That jaw-dropping moment in ‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ of Tom Cruise trapped in a steel pod, watching nuclear missiles arc across the sky and cities vanish in fiery blasts was pieced together in a modest apartment in Bengaluru’s Whitefield.

“I was in my shorts, sipping chai, compositing the missile launches, the explosions and the whole sequence that was CGI,” says Mayank Tiwari, a mining-engineer-turned-VFX-compositor from Ranchi, laughing at the absurdity of working on the shot from his swivel chair.

Over the years, he’s cut out shoot plates for Hollywood films like ‘Cats & Dogs’, ‘Green Hornet’, ‘Gulliver’s Travels’, and ‘Clash of the Titans’, cleaned up skylines for ‘Tron: Legacy’, simulated a tsunami in ‘Hereafter’, and built royal banquets for ‘The Gilded Age’.

That, in a sense, is the story of India’s quiet, unseen rise as Hollywood’s visual-effects backroom, all bringing cinema’s grand illusions to life.

Today, Gaurav Choudhury in Patna who leads a 100-member team at Rotomaker, a self-described ‘offshore VFX partner’ for global studios, shows just how far this largely invisible workforce has spread. With branches in Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Vijayawada, the studio brings high-end work closer to the small towns its artists come from.

“A lot of us are from Bihar, UP, and Bengal,” says Choudhury, who works on wire removal, cleanup, and frame restoration. “It lets me stay close to home and still earn almost twice what I would on an Indian project. We don’t always know which client we’re working for, but there’s a steady flow of international commercials and web series.”

Ganesh Papanna, vice-president of ABAI, a Karnataka-based non-profit for India’s animation, visual effects, gaming and comics (AVGC) industry, says Indian studios manage the nuts and bolts of high-volume, lower-cost work — while the creative design stays with Hollywood. The VFX supply chain runs like a global relay where a single shot can pass through half a dozen hands across three time zones.

Hollywood studios such as Disney or Paramount hire top vendors in the US or UK like ILM, MPC, Framestore who then send large portions of work to Indian production houses like Prime Focus, DNEG, or Prasad EFX. These major studios break down sequences into smaller tasks and pass them to mid-sized boutique studios that specialize in one or two skills. Those boutiques, in turn, rope in freelancers finishing individual shots from home.

That future, however, holds new uncertainties. There’s the spectre of Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariff on foreign-made films. “I think the 100% tariff is on films entering America,” clarifies Papanna. But he’s confident that the industry can survive this.

“For work done outside the US, the surcharge is 25%. Even then, it’s cheaper to do it here.” The likely fallout, he says, will be leaner vendor rates. “A producer might say, ‘I can’t spend Rs 100, do it for Rs 70’ but somebody will take it.”

The math makes it obvious why India is the execution hub. “An average roto artist in India might earn around Rs 20,000-Rs 40,000 a month — roughly $3,000-$6,000 a year — for work that would cost $40,000-60,000 annually in the US.”

It’s this enormous cost gap, says Papanna, that keeps the world’s most spectacular explosions, creatures, and galaxies routed through Indian hands.

“If Hollywood is the interior designer, think of Indian VFX firms as painters and carpenters,” says Parthasarathy Iyer, who runs Andheri-based studio Katalyst Creates.

“I have about 25 artists when work comes in,” says Iyer. “They can be anywhere in Patna, Goa, or Mumbai. All they need is decent internet.”

Abhishek Prasad, director and chief technology officer of Prasad Studios including Prasad EFX, has been part of the invisible engine behind Hollywood spectacles like ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘Hercules’, ‘Hugo’ and ‘Maleficent’.

“We do a lot of detail-heavy work that may not carry our name in the end credits (due to non-disclosure agreements) but is essential for every frame to hold together,” he says. Studios, he adds, “know we understand workflows, quality check, and the discipline required.”

Scalability is key too. “We can ramp up hardware, software, and people in a month. That kind of agility isn’t easy elsewhere.”

Hollywood’s biggest VFX vendors set up shop in India in the mid-2010s. Technicolor — the French company behind the visual effects of countless Hollywood blockbusters — led the charge. Within months, they had snapped up nearly every skilled artist in the country.

“It was a gold rush,” recalls Tiwari, who rode that wave. “At first, they gave India the easy shots, but once we kept delivering smarter fixes, the trust grew. And if you were earning Rs 60,000 a month for Indian projects, you could suddenly make Rs 3-4 lakh doing the same job for a Hollywood project.”

For American studios, even that was roughly half of what they’d have paid a mid-level artist in the US. Then the bubble burst. In Feb 2025, Technicolor’s global operations went bankrupt, a casualty of the prolonged 2023 Hollywood strikes. “Overnight, over 3,000 artists in India lost jobs,” says Tiwari. But that’s also when the remote-freelance economy exploded.

Studios set up small India outposts or paid through partners. “Old colleagues from Los Angeles would message asking if I was free, had a software licence and we’d put together a team overnight. And it paid far better. What I made in a month as salary, I could now make in ten days,” says Tiwari. Day rates run anywhere from Rs 3,000 to Rs 30,000, depending on skill.

India’s main VFX hubs remain Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, but mid-sized studios and freelancers can be based anywhere. “Freelancing has become very, very big,” says Papanna. "People work in a company by day and freelance at night. I’d say 35% of artists are freelance now.”

So, if tariffs aren’t the real threat, what is? “AI hasn’t fully entered VFX yet, but when it does, jobs will go,” says Iyer, who’s already adapting. “I don’t do heavy VFX now but focus on motion graphics and title montages, which I can now do myself on AI tools like Midjourney instead of hiring an artist.”

Tiwari says AI is already replacing some basic, labour-intensive tasks and cutting timelines. “But you still need a compositor’s eye so it’s not replacing my creative skills but helping me work faster.”

Prasad calls this the next upskilling wave. “Those who learn will survive,” he says. His bigger concern is elsewhere. “If international work slows, training and R&D investment could take a hit. You can lose a generation of skilled artists if opportunity dries up.”

Another reason for optimism is that Indian content is growing fast, says Prasad. “Budgets are better and the quality bar has gone up.” Iyer agrees that domestic boom — especially OTT series and CGI-heavy regional films — will keep smaller studios afloat even if Hollywood contracts shrink. “Ten years ago, there were hardly any Gujarati, Marathi, or Odia films. Now there’s one every week.”

Papanna too is upbeat. “After all, VFX in India isn’t just about Hollywood anymore,” he says. “Films like 'RRR’, ‘Brahmastra’, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ show what’s possible here.”

First Monkey Man, then Punjab ’95, and Emergency—in each instance, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has pulled out its scissors, much to the dismay of the concerned filmmakers. Now, another movie has been subjected to the CBFC’s snip-happy attitude. Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice, which was scheduled to hit Indian theatres today, has been postponed. It is heard that the filmmaker, known for his uncompromising stance on creative integrity, has refused to comply with the censor board’s recommended cuts.

With Sebastian Stan playing Donald Trump and Jeremy Strong, his lawyer Roy Cohn, the biopic chronicles the former US President’s early years as a real-estate mogul. It opened in US cinemas on October 11, while its India release hangs in the balance. So, which scenes in the biopic are in contention? A source from the CBFC shared the details, stating that the suggested snips make it a 122.42-minute affair.

“The cuts weren’t drastic. The CBFC requested for the deletion of nude scenes wherever they appear in the film. This was more than a minute-long content. What upset the director was the CBFC’s request that the scene, which depicts Trump having non-consensual sex with [then] wife Ivana Trump, be reduced by 75 per cent. The board members also asked the studio to provide the source from where this information has been obtained. Abbasi and the studio countered that the scene has been put for a reason and not with the objective of titillation. The filmmaker, through his representatives, made it known that reducing the sequence takes away its impact altogether. The word ‘Negro’ was also instructed to be dropped, while the standard disclaimers in drinking and smoking scenes were asked to be added.” Examining officer Govind Mishra had presided over the CBFC viewing. 

PVR Inox Pictures has partnered with the makers to bring The Apprentice to India. A source from the studio revealed that the film now stands indefinitely pushed.

“Making cuts to the film is something Abbasi ethically stands against. We thought we could probably negotiate and release it a little later, but there is no scope for it. He believes that these cuts would diminish the impact of his work. He would rather halt the India release than agree to them,” said a source.

mid-day texted Abbasi, who did not respond till press time.

Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; May 31, 2020)

There's a price for everything, even birthday wishes. A Mumbai based start-up, GoNuts, finds a novel way to get fans closer to their favourite stars. The platform opened avenues for fans to receive personalised greetings in the form of video shoutouts from celebrities; garnered at a pocket-friendly price.

"The pricing starts from Rs 1,000 for a lookalike," informs Vinamra Pandiya, founder, GoNuts adding, "Rates fluctuate depending on the popularity of the artiste. If you want someone like Shankar Mahadevan, [the shoutout would be priced] at Rs 30,000. Singers gain more popularity because they sing too."

"For a personal video message from artistes like Shaan, the cost is about Rs 15,000 per video plus taxes," says Pandiya adding that every star would take 70 per cent cut per video. Pandiya adds, "We are targeting one genre at a time. We have begun with music because it has a huge fan base. The idea is to use a celebrity as a medium to convey your feelings to amplify the message. It can be for an anniversary, birthday or any milestone in your life."'

The most trending personality on the platform has been the lookalike of Donald Trump. He says, "The lookalike of Donald Trump is one of the best-selling creatives as it is laced with humour." The platform has a portfolio of over 200 celebrities across fields, including Salim Merchant, Sivamani, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Gaurav Biduri, The Phogat sisters, among others.

Hollywood star, Netflix sensation Robin Wright on life with, and after, House Of Cards
Mayank Shekhar (MID-DAY; November 18, 2018)

"Petrified," isn't an emotion you'd instantly associate with Robin Wright, especially given her steely-cold exterior as Claire Underwood (nee Hale) on the Netflix flagship show, House Of Cards (HoC). But that's really how she felt as she called up executive producer, auteur David Fincher, night before a shoot, towards the end of the series.

Why's that? Over the show's six seasons, while Hale had transitioned from being Congressman Frank Underwood's wife, Vice President, First Lady, to the President of the United States; personally, Wright herself, besides earning unprecedented global fame and a Golden Globe for Clare's part, was turning director with HoC's finale episode.

Unknown to most, directing the dark, moody, relatively quiet HoC is a lot like gently tip-toeing around a delicate house of cards itself. For, rules on what you can, and cannot do on the show - no steady-cams, for instance, no hand-held cameras, no tight close-ups, only a specified set of lenses allowed, no use of the (bright) colour red-had been set in stone, by Fincher, when HoC began in 2012, under his direction.

"David is so smart about not conforming to a convention. Would it look like West Wing (a relatively optimistic show; also set in the White House) with lots of movement, pace, activity? He, in fact, created a new portraiture for chaos," Wright says.

Before she stepped into the director's shoes, while still in Claire's high-heels, Fincher told her just one thing: "For every scene, create a (mathematical) fraction (in your head): Behaviour/Time. With everything you look at in the frame, no matter how wide you are; ask yourself: What's the behaviour going on in the room. You can stay in that (pre-determined) wide shot for three solid minutes, if you've got ample 'behaviour' going on. If not, cut out quicker, go somewhere else."

With her last shot for HoC therefore, Wright, 52, didn't just finally move on from Claire, but also moved into filmmaking as a new profession. This is something she appears most keen to talk about, as we meet along with a group of international journalists, on the sidelines of a Netflix slate-event in Singapore.

She starts shooting her maiden feature film as director next winter, the story of which she's uncannily generous enough to share: "It's about a woman who loses her husband and child from a terrorist bombing. Dealing with grief, she goes out into the wilderness, to live in the wilds alone. She feels that she can't re-enter society, or be good for it, being the person she has become. Then she meets an (American) Indian man, who's also suffered tremendous amounts of loss. He teaches her how to live, and love life again."

That's poetic, alright - quite in contrast to psychopathic tendencies of American realpolitik (or politics in general), beneath polite pretentions, that HoC stood for. Rather stood out for: Its uniquely chilling insight into betrayals, lies, deceit that goes on in the White House, or among those desperately wanting to get in. Where, to quote Gore Vidal from the show's fifth season, "Power is an end in itself; and the instinctive urge to prevail, the single most important human trait."

I've used this story before, Wright says, but it's very telling still: "When House of Cards came out, we went to the Democratic National Convention Dinner that year. The actors sat at different tables, with different politicians. Each table was an eclectic group. I was next to a Southern senator. And he went, 'God, I just loved the show. It's so real, so accurate.' So I asked, How accurate? And he said, '99 per cent!' What's the one per cent that's not accurate, I asked. I thought he was going to say, people don't really murder, kill… He said, 'You'll never be able to pass the Education Bill that fast!'"

At this point, of course, one doesn't know whether to laugh, or barf. We laugh. Since it would take at least a year to film the ideas the writers came up with, Wrights recalls, "Sometimes we would shoot a scene, and then that would happen in reality. We would then extract that scene, and reshoot it with another event." The current (Trump) administration though, she exclaims, "Literally stole all our good ideas: Nothing's gonna top that shit!"

The writing process for HoC essentially involved hired advisers in Washington DC to gauge/predict what the repercussion of a particular event/situation on the show could be on Capitol Hill - was it to really happen. This would influence the final scene. Wright adds, "I would then come in, and say, hey, Claire as a character, would only say one of those four lines - she's a man, or woman, of few words. That sort of alteration would help. But that was the easy part." And the hardest part of playing Claire Underwood? "Having to sit up straight, everyday. And I'm not kidding!"

The incessant drama of HoC eventually rubbed off on the show, when in November last year, its lead actor Kevin Spacey (Claire's husband, Frank Underwood) was sacked from the series, following charges of sexual misconduct. Waiting for dust to settle, the show's top management regrouped after Christmas. That they chose to go ahead with HoC, nonetheless, Wright says, were because of two-fold reasons: "One was [to get at] what would be best for the show, its fans, and the five years we put into it. We finished the fifth season with Claire breaking the fourth wall to say, 'This is my turn.' Let's explore that, we thought, as we always intended to.

The other reason was the show's cancellation would've put over a thousand people in the state of Maryland out of employment [that was guaranteed to them for the time]."

Either way, that the final season suffers as a result of Frank being no more, but very much omnipresent in every episode, certainly makes the end of the Underwoods a rather underwhelming experience. It could well be because the graph of the season, at the time of Spacey's exit, must've already been scripted; leaving the writers, producers too little time to start from scratch.

This is still to take away nothing from Wright, as the eerily elegant, President Claire Hale, a life-changing part, she obviously remains grateful for: "To be able to play that fierce character opened doors for me, and why I got Blade Runner 2049, Wonder Woman. I'd been typecast for so many years - being the quiet, pained, understanding wife." I'm thinking her role as Forrest Gump's girlfriend (1994) must have set off that stereotype.

She describes the original intent behind Claire as "being the best of both sexes: a leader in a female body, who is also a man. She simultaneously operates the way a man, and a woman does, within an environment of a very Shakespearean drama." Despite a bit of a hint-hint, wink-wink cliffhanger at the end of HoC, Wright reconfirms Claire - and the series that introduced binge-watching (with all episodes of a season dropping in one go), and redefined television - is definitely not coming back. Having spent over half a decade with Claire, what's she going to miss most? "Her clothes," she says.

Before 2014, things were far simpler in India. If the government would go wrong, all sections of society would voice their complaints and anger. The then government run by UPA 2 with Indian National Congress having a lion share of this alliance, used to be perennially at the edge over the mounting criticism. It was the time when numerous scams had come to light, inflation was quite high and hike in the petrol and diesel price had burnt a hole in the pockets of the aam junta. No wonder, all strata of society would be speaking against the government policies. The members of our film industry were also not left behind. Though most of them would not speak about it a lot, they would once in a while speak their mind which would be in sync with the mood of the public.

Then came the BJP rule from May 2014, under the leadership of the dynamic Narendra Modi. Before the elections, Mr Modi and other BJP personalities promised the moon. They assured that the prices of fuel and other essential items would be brought down and with the return of the black money stashed abroad, things would get better in India in the economic front. It’s been four years now and though things have got better in a lot of departments, price hike remains a huge challenge. Recently, the rate of petrol touched Rs 84 and it sent shockwaves throughout the country. The common man began to ask the government about the ‘acche din’ and reduced prices that were promised to them.

Despite such a huge rise in petrol prices, the Bollywood industry has been silent this time on the whole. The ease and fearlessness with which they would write against government’s decision can’t be seen anymore. This led to an embarrassing situation for superstar Akshay Kumar recently when his February 2012 tweet went viral. It read: “Guys, I think it’s time to clean up your bicycles and hit the road! As per sources, expecting another petrol price hike”. The netizens began asking why the superstar is no longer making such amusing but thought-provoking tweets since the petrol prices have hit the roof again. The criticism was mounting to such a level that Akshay decided to delete this tweet. He hoped this would save him from accusations of double standards. Sadly, that’s not the case as his tweet has got screenshot and has also been archived. There’s one more tweet of Akshay Kumar mocking the fuel price rise that’s still available. The deleting of the 2012 tweet got him even more criticism and hence that’s why he has probably chosen to retain this other tweet, as of now.

Couldn't even get to my house at nite for all of Mumbai was queuing up for #petrol before the prices rocketed again.

— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) May 16, 2011

T 753 -Petrol up Rs 7.5 : Pump attendent - 'Kitne ka daloon ?' ! Mumbaikar - '2-4 rupye ka car ke upar spray kar de bhai, jalana hai !!'

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 24, 2012

Just like Akshay Kumar, even Amitabh Bachchan has made some interesting jokes on petrol price, in the pre-Modi era. Then there were others like Ashoke Pandit, Anupam Kher etc who too had dissed the Congress for hurting the common man with their rise in prices. Both of them have made it clear many times that they have a lot of soft corner for BJP and Narendra Modi. Hence, they can’t be expected to now write about fuel rise now and thereby hurt their idol. But what has prompted Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar to go mum now?

The answer is simple. In today’s times, criticizing the BJP government and Modi is akin to criticizing the country. The BJP troll army is huge, shameless and are ready to go to any lengths while attacking their ‘prey’. Most of them are faceless and fake ids but still when a planned troll attack is done from thousands of such troll twitter and Facebook handles, it can easily give a shiver down the spine of these celebrities. Aamir Khan knows it very well. His famous intolerance speech in November 2015 became a talking point. He was criticized left, right and centre like never before. In the same month, Shah Rukh Khan was also mercilessly targeted for his views on the political and communal climate in India. Aamir in fact had participated in Anna Hazare's movement in 2011 which was also against the then Congress rule. Can you imagine Aamir attempting something similar in today's times?



These nameless, faceless trolls don’t simply post negative comments. They go a step further – they’ll spread fake news about that particular actor. Their families won’t be spared either. Recently, when Swara Bhasker held a placard to protest against the gruesome Kathua rape, she faced criticism of another level. A photoshopped tweet was put out that stated that Swara protested against the Kathua for publicity and money. Also, last month, journalist Rana Ayyub, a fierce critic of Narendra Modi, had the most traumatizing experience of her life when photoshopped tweets was put that made people believe that she has made anti-India comments. Moreover, her phone number was leaked and a pornographic video was widely shaped where her face was morphed onto another woman.

So how exactly is BJP responsible for the wrongdoings of these trolls? Well, the problem is that it’s an open secret that all these slut-shaming campaigns have the backing of the BJP leaders. Many of them, for instance, shared Rana Ayyub’s fake tweets and refused to delete despite hunderds of twitter users explaining to them that it’s fake. Many people who regularly troll are followed on Twitter by none other than Narendra Modi himself. This gives them an added boost to target the critics of the government. Moreover, it has increasingly come to light that the BJP IT Cell is actively perpetrating such campaigns against celebrities to ‘teach them a lesson’.

In such a scenario, it is understandable that Akshay Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and other celebrities are quite scared and would think thousand times before saying anything remotely against BJP. After all, they don’t want their Twitter notifications to be filled with hate-filled messages. They don’t want rape threats for the women in their families or their numbers getting leaked or worse of all, their morphed porn videos getting circulated. They don’t want ignorant public sharing their ‘I hate India and Indians’ photoshopped tweets and be seen as traitors and anti-nationals. All this can lead to extreme psychological trauma and break even the toughest of people. Also, the industry has seen how Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan were tortured. Even the recent agitations against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period film Padmaavat was possible because of the BJP government’s inaction which indirectly motivated the protestors to go all out, even attacking a school bus full of scared children. As a result, it is completely understandable the silence of our Bollywood stars.

Ironically, in the West, it’s US President Donald Trump who has come to power owing to his right-wing views and for promising lots and lots of stuffs. And even he’s unable to perform well but the Hollywood film fraternity is not scared. They openly mock and criticise him and his policies. Even during the Academy Awards, he was the butt of many jokes. Some of the biggest stars like Meryl Streep has made it clear that he’s unjustified with his viewpoints. But then, Trump’s troll army is not as brazen and shameless like the BJP troll groups. Right now, in Bollywood, it’s only the not-that-famous celebrities like Swara Bhasker, Vishal Dadlani, Prakash Raj, Pooja Bhatt, Shruti Seth etc attacking the government. They are not that huge and can take the risk. But Akshay Kumar can’t. As mentioned above, it’ll lead to personal trauma. Also, what if the protestors come to the streets and try to stop the release of his film? Crores of money is at stake when the film’s release is due and such protests can hurt everyone involved with the film, not just the actor in question.

But how long will this go? Slowly and steadily, these tactics of the troll army won’t work with the same intensity. Already, one can see around that more and more people are trying to verify fake messages that they receive on WhatsApp and social media. Fact-checking websites have mushroomed and are doing great job in instantly alerting people about fake news being spread by the troll army. Cyber-crime laws are strong and if celebrities take action against the mischief mongers, it can lead to a fear among these criminals. Hopefully that time will come soon and we shall once again get to see our celebrities without much fear rightfully criticising the government!

Joginder Tuteja (DNA; October 24, 2017)

Ex-Miss India Manasvi, one of the leading ladies with Ajay Devgn in Action Jackson, is not only firmly settled in the US, but is also actively involved in quite a few social and political campaigns involving US President Donald Trump. A testimony to this fact was at a mega event last week when she not only welcomed him during a special Diwali event, but also spent an hour in his company.

A close associate of the beauty queen-turned-actress-turned-Indian ambassador of Republican Hindu Coalition (RHC) says, “This isn’t the first time she met President Trump. She, along with her industrialist father Shalabh Kumar, actively campaigned for Trump during the US elections. The father-daughter combo has been running RHC for more than a year now and one of the initiatives pioneered by them was to work towards garnering support for Trump during 2016 United States presidential election.”

While one can pretty much see several pictures of her along with top US politicians on social media, that has been a result of quite a few initiatives and events that Manasvi has driven during the last few months, which has led to many connects been build.

This was evidenced over the weekend gone by as well when she welcomed Trump on Diwali during celebrations that lasted five days. Says Manasvi, “One year has passed since I became RHC India Ambassador and a lot has changed decidedly for Hindus. We got the most pro-Hindu, pro-India US President elected, and President Donald J Trump put all terrorists and Pakistan on notice. Our community has much to celebrate this Diwali, ushering the age of best friendship between the US and India. I was honoured to spend 60 minutes with Mr President and the first family on Diwali.” No wonder, Manasvi has taken a break from Bollywood and is working extensively with her father to take forward the RHC initiative in the US.

Actor-comic Vir Das admits he expected Hillary Clinton to become US President, had to rework his Netflix special after Donald Trump's shock victory
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; April 21, 2017)

Vir Das became the first Indian comedian to bag his solo Netflix original comedy special, putting him among the likes of Russell Peters and Jon Stewart. But it was not really a smooth sailing for the actor-comedian as he sat down to write the jokes for Abroad Understanding, which also marks the debut of an Indian original production on the video-streaming platform.

After completing the shoot of the show's first instalment in Delhi, Vir jetted off to New York for the second schedule in November 2016 in the midst of the US presidential elections. Given that comedians draw inspiration from daily developments to humour others, Vir decided to incorporate elements around the elections, and the then incoming president. Of course, like everyone assumed, it had to be Hillary Clinton. Only, it wasn't..

"When I first found out that Donald Trump had won, I was as shocked as the rest of the world," says Vir, who had scripted several jokes that spoke of Hillary's victory over Trump. "I knew I had to go back to the drawing board after the announcement. I was going to shoot my Netflix special in 48 hours, and since Trump won, I had to prepare better."

That Trump had been a subject of discussion for two years prior to his appointment, given his decision to run for the elections, Vir knew his act had to tackle the topic distinctly. "Finding a new angle is tough. I decided to put forward an Indian's take on Trump. The idea came to me almost an hour before we shot, and the Americans loved it. I am sure once it premieres here, people will love it too," he says of the show that releases on the platform on April 25.

Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; April 15, 2017)

The pre-inaugural ceremony of Donald Trump earlier this year saw a 45 minute Bollywood dance routine led by former Miss India Manasvi Mamgai. Come July, the US President could be treated to more — at the IIFA Awards in New York.

A source close to the event management team says, “The IIFA festival (July 14-15) will be an extravaganza of entertainment. There is a plan to send out an invitation to the White House and we hope the President can attend the event. A few other top American politicians are also on the guest list.”

Andre Timmins, director of Wizcraft International, which hosts the annual awards, refused to confirm the news, but said several big names from Bollywood and Hollywood are expected at the gala. “In recent years, we have had many Indian celebrities going to the West and working in films and television series. At the same time, a lot of Hollywood celebs are also coming to India to shoot or promote their film. So, we thought New York is the ideal place [for both industries to come together]. This edition will have a great mix of people from Bollywood and Hollywood. We will announce the entire line-up soon,” added Timmins.

Besides a bunch of top movie stars, a few cricketers will also be part of the star-studded event. “Movie stars and cricketers are worshipped in India. This time, our aim is to make IIFA bigger and better, and so, we have decided to do something different,” Timmins said.