that some of them would be his potential investors, shooting crews and even actors. These intangible assets were accumulated through countless phone calls and meetings. However, one day he felt exhausted. He had no more strength to carry on as every time he mentioned his story to the others, they showed no interest at all. And in the following 6 months, he left all the film preparation work aside. He just QUIT.

When he was planning to leave Hong Kong, Sri met a Chinese friend who felt this Bollywood film project has its potential and decided to become the investor of the movie. Because of the previous frustrations and failures, Sri did not let his guard down. Instead, he had to make sure his investor was absolutely certain about the project before he restarted any filming preparation. He wanted to hire an Indian film crew coming to Hong Kong to produce the Bollywood movie initially. However, a local production team is essential since the settings are mainly in Hong Kong. As a result, his team consists of both Indians and Hong Kong people. When someone asked if there are any differences in communication, Sri pointed out "Indians love to laugh. When they meet strangers, they will smile, nod, and greet each other. The conversation is carefree. They will exchange contact numbers and ask where they live, what they do for a living, how many members there are in the family directly, and so on. This kind of conservation is quite common in India. Hong Kong people are the opposite. It is odd for Hong Kong people to start a conservation or give a smile to a stranger in general. However, I am used to it now." Despite there were some coordination issues within the team in the early stage of filming, at the end everyone got along well, respected each other, and worked together as a team. This is exactly what a director wants to see.

Finally, the movie written and directed by Sri was released in 2021. It received encouraging reviews and also set a precedent for Hong Kong films. Looking back now, it seems like a dream, a Bollywood movie dream in Hong Kong, "Is it hard to make a movie? In fact, nothing is easy. No matter how difficult it is, I still have to try, because that is my passion." Sri continued to wear a smile on his face, pursuing his movie dreams.